The Super Bowl has come and gone. The NFL announcement of the Most Valuable Player Award winner went with it. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was the favorite to win his third consecutive MVP award.
But he was robbed.
The award ended up going to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Don’t get me wrong, Allen posted impressive numbers throughout the season:
Completions: 307 of 483
Passing Yards: 3,731
Passing Touchdowns: 28
Interceptions: 6
Rushing Yards: 531
Rushing Touchdowns: 12
Allen led the Bills to the No.2 seed in the AFC and as we all know, they ended the Ravens season in the divisional round of the playoffs at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo. An argument can be made that Allen’s supporting cast was inferior to that of Jackson’s in Baltimore.
However, the supporting cast was never a detriment to past MVPs such as Joe Montana. Why was it for Jackson?
Sure, running back Derrick Henry was a key part of the Ravens success. Henry finished just short of 2,000 rushing yards (1,921) and 16 touchdowns. Jackson benefited from that no doubt. But Henry also benefited from Jackson because he always required a defender to focus on the quarterback making it truly 11 on 1q football.
“Lamar [Jackson] is what makes this team go, and he’s the reason why we still had a chance, so I’d tell him the same thing; hold his head high. He’s a Hall of Fame player, had a great season,” Henry said.
Jackson’s 2024 season was one of the best statistical outputs ever by a quarterback:
• First QB ever to throw for 4,000+ yards and rush for 900+ yards
• First QB ever to have 40+ pass TD and fewer than 5 INT
• 119.6 passer rating, 4th best in NFL history
The MVP race was extremely close. Allen narrowly beat Jackson for the prize. Here’s how the voting played out:
Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills) – 383 points (27 first-place votes)
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) – 362 points (23 first-place votes)
Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles) – 120 points
Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals) – 82 points
Jared Goff (Detroit Lions) – 47 points
Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) – 31 points
Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders) – 8 points
Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers) – 6 points
Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals) – 6 points
Sam Darnold (Minnesota Vikings) – 3 points
Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – 2 points
Jackson was good enough to be first-team All Pro at quarterback, ahead of Allen, but somehow wasn’t impactful enough to be named MVP.