Josh Allen pulled off a massive MVP surprise. That’s how it happened.

In comparison, Jackson received 30 first team of all-pro voices to 18 for Allen. Cincinnatis Joe Burrow also received two first-team all-pro voices. AP’s Rob Maadi, who oversees the voting process, told me that both Burrow All-Pro-voters chose Jackson for MVP.

“I was pretty surprised, yes,” Allen said at his news conference on Thursday night. “Given what we know about how typical voting goes. Lamar also deserved this award very much. I have nothing but love and respect for his game. He is a great steward for the game and every time we share a field, I am very lucky to be mentioned in the same breath as him. “

This means that nine voters shared their voices-picking Jackson for All-Pro and Allen for MVP.

One of these voters was me.

I have been on AP’s voting panel for NFL prices for at least 10 years and never have I plagued over my MVP voice more than I did this season, I spent hours looking at games and all 22, pouring over advanced measurements and Talk to people, I trust football questions. My poor, patient man listened to me talking myself in circles as I pace the house and worked me through my decision during the first week of January.

My stomach was in knots when I filled my price voting and I remember breathing when I hit Send. Voting for these NFL prices and Pro Football Hall of Fame is an honor I take extremely seriously. All I ever want is to have done my homework so that I can feel confident in my voice, be transparent over my process and be able to defend it.

One of the biggest grips of the MVP prize in the last decade is that it has essentially become the best quarterback price. We can try to make a case that a skills position player has a season that a non-QB to ever win this award again. (To the record I had Barkley third on my vote behind Allen and Jackson.)

In the end, this year it came down to the two quarterbacks and it felt impossible to choose. I am convinced that (a) both Jackson and Allen deserved the league’s highest individual honor, and (b) MVP is not Strictly a price for the best quarterback, so voting one of them for all-pro did not mean he had to automatically be my MVP. The phrasing of “most valuable” is extremely vague and open to lots of interpretation of what it actually means. For me, the MVP prize is open to storytelling, a player’s career arch, the guard schedules taken around him and expectations of any particular season, in a way that – again, to me—All-Pro-voting is not. When I considered (and considered and considered) Jackson vs. Allen, I opened myself up to the possibility that some big quarterback players and moments had more weight than others this season.

Allen ended the season with 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdowns along with 513 rushing yards and 12 scores on the ground. Jackson’s numbers were conspicuous: 4,172 passing yards and 41 touchdowns and 915 dangerous yards and four TDs on the ground.

So dividing my ballot was my way of acknowledging that Jackson was playing quarterback better than anyone this season while Allen was the defining, and yes, most valuablefootball character in the regular season. When I think back on the regular season of 2024, it was Allen whose best acting leads the highlighting roll-his passers-by-receiving touchdown against San Francisco in snow their only meaningful loss of the season and his rollout deep darts to Keon Coleman in a December shootout Against Detroit.

This was not Allen’s best statistical season in many areas – his total yardage, passing touchdowns and passersby were all down from a highlight of 2020, and it was definitely a valid argument against him, especially when Jackson Better than His two former MVP seasons. But I don’t think it’s hard to make the case that this was allen’s most Effective Screws like Bills’ Quarterback. His counting statistics were largely down due to a philosophical shift in the Buffalo violation, not because he suddenly got worse to pass. Allen was always able to turn on the superhero contact when he wanted to, and when the bills needed a clutch game, but in 2024, the bills’ first The option wasn’t “Hey Josh, just go and do something.”

The result was the most effective version of Allen we have ever seen, with career heights in adjusted net worth per day. Trial, QBR and expected points added (EPA) per Dropback. Allen also had better luck on revenue this season. He had a career in collections (six) and fumbles (five). He also took a career-low number of sacks. If his perceived recklessness of football was a thing that had held him back from severe MVP consideration in the past, he answered that question this season.

And he did it as he led the bills to No. 2 seeds in AFC in what most of us thought would be a reset year for Buffalo after the bills acted away from Star Wide Receiver Sthe Diggs and went on from several prominent defensive players in cost -saving movements. Value is impossible to define clean, but Allen won this award. It felt impossible to choose and almost as difficult to justify, but I stand by it. There was no one choosing fatigue for me, no boredom in a repeated winner or hesitation in choosing Jackson for the third time.

I understand that lots of people do not agree with this decision -making process, including many of my peers and colleagues. Maybe some of them felt the right to vote for Jackson a light call and I get it: he electrified and took his already incredible game to a new level. His statistics are undeniable. I’m not sure there would have been a completely satisfactory result, though I assume it feels appropriate that an MVP race that felt so tight during the season, so until it was very (surprising) end.

Lindsay Jones

Lindsay edits, writes and occasionally podcasts about the NFL, which she has covered since 2008 for business, including Denver Post, USA Today and The Athletic. She is a candidate from Emory University and is a proud mother and marathons.