In a year of hotly contested campaigns, the NFL MVP race has given fans and pundits plenty to argue about.
The race between Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has ignited a flurry of arguments on social media and sports talk shows in recent weeks. Allen is currently the odds-on favorite at -300 to win the award, while Jackson has the second-best odds at +225.
Allen and Jackson have strong yet slightly different arguments for the award, with no clear consensus over which case is stronger.
For Allen, a fifth-straight division title, a 13-3 record and the only win against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs headline his campaign. Statistically, Allen's 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes, along with 531 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns on the ground, anchor his MVP-caliber season, even though he doesn't lead the league in any specific category.
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But Jackson brings a very different argument as the most statistically efficient player in the league this year. Jackson leads the league in touchdown percentage and passing yards per attempt while also leading the entire league (quarterbacks and running backs) in rushing yards per carry. But Jackson's statistical performance is weighed down, compared to Allen's, by the fact that the Ravens only have 11 wins and haven't clinched their division yet with one week to go.
Jackson's Ravens also defeated Allen's Bills, 35-10, in their meeting this season.
These factors have earned Jackson the nod by multiple voters in the media, some of whom have expressed their support for the Ravens star publicly.
NFL insider Dianna Russini made it clear that she is planning to vote for Jackson during an episode of the "Scoop City" podcast on Tuesday, citing superior statistical performance.
"I am leaning Lamar," Russini said. "I don’t think Josh Allen did anything this weekend to make me go, ‘OK, he stole this thing.’"
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Meanwhile, FOX Sports NFL analyst and MVP voter Emmanuel Acho argued in favor of Allen during an episode of FS1's "The Facility," citing the fact that Buffalo has an inferior overall roster, especially on defense, when compared to the Ravens. The Bills rank 20th in total defense this year while the Ravens are 14th. Jackson also has the benefit of leaning on multiple-time league rushing leader running back Derrick Henry as a co-star, while Allen lacks any major superstars on his offense.
"Simply put, Josh Allen has to do just as much, if not more, with less," Acho said. "I was rewatching the Ravens game last night, and there were moments in time, if not the majority of the time, where I asked myself, 'Who's the best player on the Ravens' offense?' I mean, make no mistake about it, Derrick Henry rushed for 120-plus yards in that game. I'm sitting there watching this game, and I'm saying the Ravens' offense has two Hall of Famers. The Bills' offense, it just has Josh Allen."
Meanwhile, NFL on CBS broadcaster and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made an argument that has been both mocked and repeated by NFL fans in the debate. Romo argued that Allen should have a better shot at the award since he hasn't won it yet, while Jackson has two MVPs already.
"I think they're tied in my brain. I think that Josh Allen might get the edge only because Lamar's had two. If Josh had two, you'd going to side with the guy who doesn't have one. That's just human nature in my opinion," Romo said while broadcasting the Bills' win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
ESPN First Take host and former Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark has been one of the most vocal advocates for Jackson in the MVP race this year. Clark argued that if Allen were chosen as MVP over Jackson, it would only be because voters have already awarded Jackson the MVP twice. He compared it to instances in the NBA where Michael Jordan
Both players have one more game to polish off their respective MVP cases. However, it's possible that Jackson will be the only player doing so this Sunday.
With the Bills having already wrapped up their division title and locked themselves into the No. 2 seed in the NFL playoffs, head coach Sean McDermott has said Allen won't play the whole game against the New England Patriots on Sunday. McDermott told reporters that Allen will start the game to maintain his current streak of starting games for the team but will come off the field at some point early on.
Jackson will need to lead his team to a victory against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday to clinch the AFC North title for Baltimore.
If Jackson puts up another dominant performance while Allen rides the bench for most of Sunday, it could swing the current betting odds and change the race.
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