Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow inserted himself right back in the MVP conversation after beating the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in December.
Since then, he’s reinforced that position by adding a couple more wins to what’s now a six-game winning streak.
Following big news in the NFL, Burrow’s odds of winning the coveted award just got significantly better this week.
Jalen Hurts -who recently was the odds-on favorite to win the award- is expected to miss at least two games with a right shoulder injury.
Considering how tight the race for MVP in the NFL is, that was enough to knock the Eagles QB off of the top spot.
Disclaimer: Hurts being injured sucks for the NFL. He’s been an absolute baller this season and we shouldn’t celebrate his injury in any way. But this undeniably has an impact on the Bengals QB’s chances of winning MVP.
Now, the leading candidates for MVP look like this:
Patrick Mahomes -350
Josh Allen +550
Jalen Hurts +550
Joe Burrow +600
Although the Bengals quarterback ranks fourth in the above list, he holds a particular advantage here.
Sure, the MVP should be handed to the most valuable player, we know how big of a role the storyline plays in the whole thing.
Burrow and the Bengals; 1) beat the Chiefs already and 2) will face the Buffalo Bills in Week 17.
Now that Cincinnati is in a position to win the AFC North, that makes it even more of a legit candidate for the recognition.
In other words, you could argue that Burrow has a high degree of control over his own “MVP destiny.” That probably is the last of the Bengals’ concerns right now but it speaks volumes of Joe’s season to even be in the conversation at this stage of the season.
