Fans split on controversial NFL MVP vote between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson
Most years, the NFL MVP award is a pretty easy one to award to any given player. This season, however, presented one of the closest MVP battles we've seen in a long time.
Saquon Barkley had one of the greatest seasons a running back has ever had. Ja'Marr Chase won the Triple Crown. Joe Burrow led the NFL in completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. None of those three players even sniffed the MVP award. At the end of the day, it was a two-horse race between two AFC rivals, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
Allen won the award, but barely. He earned 27 of the 50 first place votes with Jackson earning the other 23.
AP NFL Most Valuable Player voting:
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 7, 2025
Josh Allen: 27-22-1-0-0: 383
Lamar Jackson: 23-26-0-1-0: 362
Saquon Barkley: 0-1-25-19-2: 120
Joe Burrow: 0-1-15-10-12: 82
Jared Goff: 0-0-6-5-19: 47
Patrick Mahomes: 0-0-3-8-6: 31
Ja'Marr…
Not only were the voters divided in terms of who should've won the MVP award, but NFL fans were on X as well. The reaction on social media shows that this really could've gone either way.
NFL X has no idea who should have won the league's MVP award
Good for Josh Allen.
— Riley Holsinger (@HolsingerRiley) February 7, 2025
He carried and elevated a Bills offense that had less around him. https://t.co/RNCQ01MVu5
Josh allen lead a better offense with worse help and people are shocked he won mvp
— Griff (@Jram2TBJ) February 7, 2025
The pro-Josh Allen crowd had one very clear argument — Allen had a lot less around him than Jackson and still dragged the Bills even further than Jackson led the Ravens. The Bills had just two Pro Bowlers (one of which was Allen) while the Ravens had nine. Jackson was surrounded by stars everywhere you turned, while Allen, in a year which saw the Bills trade Stefon Diggs, was still able to have the year he had.
One last look at the stats for Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen in 2024
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) February 7, 2025
Allen won the MVP, Jackson did not pic.twitter.com/CHveqRBi6d
On what grounds is Allen MVP over Lamar. It’s impossible to find a meaningful stat in which Allen > Lamar
— Kane Kalas (@KaneKalas) February 7, 2025
Lamar got completely shafted. He should be sitting alongside Unitas and Favre with 3 MVPs #nflhonours @JoshAllenQB @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/0cxOVFZoEv
On the flip side, though, the MVP award often goes to the quarterback with the best statistics on a team that won a lot of games. Lamar Jackson was statistically better in just about any category you look at than Allen, for a Ravens team that won just one fewer game and yet, Allen won it.
AP Voters: “Lamar Jackson is first-team All-Pro with 30 first-place votes and Josh Allen getting 18.”
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) February 7, 2025
Also AP Voters: “Josh Allen is MVP with 27 votes and Lamar Jackson getting 23 votes.”
Some voters have some explaining to do…
What's really crazy about this final outcome is that nobody expected this. This felt like Jackson's award to lose for the simple fact that he was the First Team All-Pro quarterback according to the same voters who decided the MVP award. Well, if Jackson won that handily, how did this award flip in Allen's favor? How was Jackson good enough to be First Team All-Pro but lose the MVP award to someone playing his position?
At the end of the day, the MVP award often comes down to who wins the narrative, and Allen won that handily. His roster was not as good as Jackson's and he had never won before. Jackson, on the other hand, won last year's MVP award and has two under his belt. It's a lot easier to give the award to the new guy who also had an excellent year than to the guy who has won it twice.
As the final tally showed, this really could have gone either way, and both quarterbacks had arguments in their favor.
feed