Josh Allen is the NFL MVP, and man, does it feel good to say that.
In being named the MVP, Allen defied the odds, quite literally. Going back to when the All Pro teams were announced almost a month ago, Josh Allen was named to the second-team, with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson being named to the first-team. Here’s where it gets interesting — every year since 2003, the MVP was named to the first-team. The vote to give Allen the MVP potentially sets a precedent that brings the MVP award more in line with the player that is the most valuable to their team, instead of the player simply with the higher stats.
Allen is the third player to win MVP after not making first-team All-Pro. Steve McNair shared 2003 MVP with Peyton Manning after Manning was the first-team All-Pro, and John Elway beat out 49ers Jerry Rice and Joe Montana in 1987 after Montana was first-team All-Pro.
It’s a major shift for the voters, since the same people vote for both the All-Pro and the MVP. Two years in a row now, the MVP has gone to a player with lower counting stats. Last year, Lamar Jackson was named MVP, despite Josh Allen running laps around him in terms of raw stats.
This year, it was Jackson that came out on top with the counting stats, but the voters determined that Allen was more deserving, and more valuable to his team.
Allen’s season was full of MVP moments, namely the 4th-and-2 scramble that saw Allen split the Chiefs defense for a 26-yard touchdown run in the regular season. It was a heroic effort that put them over the top for good, handing Kansas City what is still their only loss since Christmas Day of 2023. Then, there was the ridiculous play against the San Francisco 49ers where Allen was credited with both a passing and receiving touchdown — on the same play.
The voters got it right. Don’t get me wrong, Jackson had an incredible season, and had he won, it would have been well-deserved. I would have been disappointed, but I would have understood it.
In winning NFL MVP, Allen has now done something that no quarterback in Buffalo Bills history has done. Not even Jim Kelly. Up at or near the top of all franchise records next to Kelly, Allen is on his way to overtaking him as the greatest player in team history.
For my money, Allen is clearly the most important player in the league to his team. And while the team success is certainly more important, and Allen would trade in an MVP for a Lombardi Trophy in a heartbeat, Bills fans can rest happy knowing that their alien of a franchise quarterback has added some much-deserved hardware to his trophy case.
