Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Editor's note: The voting for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award was conducted after the regular season, so the playoffs had no bearing. The winner will be announced Thursday night AT NFL Honors, the league's annual awards ceremony.
Dear NFL MVP voters,
I hope you voted for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, but I'm worried you took the easy way out in this process. I'm thinking many of you took a look at Lamar Jackson's stats, then compared them to Allen's numbers, and voted for the Baltimore Ravens quarterback instead.
That would be a mistake.
Yes, Allen's numbers are below those of Jackson's, but I'd like you to think about previous seasons when Allen was in the mix. After all, the Bills' signal caller did finish second in the MVP voting in 2020, third in 2022 and fifth in 2023. Some of his stats were greater in those years, but everyone was quick to point out that he turned the ball over too much.
Scratch that off your list.
Allen had a career-low six interceptions, and lost only a pair of fumbles. His interception rate of 1.2% was also a career-low.
In fact, Allen had the lowest percent of plays with a sack, fumble or interception since the merger in 1970 at 4.2%.
But the case for Allen as MVP isn't just about a low turnover rate. Allen did more with less this season.
The 28-year-old lost his top-two wide receivers from the 2023 campaign. Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis combined for 152 catches, 1,929 yards and 15 touchdowns that year. If you throw in all of the departures at wide receiver, Allen lost players that combined for 51% of the receptions, 53% of receiving yards and 58% of receiving touchdowns.
But the former University of Wyoming product still guided one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. The Bills finished second in average points per-game only behind the Detroit Lions (a team Allen beat in the regular season) and just ahead of Baltimore with Jackson.
The Bills scored a franchise-record 509 points over the course of the 2024 regular season. Allen's Bills scored 30-or-more points in 12 of his 16 games played. I'm not including the regular season finale when he was on for a play to keep his games-started streak alive and then left.
In addition to moving on from Diggs and Davis, the Bills cut starting center Mitch Morse. On defense, they lopped off the likes of Leonard Floyd, Tre'Davious White, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
Bills linebacker Matt Milano went down in training camp, nickel cornerback Taron Johnson was injured in Week 1, and linebacker Terrel Bernard got hurt in Week 2.
The Bills ended up just 11th in scoring defense this season, which was their worst finish since 2020. The defense was 20th in total yards allowed per-game.
Despite all of that, Allen, who led the most efficient offense in the league this season, was the main reason why the Bills won 13 games for the third time in the last five years. In fact, the Bills averaged three points a drive, which is among the five most-efficient seasons in NFL history.
Allen did all of that without a receiver reaching the 1,000 yards receiving mark on the roster.
A quick side note for you: The Bills had two Pro Bowl starters (Allen and Dion Dawkins), while the Ravens had nine.
By the way, don't even think of using the regular season blowout loss to the Ravens as a deciding factor. If you looked back at that game and saw who the Bills played without, you'd know why it should have been disregarded.
Here is a little nugget from the "for what it's worth" department. Here are Jackson's stats from the 2023 season when he won the MVP award compared to Allen's numbers from this season:
- Jackson (2023): 4,499 total yards, 29 total touchdowns, nine total turnovers
- Allen (2024): 4,262 total yards, 40 total touchdowns, eight total turnovers
Did you know Allen and the Bills beat both teams that went on to earn the No. 1 seed in their respective conference?
In a Week 11 win over the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, Allen had 317 total yards and two touchdowns. One of which came on the signature moment, a 4th-and-2 touchdown run from the Chiefs' 26-yard line to seal the win.
When the Bills beat the Lions in Detroit in Week 15, Allen had 430 total yards and four touchdowns.
Related
Here are some other tidbits:
- The Bills offense had its highest points per-game average since 2020, and scored the most touchdowns in the Josh Allen era
- Allen had a career-low 14 sacks. Part of that was outstanding offensive line play, but part of it was also Allen and his improved decision making and ability to utilize the checkdown throw more often.
- Allen became the first quarterback in NFL history with, at least, 13 wins, 40 touchdown passes and less than 10 interceptions.
I hope you did your research and reached the conclusion many had reached before the regular season came to an end.
Josh Allen was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2024.
Sincerely,
Howard Simon