A Most Valuable Player conversation that has permeated throughout the NFL appears to have settled on a favorite: Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Former teammate Stefon Diggs recently stumped for Allen on Good Morning Football, saying, “He definitely should win. He’s been balling.”
In NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero’s annual survey of high-ranking executives, Allen received 22 of 27 MVP votes.
In short, Allen has a real chance to win the league’s most-coveted individual prize, and he’s weathered significant adversity while playing his best football.
Sources say Allen has played through most of his MVP-caliber season with a fractured left hand.
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Now fully healthy as his team prepares to play the Patriots today, Allen wasn’t for much of the 2024 season.
Allen broke his non-throwing hand in the fourth quarter of Week 1’s win over the Cardinals, going absolutely airborne for a touchdown run while being shoved by two players and landing on his hand. He immediately got up to celebrate, but looked at and shook his left hand.
Allen said after the game that he was “fine” and he missed no time. On the team’s subsequent injury reports, Allen was listed as a full participant for each practice ahead of a quick turnaround against the Dolphins on a Thursday night.
While it was known Allen had a hand injury — he was on the injury report until after Buffalo’s Week 12 bye — the severity and nature of his injury was not previously known. All it does now is add some context to the ridiculousness of what Allen has done this season.
In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, with several big-name, high-priced veterans including Diggs being shipped out, Allen has thrived. Allen’s 25 TD passes against five interceptions has helped him to a 103.5 passer rating for an offense that is functioning better than at any point last year.
The fractured hand has limited his play, with Allen taking snaps from under center 15.4 percent of the time, the third-lowest rate of his career. But it hasn’t limited his success on the ground, as Allen is averaging 34.6 yards rushing per game, right in the wheelhouse of previous seasons.
