NFL Power Rankings: The new top-5 MVP candidates after Lamar Jackson's MNF performance

Another week, another history-making performance from Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson torched Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in a 41-31 win on Monday night, throwing for 281 yards and five TDs while adding 54 more yards on the ground. It's the third time in his career that he's thrown for at least five scores while running for at least 50 yards — for context, that stat line has only happened four other times in NFL history. Scrambling, designed runs, throwing from the pocket, throwing from outside the pocket; you name it, and Jackson can do it at a high level. He's an offense unto himself, and there isn't a defense in the league that seems to have an answer right now.

But what does that mean for this season's NFL MVP race? Is Jackson already a lock to repeat (and become the youngest three-time winner ever)? Who might be able to catch him over the back half of the season? Let's break down the top five contenders.

5. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

There's a bit of a gap between the top four and everyone else right now, but we'll give the nod to Love here after he won the battle of up-and-coming QBs over CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans in Week 7. Love's YOLO tendencies continue to hurt Green Bay — he threw two more picks against the Texans — but the Pack are 5-2, and if the team keeps winning, Love is going to get some, er, love on voters' ballots. (Although the fact that Green Bay plugged in Malik Willis and kept on winning does hurt his chances a bit.)

4. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Maybe this is blasphemy, but I'm really struggling to put Mahomes any higher than this. That's not because he suddenly forgot to play football — if I were starting a football team tomorrow, he'd still probably be my first pick — but because the reality of the 2024 Chiefs is that Mahomes isn't going to put up the requisite numbers for serious MVP consideration. He has more interceptions than touchdowns right now, and he has the same yards per air target as Daniel Jones; unless Kansas City finishes 17-0, I have a hard time seeing someone with even Mahomes' sterling reputation overcome that lack of production, especially considering the names ahead of him on this list.

3. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

The book on Goff has always been that he was a bit of a Ben Johnson merchant, that if you heated him up and asked him to make plays out of structure he'd wilt. Well, Goff and the Lions just lit up the most devious blitzer in the league in Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores, carrying Detroit to a road win despite the injury to star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. Goff is second in completion percentage and first in yards per attempt, combining efficiency and explosiveness as well as any QB in the league right now. If the Lions are able to capture the NFC North despite the injury to Hutchinson and a two-game suspension for deep threat Jameson Williams, it'll be time to take a hard look at Goff's candidacy.

2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Allen and the Bills have righted the ship, winning two in a row after torching the Tennessee Titans secondary on Sunday. Amari Cooper fit right into this offense, and seems to have had a catalytic effect on the receivers around him: Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel all get to fill roles they're far more suited to with Cooper around as the unquestioned WR1 on the outside. Allen has finally melded his otherworldly physical gifts with an advanced understanding of the game and, crucially, the patience to allow things to come to him when need be. He's still leading the league in QBR, and he'd be a very deserving winner in just about any other season. Unfortunately for him, there's one guy who's just a bit better.

1. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson is more or less Allen's equal as a passer, but while Allen is a dangerous runner, he simply isn't the all-around threat that Jackson is on the ground. Jackson is a threat to score from just about anywhere, on any play, and that gives him a gravity that bends defenses to his whim — and allows the Ravens to do things that no other offense in the league could even dream of. For all the miraculous plays Jackson produces every Sunday, there are a zillion more mundane ones that he opens up for Derrick Henry and Co. just by virtue of his presence on the field. He's the most complete and impactful player in the league, and a third MVP is his to lose.