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Not to beat a dead horse here, but the MVP race is over. Call Vince Carter, turn on the GIF. It’s over. The flirtation with Saquon Barkley was cute, but Josh Allen secured the award Sunday with a third straight game in a historically incredible run of football that is putting a historic stamp on his 2024 season.
Allen dominated another NFL juggernaut on Sunday, defeating the Lions 48-42. Detroit and Kansas City, which have the two best records in football, are now 0-2 against the Bills and 25-1 against the rest of the NFL. The Bills are now just the second team in NFL history to snap multiple 10-game winning streaks in the same season.
And Allen did it all again on Sunday, throwing for 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards and two more scores. He has totaled 14 touchdowns in his last three games: seven passing, six rushing and one receiving. He has consecutive games with 340+ passing yards, 60+ rushing yards, 2+ touchdown passes, and 2+ rushing touchdowns. A game like this has only been played once in NFL history, when Steve Young did it in 1991. He is also the only quarterback since 1970 with 6+ passing touchdowns and 6+ rushing touchdowns in a three-year span. games.
Fantasy owners know it too: Allen is the first player in NFL history to surpass 40+ fantasy points in consecutive games. He’s single-handedly dragging teams to titles over the last three weeks. He now has back-to-back seasons with 25+ touchdown passes and 10+ rushing touchdowns…there are only two other seasons with those milestones (Cam Newton, 2015 and Kyler Murray, 2020).
Buffalo surpassed 30 points for the eighth consecutive game on Sunday, tying the mark set by Peyton Manning and the Broncos in 2013, when Manning erased passing records and earned a near-unanimous MVP (49 of 50 votes). The Bills are the first team in NFL history to score and allow more than 40 points in consecutive games (and we here at CBS Sports thank you for the ratings, Buffalo).
And to top it all off, Allen hasn’t committed any turnovers in this stretch either. He is the only quarterback in the NFL this season with zero picks, fumbles AND sacks in three consecutive games.
Now all this may be debatable. The Chiefs do not seem determined to protect themselves from the spell that keeps them winning. Allen may very well need to go to Arrowhead at some point if he wants to make the Super Bowl. That’s no easy task given Kansas City’s defense, the presence of Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid/Travis Kelce and the Chiefs’ ability to turn things around once the postseason rolls around.
Buffalo has the tiebreaker over Kansas City, but the Chiefs are running out of games to lose. But the schedule is much friendlier for Buffalo down the stretch. The Bills tied the Patriots twice and the Jets were sandwiched in between. They have had a solid recent history of dominance within the division and I would expect them to close with three more wins against inferior opponents, although Aaron Rodgers and the Jets offense have looked much, much better since realizing that playing well would be the clue. latest move of spite for his future ex-team.
The Chiefs have to play the Texans at home this week before closing with the Steelers and Broncos, both on the road. They could lose two of those matchups against current playoff teams. It wouldn’t be all that surprising given the way the Chiefs have played. But it also wouldn’t be surprising if Kansas City went 2-1, held off the Bills and clinched first place in the AFC.
Which means that even though Allen is already assured of the MVP, he would still have to go on the road in the toughest environment in football against a dynastic coach and quarterback and validate it. Not exactly the award you want to receive for being the best player in the NFL for an entire season.
Two teams you don’t want to see in the playoffs
At the risk of giving away free publicity, I have to talk about the phenomenon that is Jordan Love’s performance during Toyota’s annual sale. It’s a thing! The Toyotathon will take place from November 15 to January 9 this year and after destroying the NFL during a similar period last season, Love is on another heater after going to Seattle on Sunday night, winning handily 30-13 and throwing for 229 yards, two touchdowns. and without selections.
His career numbers at the end of the season are amazing:
Last season’s numbers down the stretch, when compared to a full 17-game season, would have earned him the MVP quite easily. He’s starting to put up similar numbers as we approach the meat of the NFL season, and while the Toyota thing is fun to talk about, it may just be part of Love’s profile as a quarterback.
He always had streaks in college. And when he got to the NFL it seemed like more of the same. But let’s not consider stripes as a bad thing. Streaky can be good and Streaky can be GREAT. And when Love has a big run late in the season, it looks like MVP-level football.
It’s also why the Packers (along with the Rams, more on them in a second) might very well be the teams you don’t want to see in the playoffs this year.
The AFC feels pretty easy with the Dolphins and Colts losing on Sunday. You have top-tier teams with top-tier quarterbacks (Bills, Chiefs, Ravens) and they’ll probably end up with some combination where they meet in the AFC title game. The rest of the teams are capable of making runs for sure, but there is an extra level for those teams because of their elite quarterback play.
However, NFC is totally different. Love and Matthew Stafford stand out as vehement, hot-handed disruptors throughout the rest of the conference.
Both guys have elite arm talent. Both guys aren’t afraid to throw interceptions or push the ball vertically down the field. Both guys have top coaches from the Shahanan tree in Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay. Both teams have physical running games that can wear down opponents late in games if they have a lead. Both guys have a lot of weapons at their disposal.
The Rams with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp healthy, and yes, I’m aware they didn’t score a touchdown in their 12-6 win over San Francisco on Thursday and no, I don’t care, they will. do it right: have the best wide receiver duo in the league. DeMarcus Robinson, Tutu Atwell, and Colby Parkinson are very likable complementary pieces.
All the Packers guys complement each other very well. Romeo Doubs’ return from injury is huge for Green Bay, as evidenced by his two-touchdown night Sunday in Seattle. Christian Watson is a pure deep threat that can dominate any defense. Jayden Reed has been quiet lately, but he is capable of exploding at any moment, especially when LaFleur begins to deploy him in various jet sweep moves. Dontayvion Wicks isn’t afraid to get hot off the bench and Tucker Kraft has been a revelation this year. They even have depth with Bo Melton and Malik Heath.
And when both teams get hot, they get hot. We saw this with the Rams last year, who were on fire until they ran into a really good Lions team in Detroit in the playoffs. The Packers set Jerry Jones’ house on fire in the postseason with Love rolling as the playoffs began.
Elite quarterback play from a wild card contender is exactly how things can turn around in the playoffs. The Eagles look like a rock solid right now and the Lions have been the best team in football, but they are battling injuries. The Rams and Packers are shaping up perfectly to me as a couple of teams that could really make some noise and be the type of teams you don’t want to see walking into your building in January.
Race to the bottom
How bad is the NFL bottom line this year? So bad it could be fantastic. We have an exciting final few weeks with several teams chasing the No. 1 overall pick and it could all come down to the final seconds of Week 18, something the NFL would love.
Currently, there are EIGHT TEAMS on losing streaks of three games or more. At the bottom of the standings, the Giants and Raiders (with Las Vegas pending Monday night) have lost nine straight games. That’s not great news for their coaching staff and front offices, but it is great news for their chances of landing a franchise quarterback at the top of this draft.
The Bears (pending “MNF”) are on a seven-game losing streak, second-worst in the league, and could at least make some noise for a 4-9 No. 1 pick if some other teams stumble to wins elsewhere. of the season. shape.
The Patriots, Panthers and Falcons (also pending “MNF”) have lost four straight games. The Panthers had been really good until Sunday, when they were dismantled by the Cowboys in Charlotte, but they still managed to find ways to lose. It’s not the worst thing in the world for Carolina, a team that desperately needs players who can make a difference on both sides of the ball.
The Browns and Titans have lost three straight games, Tennessee benched Will Levis on Sunday and Cleveland began to see the shine of the Jameis Winston Experience fade a little. Both teams love to find ways to lose this year and with three wins they are also squarely in the battle for first place. Each team has a schedule over .500, according to Tankathon, joining the Giants and Raiders at the top of the standings.
The Jaguars returned to their losing path against the Jets, trying to become the first team in the modern draft era to have the first pick in three of five years. It will only make that potential job opening that much more attractive.
We don’t have a Caleb Williams or a Jayden Daniels up for the award this year, but Cam Ward is an intriguing prospect, as is Shadeur Sanders. And Travis Hunter is a really interesting prize given his ability to play on both sides of the ball.
The 2025 NFL Draft could be spicy. The race to the top certainly is.
