NFL MVP: Sportsbooks have Patrick Mahomes as the leader, but a Week 17 Bengals-Bills showdown could make things interesting

The NFL’s regular season is winding down, and a lot remains unresolved. This includes determining which teams will fill out the Wild Card spots, who will get the first-round byes and which players have played themselves into being award winners.

For most NFL fans, the race for the Most Valuable Player Award is the juiciest of them all. And with two games left in the season, it feels like a four-player race.

The four players with the shortest MVP odds, according to BetMGM, are all quarterbacks. Patrick Mahomes is the leader of the pack with -500 odds, followed by Joe Burrow (+600), Jalen Hurts (+900) and Josh Allen (+1000).

MVP odds, via BetMGM:

Patrick Mahomes -500
Joe Burrow +600
Jalen Hurts +900
Josh Allen +1000

— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) December 26, 2022

Hurts’ health is something to pay attention to. After leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 13-1 start, he missed the most recent game with a shoulder injury (which Philly lost), and could see his odds worsen if he misses another game.

Burrow and Allen are set to face off against one another in what should be an incredible Monday Night Football game between the AFC’s third-seeded Cincinnati Bengals and the conference’s top-seeded Buffalo Bills. The game will impact the race for a first-round bye, so expect the winning team’s quarterback (assuming both quarterbacks play well) to gain an edge in the MVP race heading into Week 18.

As for Mahomes, it feels like his award to lose. The Chiefs play two division opponents (Broncos and Raiders) that they should be able to take care of rather easily. Mahomes could potentially run through the tape and capture his second MVP if they do so.