Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is being touted as a hot candidate to be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player this season. And there is nothing wrong with that.
But there is one problem with his resume. And he knows it.
He has entered the competition along with the likes of Lamar Jackson of Baltimore and Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia and your Buffalo Bills’ own Josh Allen.
The Cincinnati star – has vowed to win the award over the course of his career – “I’ll win one one day,” he said this week – is among the betting favorites to be named MVP.
But the Bills quarterback Allen and the Ravens quarterback Jackson and the Eagles running back Barkley all have something Burrow does not have.
“I doubt it,’ Burrow said when asked this week about getting enough votes to finish No. 1. “Usually you have to win your division.”
Aha. Indeed. Or, to put a sharper point on it: Usually, to be the MVP, your team has to be good. Otherwise, the argument goes, if you’re so “valuable,” why is your team bad?”