Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson: The Thrilling MVP Battle

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00:00what we do. Let's get after the future. Let's talk about MVP because the gap is starting to

00:04narrow a little bit. Josh Allen's still probably most likely the MVP we've seen. It's Josh Allen's

00:10turn. This is what we do. But statistically speaking, Lamar has really closed that gap.

00:16Right now, Josh Allen was, let me just, a week ago at this time, a prohibitive favorite,

00:22way more in the minus. Right now, that minus has slipped all the way to minus 250 here,

00:27and Lamar Jackson plus 180. So there is some value here with Lamar. So what's the script we

00:32could write where Lamar would overtake him and actually win this award? Well, it would be a loss

00:36today at home against the Chance. That would be it. That would certainly do it. Maybe all of a

00:43sudden give people some pause here at the very end. And if Lamar Jackson next week can somehow

00:48will this Ravens team back into the top of this division, which considering how things have gone

00:53for the Pittsburgh Steelers the last few weeks, and that performance and standalone football last

00:59Saturday that Lamar put on quite a show against the Steelers at home, I think that all goes a very

01:04long way. So I don't think this race is quite over yet. I still think it's clearly, as the Vegas line

01:10is telling you, Josh Allen's to lose, but it's also Lamar Jackson's to win potentially. So don't

01:16count him out quite yet, but it is a really good MVP race. And statistically speaking, I think you

01:24still have to look at Lamar as the better statistical quarterback. If we're talking about

01:28vibes and we're talking about feel and we're talking about Josh Allen putting a team on his

01:32back without any other superstars, and that's what he's doing. You know, I think what hurts

01:36Lamar Jackson is the greatness of Derrick Henry. And that's unfortunate because it's making you

01:42take for granted the greatness of Lamar Jackson. Do you find any of that to be true at all this year?

01:48That's an apt statement, 100%. And when you look at the production from both

01:54from the respective running backs, from Cook and Henry, most people are going to tell you,

01:58I want Henry, I want Henry because of the name on the back of the jersey. But Cook has been

02:02really solid as well, but no one is saying that Cook is eating into Allen's value. So that has

02:06a lot to do with name value and recognition. So I'm with you 100%. Derrick Henry standing in that

02:11backfield definitely is the reason that Lamar Jackson sits at a plus number. The next one on

02:16this list, Joe, is an interesting one here because of the fact that Jalen Hurts is out. So now what

02:21does that mean for running back play? Saquon Barkley to break the single-season rushing record

02:25is 21-06 or more. It sits at plus 210. Do you think Barkley is in line to do it considering

02:32the matchup he has this week and next week? I don't. I think he will get over 2,000 yards,

02:38but I think this would be foolish potentially. Now, it's one thing if he breaks a big play,

02:44has a big run in one of these games, that's going to make a big difference here. So he's got the

02:47Cowboys this week, next week against the New York Giants. So that's what gives me pause about this

02:54because there is some sort of perfect storm cycle. You're in Philadelphia against your old team,

03:01the Giants, to set the record and a team that really has nothing to play for too.

03:05It sounds like a script, again, another Hallmark movie kind of scenario that we're putting out

03:11here. But at what cost? And if Nick Sirianni is smart, and I know there's a lot of people around

03:16the NFL circles that are questioning the intelligence of times and the decision-making

03:20of Nick Sirianni, I'm putting Saquon Barkley in bubble wrap. I am trying my best to make

03:26sure that I have him ready for the first round of the playoffs or if I get the number one seed

03:30second round of the playoffs. Can I make sure that I'm very careful with Saquon and budget him?

03:35He is at 1838 right now to get to 2106. Certainly far from impossible, but I think one that you've

03:43got to be very careful of. Records are great, championships are better. So I think that's

03:47why we're getting two to one. I think it's a perfectly good wager, but at the same time,

03:51I don't think it's something that I am locking in, like it's automatically going to happen.

03:56In the last one too, another person chasing history. We talked about it last week on the

04:00show. We're going to update you. Plus 110 to keep the streak alive from Mike Evans

04:03to record a thousand yard receiving season yet again. Currently he is at 818. So we'll see if

04:10he can get there. He is two games away from a thousand. Again, very achievable. He's got to

04:15get about 88 in these next two games each to get there.

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