Fifth Place?! Why NFL MVP Voters Wronged Bills QB Josh Allen
Make it make sense.
The same player led the National Football League in total yards and total touchdowns in 2023, but finished fifth in the MVP voting.
Certainly, there's more to an MVP resume than stats. Perhaps some voters heavily weigh the team's success and/or how important the candidate is to that success. Should that be the case, then the 2023 NFL MVP results are even more perplexing.
That fifth-place finisher, who accounted for more points than any other player in the league, happened to spearhead the Buffalo Bills' five-game win streak that culminated in the franchise's fourth consecutive AFC East title. In those five victories, Bills quarterback Josh Allen totaled 11 touchdowns and engineered three fourth-quarter game-winning drives.
© Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY
For even casual observers, it was clear that Allen carried the Bills through the successful stretch run. Doing so with a first-time offensive coordinator who was installed mid-season, he took his team from 6-6 and 13th place in the conference to 11-6 and the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs.
With the dual-threat field general doing his best Superman impersonation, Buffalo posted late-season road wins over the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the division rival Miami Dolphins. In between, there was a home thrashing of the NFC East winner Dallas Cowboys.
If those credentials aren't enough to overtake Baltimore's Lamar Jackson in the MVP voting, then they should be, at least, good enough to make Allen a close second. Instead, Jackson received 49 of 50 first-place votes while Allen received the only other vote but finished fifth.
Allen (4,306) registered 628 more pass yards than Jackson (3,678) in 2023, and the Bills' quarterback had as many passing touchdowns (29) as Jackson did total touchdowns. Allen's sack percentage (4.0 percent) was also well below Jackson's mark (7.5 percent).
When it comes to running the football, Allen recorded first down on 57 of the 111 rush attempts. Jackson gained first-down yardage 48 times in 148 carries.
Jackson definitely deserved serious consideration for MVP, but the race was really a lot closer than the voting said it was.
Instead of being outraged that Jackson did not finish as the unanimous MVP due to Allen earning the one first-place vote that didn't go to Jackson, the analysts should be outraged that only one of 50 voters ranked Allen first.
