Quote:
Originally Posted by RunKC
Don’t want Mahomes to win MVP. Give it to Gurley.
It’s been a goddamn curse to win MVP lately. That means you lose the SB.
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https://theathletic.com/625849/2018/...edictions-mvp/
It’s Week 9 of the NFL season, which means it’s time to hand out some totally meaningless hardware! We’ve seen a half season’s worth of action, and our local and national NFL writers and editors used that sample size to vote on a midseason MVP, a most surprising team, a winner of the Super Bowl and more for the 2018 season. We had 30 voters in total, and while there were some runaways (hi, MVP and offensive rookie of the year!), the other category centered on rookies was decidedly more divisive — it took a tiebreaking vote to pick a winner between Darius Leonard and Derwin James. You can see our picks for all eight categories below:
MVP: PATRICK MAHOMES, QB, CHIEFS
Mahomes received 21 out of 30 votes. Also receiving votes: Todd Gurley (8), Jared Goff (1).
Much like he’s been doing to opposing defenses this year, Patrick Mahomes dominated The Athletic’s midseason MVP voting. Which is saying a lot considering this is a field of hefty competition: Gurley and Goff are an unstoppable duo as they lead the undefeated Rams toward the postseason, and Drew Brees, who continues to shatter records seemingly every week, didn’t even receive a vote here. That’s because Mahomes, at least throughout the first half of the year, appears to be on another planet. Yes, he has elite weapons in Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt, but Mahomes leads the league in passing yards (2,526), and passing touchdowns (26 — nine more than Goff and 10 more than Tom Brady), and in his first eight games as the full-time starter has transformed the Chiefs’ offense into one of the most dangerous and dynamic in the league.
Most Surprising Team: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
The Chiefs received 14 of 30 votes. Also receiving votes: Washington (8), Chargers (3), Bears (2), Jaguars — “surprising in a bad way” (1), Seahawks (1), Texans (1).
Did we expect Pat Mahomes and the Andy Reid-led Kansas City Chiefs to be good again? Yes. Did we expect them to be offensive juggernauts who are putting up a league-high 36.2 points per game and routinely mowing down their opponents? We decidedly did not.
Super Bowl Winner: LOS ANGELES RAMS
The Rams received 17 of 30 votes. Also receiving votes: Patriots (6), Saints (6), Chiefs (1).
We’re only at the midseason point, so who knows, the Rams could completely collapse over the second half of the season. But it certainly doesn’t look likely. Some combination of the Chiefs’ leaky defense and their horrendous postseason history stopped our voters from expressing any confidence in them getting to Atlanta this year. The Saints, who are arguably the most complete team in the league, tied with the reliable pick of the Patriots at 6 votes, but the undefeated Rams win this category comfortably. We’ll see how things progress over the next eight weeks, but right now, an undefeated team with Aaron Donald on defense, Todd Gurley and Jared Goff on offense and Sean McVay running the show seems pretty hard to bet against.