Josh Allen enters a bye week as the MVP favorite following a statement win over the Chiefs, while Philly’s Jalen Hurts — also on a bye in Week 7 — attempts to chase him down.
In the rematch of January’s AFC Divisional Round, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills got the best of Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6. With AFC supremacy on the line, Allen led an impressive 12-play, 76-yard game-winning drive to not only beat the Chiefs 24-20 but also snap Kansas City’s eight-game home winning streak. Of course, he also provided us a “how-did-he-do-that” moment with this hurdle over a Kansas City defender.
Allen entered into the season as the MVP favorite, and his performance in Week 6 only further cemented that status to date. It wasn’t his best game statistically, but it was impressive enough to continue justifying the hype surrounding not only him but also the Bills as Super Bowl favorites. (Buffalo boasts the best odds currently to win it all at +290 at FanDuel Sportsbook.)
Unless Allen suddenly and strangely experiences a dip in form, it appears as if the AFC will run through upstate New York, and there’s likely nothing Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, or anyone else can do about it.
Maybe not even Jalen Hurts, who led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 26-17 victory over the Dak Prescott-less Cowboys to remain undefeated on the year. Like Allen, it wasn’t Hurts’ best game of the season, but his efforts allowed him to jump his Kansas City and Baltimore counterparts in the race for MVP.
With all that said, let’s see where everyone’s current MVP odds stand heading into Week 7.
2022 NFL MVP Odds: Week 7
All odds are via FanDuel Sportsbook as of Oct. 18 following the end of Week 6 and are subject to change.
- Bills QB Josh Allen: +150
- Eagles QB Jalen Hurts: +460
- Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes: +500
- Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: +850
- Chargers QB Justin Herbert: +1600
- Bengals QB Joe Burrow: +2400
Alright, so there are a couple of notable changes from last week’s standings. As previously mentioned, Hurts, who was in fourth place last week with +600 odds of winning his first MVP, jumped into second place with a +460 probability. It helped that Mahomes and Jackson both picked up losses while the Eagles went 6-0, but nonetheless, it’s worth noting.
The range between Hurts and Allen is vast, but the sportsbook gods are paying attention to what Hurts is doing in Philly. Perhaps it’s time we start taking his chances seriously.
Mahomes dipped into third, but he’s not far off from Hurts. Is he performing at the level we’re expecting of him? Absolutely not. But, Mahomes is still an elite-level play-caller and can regain his second-place standing if Kansas City returns to its winning ways this weekend against the 49ers.
Looking ahead to Jan. 29, 2023, should the Chiefs and Bills meet again in the AFC Championship, are we convinced enough they are this generation’s Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivalry? Not so fast, says Mahomes.
“We’re two guys that love to compete. We love to go out there and try to find a way to will our team to win,” he said during a Monday appearance on The Drive on Audacy’s 610 Sports Radio. “The Brady-Manning [comparisons], we’ve still got a long ways to go. Brady-Manning didn’t become Brady-Manning until they were kind of towards the latter part of their careers because they had already won so many championships and MVPs and everything like that.”
It may not be nearing Brady-Manning levels (yet), but we can all agree it’s going to be a lot of fun watching the two duel it out for the next several years.
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