With the 2022 NFL regular season winding down, the race for the MVP award is heating up, and one thing that helps decide who will win it is how well a player’s team performs, especially in big games during December and January.
Through Week 15, Pro Football Focus’ rating system has identified three quarterbacks as being above all the rest, and the three it has identified are not exactly a surprise.
The highest-graded QBs after Week 15 🎯 pic.twitter.com/Ufpv9c4EpH
— PFF (@PFF) December 20, 2022
And Then There Were Three
Last season, there was a feeling that perhaps opposing defenses were starting to figure out Patrick Mahomes, but his numbers have seen a bump this season.
Through 14 contests, he has put up 4,496 passing yards and 35 passing touchdowns, both of which are league-highs, while his passer rating has improved from 98.5 in 2021 to 105.0 this year.
Some wondered if losing speedster wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was arguably his favorite target, would hurt him and his Kansas City Chiefs, but they have done just fine without him, as they have rolled up an 11-3 record.
Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills also have an 11-3 record, which has tied them with the Chiefs for the best mark in the AFC, and the two teams seem to be on a collision course that could result in an AFC Championship Game showdown.
Mahomes is the best at making something out of nothing, but Allen is better at manufacturing yardage by himself, as evidenced by his 705 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Joe Burrow lacks Mahomes’ showmanship and Allen’s physical gifts, but he just consistently produces, and as a result, the 10-4 Cincinnati Bengals simply keep winning, which has led some to proclaim that he’s the next Tom Brady.
That talk is premature, but if Burrow racks up a world championship or two in the next few years, such talk may not be that blasphemous after all.
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