by Patrick Mahomes is the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, which means he should be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player — clear logic that doesn’t always apply to the awards show. The MVP isn’t just an end-of-season vote; It’s a topic of discussion starting in September, for better or worse, and as such it’s being treated as a dramatic show rather than an honest assessment of player values. Mahomes is the best player in the league. He is the most valuable for his team. That should really be all the discussion we need.
That was evident again on Saturday as the entire league took an ice bath and Mahomes, predictably, performed his usual individual medley of brilliance. He was the main reason the Chiefs built a 17-0 lead over the Seahawks before winning 24-10. He’s the main reason the Chiefs are now 12-3 and could play in their third Super Bowl in four years. Don’t punish him for having done this before.
Mahomes sealed the victory over the Seahawks with three daggers. Appearing under pressure, he fired a fastball into Travis Kelce’s hands for 20 yards. He hit another open kelce for 52 more. A few games later, in third place, Mahomes scrambled to the right and dove into the end zone in the kind of game that so often ends with you Think the player has scored a goal when a knee or elbow actually touched the ground. But because Mahomes’ body control is out of this world, he somehow managed to rest all of his weight on his left hand while his body was horizontal, allowing him to hit the cone with the football for a touchdown. It was one of those Mahomes plays that should really make you think: “God, imagine if Peyton Manning ever even would.” tries to do something like that,” but Mahomes is so casually brilliant we just shrug.
Mahomes has made it his mission to make the incredible look a routine.
Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports
Mahomes is the legitimate MVP. Can we use a little common sense here? Statistical, visual, contextual – however you do the math, the answer is Mahomes. When the Chiefs traded the league’s most explosive receiver, Tyreek Hill, they were banking on Mahomes to pick the difference, and it was an extremely safe bet. His lead rusher is Isiah Pacheco. His top two wide receivers, Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdez-Scantling, are familiar names to fans, but the Steelers and Packers are two of the better-run organizations in the league, and they were willing to let those two guys go without much one Battle.
Let’s not make it more complicated than necessary. Is there anyone outside of Philadelphia – or even in Philadelphia – who seriously would rather have Jalen Hurts than Mahomes? This is not a knock on hurts! He was great. “I’d rather have Patrick Mahomes” is not an insult. But come on. Put Mahomes on the Eagles and they would still have the best season of any team. Put hurts on the Chiefs and there would be a dropoff.
Hurts is the narrative MVP. He’s the hot name, the fresh story. Hurts putting the Eagles back in contention is a far more interesting story than Mahomes keeping the Chiefs there. This doesn’t mean that Hurts is actually a more valuable player than Mahomes.
Dollar for dollar, Hurts – who’s still stuck in his rookie deal – is more valuable than Mahomes. But the award is Most Valuable Player, not Most Valuable Contract. The contractual difference between the two actually explains why Mahomes was more valuable. Hurts’ low salary gives the Eagles about $40 million more to spend on the rest of the roster. That difference is partly why the Eagles were able to add an elite receiver (AJ Brown) last spring, while the Chiefs decided to trade Hill rather than sign him for an extension. Eagles manager Howie Roseman has built the most complete team in the NFL around Hurts.
Josh Allen of The Bills was great too, and you could argue – based on a bigger body of work than Hurts spawned – that you’d rather have Allen on your team than Mahomes. But Mahomes was better this year. Allen has a greater margin for error and has at times been a little too eager to take advantage of it.
Who else? Tua Tagavailoa is having a wonderful year and confirms the belief many of us had in him when he came from Alabama, but he’s obviously not as good as Mahomes, despite what Hill said offseason. Micah Parson is a spoilsport, but he’s not as valuable as Mahomes.
MVP debates are fun, but sometimes they’re so much fun that the argument overwhelms common sense. You see that in every sport. Voters go deaf to eternal greatness and bend over backwards to justify voting for someone else as the best player. Michael Jordan won five MVP awards and should have won more. LeBron James has won four and should have won more. (Baseball voters used to be their worst at voting for history rather than best player, but they’ve gotten so statistics-conscious they don’t do it nearly as often.)
Mahomes won an MVP award in 2018, his first season as a Kansas City starter. He was fresh history and the best player in the league that year. Now his numbers aren’t quite as incredible, but he’s probably a better player because he’s learned to manage risks without trying to eliminate them entirely. His two interceptions against the Bills that year made the point. Buffalo made great defensive plays, but Mahomes said afterwards that he can live with that. There are many great players in the NFL. Mahomes was the best of them and he should be MVP.
