Drake Maye or Matthew Stafford? Where NFL MVP race stands at end of regular season.
The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams both knew heading into Sunday they are headed to the postseason. But one thing that is still to be determined is which quarterback could take home NFL MVP honors – second-year standout Drake Maye or veteran Matthew Stafford.
Maye and Stafford are widely seen as the leading MVP candidates.
The Rams finished the season with a 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday to end the year with a record of 12-5 and a wild-card berth. The Patriots, meanwhile, surprised many in the league this year. New England pulled away from the Miami Dolphins in the second half to close out the year at 14-3.
Maye led the Patriots to an AFC East title and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, while Stafford's Rams will be a wild-card team and the No. 5 seed.
Drake Maye vs. Matthew Stafford
For much of the year, Stafford has been the betting favorite to win the MVP. According to CBS Sports, that flipped last week when Stafford and Rams suffered a surprising upset Monday to the Atlanta Falcons. Stafford threw three interceptions in the game.
The disappointing performance came a day after Maye's career game against the lowly New York Jets. Maye completed 19 of 21 passes for 256 yards and five touchdowns, for a rating of 157.0.
By the end of Monday Night Football, Maye had overtaken Stafford in the betting markets despite having the lead over the young quarterback in yards and touchdowns.
On Sunday, Stafford was 25 for 40 for 259 yards and four touchdowns against the Cardinals. Maye, meanwhile was 14 of 18 for 191 yards and one touchdowns, and also rushed five times for 41 yards while sitting out almost the entire fourth quarter.
Stafford ends the regular season with 4,707 yards, 46 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. During his sophomore season, Maye had 4,394 yards, 31 passing touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Maye also rushed for 450 yards and four touchdowns on the year.
With Stafford's four touchdowns, the betting odds flipped back in his favor Sunday night, just slightly ahead of Maye.
Who will win MVP?
Though Stafford has the edge in yards and touchdowns, Maye has been outpacing him in QB rating, passer rating, completion percentage, and many advanced statistics.
Voters will also have to weigh other factors.
Maye's numbers have come against the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL, while Stafford competes in the NFC West, which will have three teams in the postseason.
On the flip side, Stafford has two elite wide receivers and a stellar offensive line, while Maye's No. 1 receiver is Stefon Diggs, who was coming off a torn ACL and is now 32 years old.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked Monday why he believes Maye should win MVP.
"He's extremely accurate. He's made the most of every passing opportunity. We've created a lot of X plays, and to create X plays it's about 30% scheme, it's about 70% of the players making a play and part of that is the quarterback putting it in a great location for run after catch. I think you continue to see that," Vrabel said. "His ability to extend, use his legs to gain first downs, critical first downs. His ability to score when we've asked him to score and run it in. He's been everything that we've asked and he continues to get better. He's not satisfied. So, I know that our success of where we are right now, today, has a lot to do with Drake Maye."
What experts are saying about NFL MVP
The MVP race was a hot topic on the final weekend of the NFL regular season.
During the NFL on CBS pregame show Sunday, Nate Burleson, Matt Ryan and Bill Cowher weighed in.
Burleson, who made clear that it wasn't just because Stafford is a former Lions teammate, said he would pick the Rams quarterback because of his consistency.
Ryan said he has gone back and forth, but would also pick Stafford because of the level of competition he's faced, adding that "He's done it against the best."
Cowher, meanwhile, went with Maye. The former Steelers coach highlighted was how impactful Maye has been getting first downs with his legs.
Before working the Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts game for CBS Sports, color commentator and former player J.J. Watt weighed in as well.
"My thing is valuable. If you took that guy off of their team, which team drops down further. For me right now, I feel like if you take Drake Maye off the Patriots they're dropping further down right now," Watt said.
Another voice of note to voice his opinion was Tom Brady, the former Patriots quarterback who is now the lead color commentator for FOX Sports. Brady is not an MVP voter this year, but was last year.
"Drake's got a long career ahead. I'm sure he's going to have many opportunities. I would say Matthew Stafford," Brady said.
The winner of the NFL MVP will be publicly announced on Thursday, February 5, during the NFL Honors broadcast in San Francisco, California.