As the 2024 NFL season has progressed, it’s been a seeming certainty that one of two quarterbacks will win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award. Either Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens will win his third such award, or Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills will win his first. That race has been so tightly contested in the court of public opinion that it’s been suggested that Jackson and Allen each get a share of the award — something that’s happened exactly twice in pro football history. Barry Sanders and Brett Favre were Co-MVPs in 1997, and Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the award in 2003.
Well, after the Cincinnati Bengals’ 30-24 overtime win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday, quarterback Joe Burrow might have something to say about exactly where that award goes. Not only did Burrow drive his team to multiple game-winning drives in an extremely close contest that kept the Bengals in the playoff hunt, but there were times when he had to go against his own head coach to do it.
Because Zac Taylor, Cincinnati’s head coach, should have a lot to answer for when the way regulation ended is discussed.
With 2:38 left in regulation, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw an interception to linebacker Germaine Pratt, and the Bengals had the ball with the score 17-17. The idea at that point, of course, was to run as much time off the clock as possible, and still score. No time left for the Broncos to do anything about it, and the Bengals move to 8-8 on the season.
Instead, Taylor called for a quarterback sneak with 1:31 left in the game from the Denver one-yard line.
That Burrow scored on the play was nice and all, but with that much time left on the clock, the Broncos had the opportunity to drive down and tie the game. Which is exactly what they did with eight seconds left in the game. Had Taylor waited even one more play, it would have been academic. Instead, Nix threw this 25-yard dime to make it even.
Burrow was scuttled once again by his own team in overtime. With 2:49 left in the fifth quarter, kicker Cade York doinked a 33-yard field goal attempt off the left upright, and the game went on.
The Broncos went three-and-out on their subsequent drive, but it really didn’t matter to them — with a tie, they’d make the playoffs. It was going to be on Burrow to extricate his team from yet another problematic situation; something he’s done all season long.
Burrow was 3-of-4 for 47 yards and a touchdown (Spoiler alert!) on the Bengals’ final drive. He first hit Andrei Iosivas for a 16-yard gain, threw to Tee Higgins for a 31-yard completion two plays later, and then, hit Higgins for the three-yard game-winner. At that point, the Bengals were one minute and ten seconds away from the end of their season in a competitive sense, and Burrow willed them back.
By the way, none of Burrow’s 47 passing yards on that final drive came after the catch. It was all about him. As it has been all season.
There will be arguments against Burrow being in line for an MVP award when his team might not even make it to the postseason. The Bengals will need to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18, and even then, they’ll need help. But to minimize Burrow’s legitimacy for the award is to completely misunderstand the concept of player value.
Whether the Bengals end their regular season at 9-8 with a playoff run or not, or at 8-9 with no possibility of same, it could be credibly argued that without Burrow, they’d be a two- or three-win team at best.
The level at which Burrow has played with a limited run game, a leaky offensive line, and a defense that has vacillated from average to completely disastrous is certainly informative. Anyone who’s ever played at his level before has taken the prize.
