Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to a dominating 35-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 13. The Bills are now 10-2 on the season and have won their last seven games.
Allen is the favorite to win the MVP award, and it seems probable that he will finally win his first big accolade in the NFL. However, NFL legend Richard Sherman believes that Saquon Barkley has a better case for winning the award than the Bills star.
Richard Sherman Picks Saquon Barkley Over Josh Allen for MVP
In a segment on “The Richard Sherman Podcast,” the Super Bowl-winning cornerback stressed Allen’s stats and said that he isn’t having an extraordinary season. Barkley, on the other hand, is having a historic season, which should not allow Allen to be a runaway favorite to win the MVP.
Sherman mentioned that the 28-year-old quarterback had much better stats last year, and instead, Lamar Jackson won the MVP. Since Allen is not having as good of a statistical season this year, he should not be such a big favorite over Barkley.
“I just don’t understand it,” Sherman said. “I’m not talking about anything but the numbers, guys; just like I was last year when I said Lamar, with 24 passing touchdowns, is gonna be the MVP? And they told me ‘Yes.’ … Like, if you look at it and you say, hey, completion percentage, does [Allen] lead the league? Is he top five? No. Passing yards? Same, no. Passing touchdowns? No.”
"I just don't understand it"@RSherman_25 can't make sense of Josh Allen being the runaway favorite for MVP pic.twitter.com/9jhthfmrJk
— Richard Sherman Podcast (@RShermanPodcast) December 3, 2024
Allen is averaging 224.3 passing yards per game, his worst since his second year in the league. He has limited turnovers and is taking fewer sacks, but that has come at the expense of more explosive plays that we grew accustomed to.
But that has helped the Bills in winning games. They have already won the AFC East, which is a remarkable achievement, considering they lost players like Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, and Gabe Davis in the offseason. Buffalo could end up with the first seed in the AFC, and if that happens, Allen will have a big reason to win the MVP.
Breaking Eric Dickerson’s Record Could Help Barkley Win the MVP
In 12 games this year, Barkley has rushed for 1,499 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 124.9 rushing yards per game. If he continues at this pace, Barkley will end up with 2,123 rushing yards this year, breaking the NFL’s all-time single-season rushing yards record set by Eric Dickerson (2,105) in 1984.
If Barkley can break that record and his team continues to win games, he will have a much better claim to win the MVP over Allen, even if the Bills finish with the best record in the league.
Three-time Super Bowl champion Tedy Bruschi also recently said that the Philadelphia Eagles star’s best chance of winning the MVP is by breaking Dickerson’s record.
The Eagles are currently on an eight-game winning streak and have a chance of finishing as the first seed in the NFC. Barkley has been their best player this year, which is why the MVP race between him and Allen should be much closer than what the odds suggest.