The regular season of the National Football League (NFL) is drawing towards its thrilling conclusion, and while there is still plenty left to be decided between now and the beginning of the playoffs in mid-January, the debate surrounding who should win the regular season MVP award is already starting to heat up.
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So, with five weeks left to play of what is only the second 17-game season in NFL history, let’s take a look at the players whose name will likely to be the running come the end of the campaign.
Patrick Mahomes
No stranger to winning personal accolades, Patrick Mahomes won this award, the Offensive Player of the Year title and the more acclaimed Super Bowl MVP in 2018, when he guided the Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl success in his record-breaking second year.
The 27-year-old hasn’t been able to get his hands back on the Vince Lombardi Trophy since, however, and he will be keen to end that this year. The Chiefs are top of the American Football Conference (AFC) West with a 9-3 record, with Mahomes throwing over 3,808 passing yards for 30 touchdowns.
Jalen Hurts
It’s been a decade since this award last went to someone other than a quarterback, and that looks to be extended by another 12 months at least, as Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts is the close second favourite to Mahomes.
Soaring high in the National Football Conference (NFC), with a record of 11-1 (the best in the NFL), there’s a good chance these MVP front runners could meet in the grand finale in Arizona — as the Chiefs and the Eagles are second and third favourites respectively in the Superbowl odds.
The 24-year-old’s stats aren’t as impressive as Mahomes’, however, as Hurts has completed 2,940 passing yards for a total of 20 touchdowns.
Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow had a fantastic season last year as the Cincinnati Bengals came within a whisker of causing an almighty upset to win Super Bowl LVI — ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Rams at their home venue, the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
The NFL Comeback Player of the Year winner in 2021, Burrow has completed a huge 3,446 passing yard for 25 touchdowns so far this season. With a huge win over the Chiefs in early December, in which he passed for 286 yards and two TDs, the Bengals moved to 8-4 and look well on course for a place in the post-season.
Josh Allen
Considering the Buffalo Bills are the favourites to go on and win the Super Bowl in February, which would likely mean beating the Chiefs in the playoffs along the way, it might come as something of a surprise that Josh Allen’s name is not higher on this list of quarterbacks.
The five-year Bills QB is having a fantastic season, throwing 3,406 yards for 25 touchdowns. If he can be the driving force behind the Buffalo franchise winning the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in their history then the 26-year-old could be crowned the Super Bowl MVP in Glendale.
