Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen led his squad to a victory in a 48-42 shootout against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Allen threw for 362 yards, completing 23 of his 34 pass attempts, and connected with Ray Davis and Khalil Shakir in the end zone for two touchdowns. Allen also rushed for 68 yards and an additional two scores on the ground. Through his 14 starts this season, Allen has racked up 3,395 passing yards, finding the end zone 25 times with only five interceptions. His 79.4 QBR leads the NFL. Allen has also picked up an additional 11 touchdowns on the ground, (which is seventh-most in the NFL) en route to his 484 rushing yards. His 3,818 total yards of offense is third in the NFL. Allen also has a receiving touchdown on the year, just for kicks. Leading the Bills to an 11-3 record, Allen has awarded the Chiefs their sole loss of the season, in a come-from-behind victory where he out-dueled Patrick Mahomes. Allen has led the Bills to posting 30 points in 11 out of their 14 matches. Interestingly enough, the three sub-30 performances come in consecutive weeks, from Week 4 to Week 6. Allen is heating up as the season goes on as well, as between the air and the ground he has 13 touchdowns in his previous three matchups.
The biggest challengers to Allen are likely Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, with Detroit’s Jared Goff still having an outside chance if the last three weeks of the season fall his way.
For Barkley, he’s having a monster season in his first year as the Eagles’ lead back. He leads the NFL in rushing yards (1,688), rushing yards per game (120.6), and has over a 300 yard advantage in scrimmage yards (1,964). Barkley is also top 10 in touchdowns on the season with 13. He’s been the main cog for an Eagles offense that has helped bring them to a 12-2 record on the season.
For the reigning MVP in Jackson, he leads the NFL in touchdown percentage (8.4%), yards per pass attempt (8.9), and passer rating (120.7). His Ravens have had an up-and-down season in a very tough AFC North, but they are looking poised for a playoff spot with their 9-5 record. Jackson’s also picked up an additional 743 yards on the ground with three touchdowns, and leads the NFL with 6.4 yards per rushing attempt.
For Goff, the name of the game is volume and team success. Goff is second in the NFL with 3,759 yards (the most of any viable MVP candidate). He’s fourth in the NFL with 30 passing touchdowns, and his Detroit Lions are 12-2. Unfortunately for Goff, his Week 9 performance against the Texans put a big damper in the momentum of his MVP case, as he threw five interceptions (half of his current total on the season). Goff did have a strong performance on Sunday against Allen, posting a season-high 494 passing yards and five touchdowns in spite of the loss.
The MVP is seemingly Allen’s to lose, but with over 50 NFL games left to play this season, truly anything can happen. The Bills close out the season with two matchups against the Patriots sandwiching a game against the Jets. Both defenses have been in the bottom-half this season, and while the Jets ended a two-month interception-less drought on Sunday, it’s a defensive unit that has been depleted by injuries. (It is important to note, however, that the Jets are one of the three defensive units to hold Allen under 30 points this season). As for the Patriots, they are surrendering 29.25 points per game over their last four matchups.