NFL 2018/19: Predicting the NFL Honours for the 2018 Regular Season

MVP and Offensive Player of the Year

Mahomes threw 50 TD passes in his first year as a starter for the Kansas City Chiefs

It is a two-headed race for this year’s MVP honours and the runner-up is going away with the OPOY honours. That is why I have both these awards in a single slide here.

It is almost inhuman that an interior defensive lineman who created a record for most number of sacks in the NFL history is not even a Top 3 candidate for the MVP award. Aaron Donald is having one of the best seasons by a defensive player but might just crack into top 5 of the MVP conversation. He is probably not even the most valuable of his team, such is the power of the offence and how quarterback play has taken over the league.

Now on to the MVP discussion, it is currently a toss-up between the two dynamic QBs; Saints’ Drew Brees and Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. Both opened up the season with such an offensive plunge that it took almost 10 weeks for defences to figure out a way to handle these QBs.

It is almost certain at this point that the runner-up for MVP award is the OPOY. There are cases for and against both the players to be named as MVP.

Mahomes, who received his first first-team All-Pro selection, with his first season as a full-fledged starter took the league and his own fans by surprise. Mahomes showed everyone why Andy Reid made the right move by trading up to draft him. He ranks atop in most major statistics. Even with such a dynamic play from Mahomes how much has the Chiefs improved overall from last season? Zero Percent.

The offence has always been good. Yes, they didn’t take many deep shots with Alex Smith running the show but he still kept the drives going and kept the opposing offence at bay along with the vulnerable Chiefs defence on the sidelines.

Mahomes explosion has opened up the glaring holes in the Chiefs defence, which has been exploited by many teams and will be taken advantage of by almost all offences that play in the postseason.

The Saints, on the other hand, started the season on a disappointing note losing to Tampa Bay but then went on a 10-game winning streak with Brees slinging the rock. Looking at the level Brees was playing this season it really makes you wonder how he did not win the MVP award not even once in his illustrious career.

Brees, a future Hall of Fame member, had another fantastic campaign

Brees, like Mahomes, had numerous weapons, an offensive mastermind in coach and broke numerous records in 2018 but the big difference could be seen in the quality of wins those two have.

Brees led seven game-winning drives with six fourth-quarter comebacks, while Mahomes only had two of those each. Also, Brees is 6-1 against winning teams while Mahomes is 3-4.

Based on the above stats on any given season Brees would be named MVP, but Mahomes should win the MVP because he defied odds by having a record-breaking season in his very first season as a full-fledged starter. Mahomes became the second QB in history to throw for 50 TD passes and reach 5000 passing yards in the same season, joining Peyton Manning.

Brees almost had his hands on the most coveted MVP title but Mahomes probably snatched it right from under his nose.

MVP: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

OPOY: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints