Week 10 is officially in the books, so after this week, has Mahomes taken over and thwarted everyone within the MVP race?
Hello again everyone and welcome to another week of the ArrowChop! This is the column where we look at the positives/negatives of a certain Chiefs/NFL issue and look at both sides of the aisle. Then you, the readers, will come to your conclusions after I lay out the case. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we breakdown this week’s hot topic.
The MVP award… dubbed the most sumptuous award a player can ever earn in their careers. A multitude of great players has won this award like Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Patrick Mahomes, and many others. The 2020 season has just passed the halfway mark, and now we are seeing the bigger picture on who’ll win the MVP this year; moreover, it seems as though the race is still as tight as it is every year.
With a close draw between a lot of players, we must ask ourselves if Mahomes has pulled away in the race or if it’s still as close as it has been after this week’s showing from the other candidates. Let’s break down both sides of the aisle to see which holds more truth:
Mahomes has taken over the MVP race
To a majority of NFL executives, it apparently has. A poll of 31 random NFL executives came out and stated that 17 gave Mahomes the nod to win MVP (other contenders were Wilson with nine votes and Big Ben with three votes); to Chiefs’ fans, that isn’t a surprise. Mahomes has to 25-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio, which is THE best ratio in the league. Along with him already surpassing 2500 passing yards in nine games played, being ranked 5th in passing yards this season, being ranked 3rd in passing touchdowns, leading the Chiefs to command wins against the Ravens, Bills, and Patriots, and achieving one of the best records in the league at 8-1 should give any player an advantage this late into the season.
While looking at the past leader of the vote, Russell Wilson, it seems as though he has choked it yet again. He has thrown for 28 passing touchdowns (which does lead the league as I’m writing this piece), but he has thrown over ten interceptions which averages out to 2.8 touchdowns per interception; furthermore, looking back at his recent showing, it doesn’t look becoming of an MVP at all. On Sunday in the loss against the L.A. Rams, he threw for a measly 248 passing yards, only completing about 59% of his passes, two interceptions, and, to make things worse, zero touchdowns. Also, in last week’s loss against Buffalo, while he did throw for two touchdowns and ran it in for one, he did throw two costly interceptions that turned the tide against their favor. Furthermore, the same thing occurred in their first loss of the season in overtime against the Arizona Cardinals, where he threw for three touchdowns and three interceptions. Those interceptions, if not thrown, would’ve been the turning point for the Seahawks to win.
You can’t always blame their losses on the defense as even though it sucks, no quarterback should be throwing that many picks, especially one in the MVP conversation.
Mahomes hasn’t taken over the MVP race
Good ole Aaron Rodgers is still making the case for an MVP season, that could be his 3rd of his illustrious career. He’s 6th in the league in passing yards (2578) (right behind Mahomes), he has thrown 26 touchdowns with only three interceptions, is completing over 67% of his passes, and it seems as though he’s vying the Packers yet another playoff spot and divisional win. He has even thrown for four 300+-yard games this season along with four four-touchdown games as well. While he had his fluke game against Tampa where the Packers were blown out and Rodgers threw two interceptions, he has come back from that by having a 13-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio in his past four games. It seems as though that game never occurred.
Also in the mix is none other than Ben Roethlisberger, as he’s leading the Steelers to an impressive 9-0 record and, possibly, a 16-0 regular-season record. Being one of the direct causes of the Steelers’ dominance should alone put that in the conversation, but his stats back him up as well. While his passing yards don’t edge out to the other MVP leaders (he has 2267 yards), he has thrown for 22 touchdowns and four interceptions (5.5-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio), has led them to two impressive wins against the Titans (who were undefeated at the time) and the Ravens (who are tough to manhandle/stop) and is the general of the last undefeated team in the league. He deserves credit where credit is due and that credit is being accounted into the MVP convo.
Other players that could Mahomes a run for his money that are not named Rodgers, Wilson, and Roethlisberger include Kyler Murray, Josh Allen, and Tom Brady.
Do you believe Mahomes has taken over the MVP race after this week? Leave a comment down below with your thoughts!
Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day.
