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If there's one thing society seems to be becoming increasingly poor at, it's sharing — but in the interest of the season of giving, I'm here to make the case that Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson should be crowned co-MVPs and share the NFL's highest individual award this year.
Individually, they've both proven themselves invaluable to their franchises, which would each be nowhere without their superstar quarterbacks.
That's true of Joe Burrow as well, who actually has more impressive individual numbers than either Jackson or Allen this season, but Jackson and Allen have racked up the wins for their teams this season, while Burrow's Bengals had an overall off year (despite this late season surge).
So that's why we can eliminate Burrow from the discussion. It's also why we keep Josh Allen in the conversation, despite not having quite as illustrious a stat line as Lamar Jackson.
Lamar Jackson has the highest QBR in the league at 78.0, and 43 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Josh Allen, meanwhile, has a 76.7 QBR and 41 total touchdowns — which includes the receiving touchdown he shrewdly and memorably dove in for in the snow against the 49ers.
Lamar Jackson has 3,955 yards passing (second in the league only to Burrow), and 852 yards on the ground. Josh Allen has 3,731 yard through the air and 531 rushing yards.
But Allen's Bills boast the better record in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Buffalo.
However, in their only direct matchup this season, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens dealt Josh Allen and the Bills their worst loss of the year (although Allen has gotten the better of Jackson in the playoffs previously).
You see what's happening right? We could go around in circles all day arguing the merits between Allen versus Jackson.
And we haven't even gotten to the worthy case that Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry could make for the rare donning of the MVP to a running back (or two).
But two QBs sharing an MVP award would free up a spot for a running back to win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, which feels plenty generous enough for the current discussion.
And for those purists who think it's a crime against nature to have co-MVPs, deal with it — it's happened twice before already! Barry Sanders and Brett Favre were co-MVPs in 1997, and Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the award in 2003.
Those were simpler times, sure, but wouldn't it be nice to harken back to those more civilized times for a wee bit to bestow one coveted trophy on two worthy recipients in Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson? Here's hoping we can, in the interest of spreading the joy and love this holiday season.
