National Football League

Can Lamar Jackson catch Josh Allen in MVP race?

Published Dec. 18, 2024 3:19 p.m. ET

Hand the MVP trophy over to Josh Allen, right?

Hold on, the reigning MVP would like a word.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson kept the door cracked open on the possibility of winning the NFL's MVP award for a third time with his masterful performance against the New York Giants over the weekend.

Jackson finished with more touchdown passes (5) than incompletions (4), going 21-for-25 for 290 passing yards, with five touchdowns and no interceptions for a 154.6 passer rating. Jackson also totaled 65 rushing yards as Baltimore easily disposed of one of the worst teams in the NFL, the Giants, 35-14.

According to FOX Sports Research, Jackson has five career games with at least five passing touchdowns and five or fewer incompletions. No one else has more than three such games in NFL history.

While Allen has put on larger-than-life performances over the last few weeks, Jackson is having his best year statistically as a pro. The Louisville product has more passing touchdowns (34-25), more passing yards (3,580 to 3,395), more rushing yards (743 to 484), a better passer rating (120.7 to 103.5) and fewer interceptions (3 to 5) than Allen.

Of course, Allen's Bills have an 11-3 record and an outside shot to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC, while the Ravens are fighting to win the top spot over the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) in the AFC North at 9-5. The two teams meet in Baltimore on Saturday, a game televised on FOX.

Jackson also must overcome the stigma of having already won the award twice, while Allen seeks to etch his name on the MVP trophy for the first time.

However, Jackson has an edge in that he faces a much tougher schedule than Allen to finish the season. After Pittsburgh, Baltimore plays at Houston, then closes out against the Cleveland Browns. The Bills, meanwhile, face the New England Patriots twice, with the scuffling New York Jets sandwiched between them.

Jackson's Ravens also defeated Allen's Bills 35-10 in Week 4, the only head-to-head matchup between the two talented quarterbacks.

While Allen appears to be running away with the award, if the Bills stumble down the stretch and the Ravens find a way to finish with 12 wins and win the AFC North, Jackson could make things interesting in the battle for the league's best player at the end of the year.

Allen remains the betting favorite by oddsmakers to win MVP, but Jackson jumped from 10/1 to 5.5/1 over the past week, while running back Saquon Barkley remains a distant third at 13/1.

Has Josh Allen locked up the MVP award?

Here's my top five in the MVP Watch with three weeks left in the season.

1. Josh Allen, Bills

Buffalo's offense has been a juggernaut with Allen at the helm. One of the reasons Allen is the frontrunner for MVP is that Buffalo's offense has exceeded expectations with the perception they had fewer talented playmakers after Stefon Diggs' departure.

However, over the last three games, Buffalo's offense has scored 17 touchdowns, with no turnovers and no sacks, according to FOX Sports Research. The Bills are the only team since the 1970 merger with three straight games of five or more touchdowns, with no turnovers and no sacks.

2. Lamar Jackson, Ravens

Jackson gets an opportunity to redeem himself against Pittsburgh after he struggled in an 18-16 loss earlier this season. In that game, Jackson finished 16-for-33 for 207 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. Jackson was sacked twice, posting a 66.1 passer rating. He also ran for 46 yards.

Jackson was particularly ineffective on third down, finishing 3-for-9 for 41 yards as the Ravens converted just 4-of-11 on the money down. We'll see if Jackson can improve on those numbers on Saturday.

Tom Brady's 3 Stars of Week 15: Lamar Jackson, Mike Evans & Davante Adams | DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

3. Jared Goff, Lions

It's hard to go under the radar when you throw for 494 yards and five touchdowns, but that's what happened for Goff in a loss to the Bills last week, as he continues to have one of his best seasons statistically as a pro.

Even more impressive, the king of play action put up those video game numbers using mostly the drop back game as the Lions were chasing points. According to Next Gen Stats, Goff used play action on a season-low 14.1% of drop backs, completing 6 of 8 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while taking just one sack.

Entering Week 15, Goff had used play action on a league-high 38.6% of drop backs.

Should Jared Goff, Lions be concerned after effort vs. Bills?

4. Saquon Barkley, Eagles

While he fell off the pace to break Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, Barkley still leads the league in rushing (1,688 yards with three games left in the season) as running backs experience a renaissance this year.

Barkley is averaging a career high of 5.9 yards per carry. And I can't watch his ridiculous backwards hurdle over a defender enough.

5. Jalen Hurts, Eagles

Yes, Jalen that's what we wanted to see — you throwing the football to A.J. Brown and the rest of Philadelphia's pass-catchers, proving to the haters that the Eagles can, in fact, do more than hand the football to Barkley.

Just kidding — kind of. But seriously, during Philadelphia's 10-game winning streak, Hurts has completed 70% of his passes for 1,962 yards, with 14 touchdowns and just one interception for a 115.5 passer rating. For that reason, Hurts has reentered the MVP conversation.

Is Jalen Hurts playing well for the Eagles?

Honorable mention: Joe Burrow, Sam Darnold, Derrick Henry, Baker Mayfield, Ja'Marr Chase

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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