NFL MVP: Bills QB Josh Allen wins Price for the first time, Lamar Jackson beats out

On By Littum

New Orleans – When Josh Allen fell to Buffalo Bills with the seventh election of the NFL draft in 2018, he wasn’t sure. Therefore, he did not go with the first choice or even in the top five.

Allen was an inaccurate quarterback that came out of the University of Wyoming, and did not dominate the competition in the Mountain West conference. But he had a skill set, including a phenomenal arm that made him an exciting advanced view. If he developed his talent, his ceiling was becoming NFL’s best quarterback.

Allen was everything the bills could have dreamed of. And now Allen is an MVP that beats Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson to win his first NFL MVP award, which was awarded on Thursday’s NFL Honor’s show. He is the third Bills player to win the award, where he took up Thurman Thomas in 1991 and OJ Simpson in 1973.

“Feels good,” Allen said Backstage after receiving his award. “I feel like my teammates would have this for me than I did, but I’m honored.”

The vote was very close. Allen got 27 votes in first place, and Jackson got the other 23.

It had to be a bit of a transition season for the bills after they relaxed some expensive veterans and traded Receiver Sthef Diggs. Instead, Allen raised his game and the bills went 13-4. The bills did not make a Super Bowl, which is still a hole in Allen’s resume. But he has an MVP for his credit now.

The MVP race this season was remarkable because it was actually a race. It was a long time since there was some intrigue about who would win on the way into the message.

The last time an MVP race was decided by fewer than 15 votes from first place was 2012 when Adrian Peterson knocked out Peyton Manning. The last time it was decided by fewer than 10 votes was 2005, when Shaun Alexander got only 19 out of 50 votes, with Manning getting 13 and Tom Brady, who picked up 10. For almost two decades, every MVP was well known long before it was official.

This season was different. Allen took the lead in his big season, but there was a lot of support for Jackson in the last few weeks. Saquon Barkley also had followers, although it has become very difficult for any non-quarterback to get MVP votes. The intrigue grew when Jackson was named First-Team All-Pro Quarterback by the same 50 voters choosing MVP. The last time the first team of all-pro quarterback and NFL MVP were different players was 1987 when John Elway won MVP, but Joe Montana was the All-Pro QB (in 2003 was Steve McNair Co-MVP with Peyton Manning but was not a First Hold All-Pro).

For Allen to win MVP over Jackson, it would take a turn of a 37-year-old voting trend.

“I was pretty surprised.” Said Allen. “Given what we knew about how typically the vote goes, and Lamar was also very deserving of this award.”

Both players had big seasons. Jackson mostly had better statistics. Allen was honored for raising a less supportive role.

Jackson: 4.172 Passing Yards, 41 TD, 4 Int, 119.6 Fits -Rating, 915 Heading Yards, 4 Heading Td

Allen: 3,731 Passing Yards, 28 TD, 6 Int, 101.4 Fits -Rating, 531 Heading Yards, 12 Heading Td

It was a very hard race to call, especially with Barkley, there was something in the mix with a 2,000-yard rushing season.

Allen’s MVP hype started after a loss. Against the Los Angeles Rams in week 14, Allen had three passers -by touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. He became the first player in the NFL season history with three transient and three rushing touchdowns in a game.

The bills lost 44-42, but the game vaulted Allen into the preferred position to win MVP.

Allen had no better numbers than Jackson, but voters apparently put a lot of emphasis on how he raised everyone around him. A common argument for Allen’s MVP candidacy down the stretch was that Jackson had better teammates. There was perhaps some voter fatigue involved, considering that Jackson already had two MVPs, and Allen had nothing, but the end result won Allen for the award, even after the same voting panel chose Jackson as the best quarterback in the NFL for everything – Pro Team.

Like Jackson, Allen’s legacy will not be complete until he makes a Super Bowl with the bills. Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs have been difficult in the middle of a dynasty. But there is no doubt about Allen’s greatness as a player. He has become a fantastic double-threat quarterback capable of playing with his elite arm talent or by encrypting when everything breaks.

Allen has been completing the Bills violation for years, and he finally has an MVP price to be shown for it.