It was no secret that it was a long shot for Saquon Barkley to win the NFL's MVP honors for the 2024 season despite an incredible performance throughout the year. 

The Eagles running back put up career numbers, and is a large part of the reason for Philadelphia earning a spot in Super Bowl LIX. He was named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year for that reason. 

However, there is one thing that doesn't sit right after the NFL's most important award was announced on Thursday night. And it had to do with the voting. 

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was named the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player, beating out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who came in second place. Barkley landed in third. 

However, all of the first place votes were split between Allen (27) and Jackson (23). Barkley didn't get a single first place vote. 

Here is the final voting tally:

Josh Allen: 27-22-1-0-0: 383
Lamar Jackson: 23-26-0-1-0: 362
Saquon Barkley: 0-1-25-19-2: 120
Joe Burrow: 0-1-15-10-12: 82
Jared Goff: 0-0-6-5-19: 47
Patrick Mahomes: 0-0-3-8-6: 31
Ja'Marr Chase: 0-0-0-2-2: 6
Sam Darnold: 0-0-0-0-3: 3
Jayden Daniels: 0-0-0-2-4: 8
Baker Mayfield: 0-0-0-0-2: 2
Justin Herbert: 0-0-0-3-0: 6 

This regular season, Barkley finished with a career high 345 carries for 2,005 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns along with 33 receptions for 278 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. He added an additional 66 carries for 442 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns along with seven receptions for 35 receiving yards in the postseason. And there's still one more game to go. 

Barkley would have had more yards, but he and the rest of the team decided it would be best if he sat out in Week 18. The running back was only 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record of 2,105 yards, but Barkley proved he is a true team player. 

"Coach asked me what I'd like to do. We had a conversation, and he called me back and let me know that we're probably going to be resting," Barkley told reporters at the beginning of January. "At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games and we're in the playoffs. So, I got a bigger goal in mind."

"It was an opportunity to imprint my name in football history. Might not ever get an opportunity like that again," he added. "But at the end of the day I don’t care for putting the team at risk.”

Going to Philadelphia was the best decision Barkley could have made, and this year he was able to show exactly what he is capable of.  

The NFL has been put on notice. 

And maybe he'll use getting zero first place votes as motivation on Sunday.