Give Josh Allen His MVP

There’s always an excuse. For the majority of Josh Allen’s career, it was the turnovers. He simply gave the ball away too many times to be named most valuable player (MVP). Still, after amassing a career-low in interceptions (six) and protecting the ball this season, many believe the award belongs to someone else—the reigning MVP and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Though Jackson has been good, he hasn’t been Josh Allen-level good. After the regular season’s conclusion, it’s clear that Josh Allen should be the 2024 MVP.

Before the season began, no one (and I mean no one) predicted the Buffalo Bills would win the American Football Conference (AFC) East and instead picked the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins to finish far ahead. This prediction made some sense considering who Allen was throwing to—a receiver room with a combined zero All-Pro and Pro-Bowl honors. Only one of his wideouts had caught a pass from him before the season began, and Allen lost his top two receivers—Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis—in the offseason. Allen made the most of what he had, leading his team to an impressive 13-3 record in meaningful games and the number two seed in the AFC—one win more than the Baltimore Ravens’ 12.

However, Jackson is working with Pro-Bowl receiver Zay Flowers (arguably the best tight end tandem in Isaiah Likely), three-time Pro-Bowler Mark Andrews (he was good before the Divisional Round), and the menacing five-time Pro-Bowler and All-Pro Derrick Henry in the backfield. Although Jackson himself is a talented quarterback, it’s obvious that his weapons are much more talented than Allen’s. The Bills’s quarterback does have the reliable third-year James Cook in the backfield (1009 rush yards and 16 rush TDs), but Cook is still very far off from Henry’s caliber and experience (1921 rush yards and 16 rush TDs). Allen has carried this Bills team on his back—doing what no one thought possible—yet is still disregarded as the MVP.

So what? Jackson has better stats!

That’s true, but based on stats alone, the MVP should be Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He leads the league in passing yards and passing TDs (4918 yards and 43 TDs), but he isn’t a frontrunner due to the Bengals missing the playoffs. Although it’s a team game, wins are a quarterback stat; there’s no point in picking up so many yards and touchdowns without being able to win. Allen finds ways to shine in the most critical moments to secure victory. When the Bills faced fourth-and-second with under three minutes to go against the then-undefeated Chiefs, Allen managed to scramble 22 yards through six defenders en route to the endzone. He has also won the biggest of matchups as the only quarterback to defeat the number two seed in both the AFC and NFC (Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, respectively).

It’s important to note that the narrative of Allen’s stats being much worse than Jackson’s is false. The Buffalo play caller has 40 total TDs and eight total turnovers, while Baltimore’s play caller has 45 TDs and nine total turnovers. Furthermore, the Bills’s offense put up 30.9 PPG, outscoring the Ravens’s 30.4 PPG.

Frankly, the MVP’s criteria is grey space. Some years, it’s given based on the eye-test, and in others, it’s given based on statistics. Jackson won the MVP last year despite having over 600 fewer passing yards, five fewer passing TDs, and 10 fewer rushing TDs than Allen. Analysts and fans alike pointed to Allen having a worse record (11-6 against 13-3). Now, this year, when Allen has a better record, wins don’t seem to matter as much. The criteria has become contradictory, and the media decides what matters based on what fits their narrative. Make the award make sense, and give Josh Allen his rightfully deserved MVP.