Josh Allen is getting hot right at the perfect time. Over the last three weeks, he has really turned it on to run away from the field. So much so that the majority of fans and analysts think he has already locked up the MVP award. And former NFL cornerback and current ESPN pundit Domonique Foxworth is also in that same boat.
Speaking on The Domonique Foxworth Show with Joel Anderson this week, Foxworth made the case for why Allen would win the 2024 NFL MVP. However, he used an interesting parallel with the “tight Heisman race” we saw this year between Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty to make his argument.
“But the point that you’re making, Joel, about the big games, and we had a tight Heisman race, and this reminds me of that in some ways. We watched [Heisman winner Travis] Hunter more, we saw Hunter more, we read about him more, he was on TV more. Like, that matters. And Josh Allen has had quite a few really impressive games in those—not only primetime—but those big must-watch games.”
Foxworth makes a great observation here. Nationally televised games and media coverage do play a part in these awards races, whether we like to admit it or not. That’s not to say that the media is favoring Allen or Hunter. But the more you see and hear about their greatness, the more you’re likely to believe it.
Who could stop Josh Allen from winning NFL MVP this year?
At this point, Josh Allen feels like a shoo-in for the award. He’d have to really falter hard over the final three weeks to lose it. Going into Week 16, Allen has led his offense to 30+ points in a whopping eight straight games.
That stretch includes big game victories over the likes of the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and Detroit Lions. Allen’s Bills are now 11-3, and widely viewed as the best team in the AFC.
That team success, paired with the story Foxworth was talking about (Allen’s never won MVP despite finishing top five in voting in 2020, 2022, and 2023), will make it tough for anyone to beat him. Especially considering the only other realistic candidate, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, will suffer from voter fatigue after winning the award in 2019 and 2023.
If you look at this race completely soberly—without putting more importance on recent games or so-called “big games” or team records—you would think it was Lamar running away with the award.
As you can see, the only place where Allen has the edge over Jackson is in the wins column. The fact that Jackson isn’t leading his own division is also definitely working against him. However, that could all change if he beats the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. Not to mention the 35-10 spanking Lamar Jackson and the Ravens put on Josh Allen and the Bills in Week 4.
If the season ends with Jackson maintaining all the statistical leads, the Bills winning their division with a 14-3 record, and the Ravens winning their division (which is light-years tougher than Buffalo’s AFC East) with a 12-5 record, will two more wins really be enough to say Allen deserves the MVP over Lamar?
While we’re not sure we agree, we do think that will be enough for Allen to take home the award. The combination of Allen’s strong finish to the season, Foxworth’s point about his visibility in the media, Allen’s lack of MVP trophies, and Lamar’s surplus of MVP trophies is likely to result in the Bills QB’s triumph.
As of this writing, Allen is -1,000 to win the award, with Jackson sitting second with +750 odds, per Bet365.
2024-12-18 21:14:59
