Week 17:“We weathered the storm. We didn't think this was going to be easy” -Taylor
The Cincinnati Bengals took on the best team in the AFC and won. They let Joe Burrow cook and beat the Kansas City Chiefs who have made it to two straight Super Bowls. The Bengals fully took the national media by storm and put Cincinnati on the map for most NFL fans. This is no longer your Carson Palmer or Andy Dalton led Bengals. This team has swagger and a certain shine to them. The Bengals of the past would have crumbled if they were down 14 points at any point of a game. Now with Joe Burrow the Bengals are never out of a game. Burrow in his second season is proving why he was taken Number 1 overall in the 2020 draft. Taking over being the best QB in the AFC North, he should be winning Comeback Player of the Year and has legitimate MVP consideration.
As it sits on January 3rd the betting market has the MVP odds as Aaron Rodgers -400, Tom Brady +500 and Joe Burrow +1000. To put that in simple terms, if you placed $100 on each of these quarterbacks this is how much you win, Rogers $25, Brady $500, Burrow $1000. Those are the top three in the MVP odds after them there is a drop off. In this article I am going to lay out the stats on these three QB’s and maybe show why Burrow should be tighter than +1000. Below are the raw stats so far this season for these three QB’s.
There are three major things that stick out for the MVP frontrunners. Aaron Rodgers TD to INT ratio, Tom Brady’s attempts, and Burrow’s Completion % and Yards per attempt. When looking at these numbers Aaron Rodgers is the clear cut MVP candidate. Rodgers TD to INT ratio is so staggering that it pops off the page. That is the main reason Rodgers is so far ahead of the other two. I don’t believe there is any way you can debate if Rodgers should win or not. The thing that confuses me is why hasn't Burrow moved to second in voting.
Brady has over 10 more attempts per game over the other two quarterbacks. That leads to Brady having a higher yardage and TD over the other two. If you match every quarterback's attempts across the board it makes for easy viewing.
Now I know I am skewing data to prove a point but look at Burrow’s yardage. Burrow’s completion percentage this year coupled with his yards per attempt is the real difference. I know there is no chance Burrow wins, all I am saying is maybe Joe Burrow should be higher than +1000 and might deserve to be second in MVP voting. Regardless of what happens with the voting this season, Joe Burrow has to be a favorite for future MVP’s.
Joe Burrow is the change the Bengals team and organization needed. The culture has shifted so far that people are going to come to Cincinnati. The win over Kansas City will be the validation players need to know why they want to be in Cincinnati. Teams “win” the off season when they get great players on cheap contracts. Last offseason the Bengals saw the likes of Trey Hendrickson, Mike Hilton, Riley Reiff, and Larry Ogonjobi come to Cincinnati because of Burrow. They came with a sample size of 9 ½ games from Burrow that ended with a torn ACL and MCL. What will happen after the NFL sees Burrow finish 2nd in MVP voting and leading the Bengals to the playoffs. The story can only get better this season and the future for the Cincinnati Bengals is so bright. This might sound crazy for most Cincinnatians, but this team can win a Super Bowl. The people from Cincinnati need to start realizing this.
