By Brandon Simmons
Josh Allen MVP Pick of the Month
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has entered a rather quiet MVP chat. Sunday, he led his team to victory over the Detroit Lions on the strength of his 4 total touchdowns – 2rushing and 2 passing. Just last week, in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Allen put up 6 total TD’s, with 3 rushing and throwing a piece.
The only thing those stats will do for Allen in the MVP race is make him a speed bump in Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s road to the award. If the MVP race seems quiet as mentioned, that’s probably because it seems to be a foregone conclusion that Jackson, or Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, would win the award. Allen just came along recently with these performances – and they are impressive – but it seems like it might be too attached to the moment to really put him high on that conversation. Hell, Allen doesn’t even rank above Jackson in categories for passing yards, touchdowns or even rushing yards. Jackson also already had two games with 5 touchdown passes and 0 picks, most recently the 2nd instance of the game coming this past Sunday. At most, Allen is the perfect dark horse in this MVP race but that’s all he will be for right now.
Mahomes Ankle Injury
Kansas City Chiefs have withstood a lot of obstacles but are looking at their potentially tallest task yet. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain in Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns. He exited the game in the 4th quarter and was replaced by backup QB Carson Wentz. All of this is happening as the Chiefs prepare to face the Houston Texans this Saturday then turn around and play a Christmas game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kansas City should be concerned but probably not as much. As of right now, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter is reporting that the injury is not that serious. Also, the Chiefs have dealt with Mahomes having this same injury as recent as the 2022 divisional playoffs, against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mahomes ended up leaving the game but came back the next week to beat the Cincinatti Bengals in the AFC title game then the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. While this is not the playoffs, things are just as crucial. The Chiefs have the AFC West locked but sitting behind the Buffalo Bills for the number one seed. If things were to stay the way they are, then KC would be number 2, and have one home playoff game then go on the road the rest of the way, possibly into Buffalo, simila to last year’s title run. However, a healthy Mahomes gives them a chance to go after the one seed, something they might desperately need by the way they have played this year. Without Mahomes, you’re likely going to kiss that 2 seed goodbye, possibly dropping to 4th.
An ideal scenario would be to have your run game and defense carry this Chiefs team through Saturday and the Christmas game. You can have Mahomes start, limit opportunities for him to be mobile, but defenses will pick up on that from the start of the game and force all types of disruption in the offense. Wentz has been a starter in this league and should provide some stability s QB for a couple of games, should things not line up with Mahomes’ recovery.
How Much Will Montgomery Affect the Lions?
Speaking of injuries, the Detroit Lions may have had a loss just as big. Lions running back David Montgomery suffered a sprained MCL in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. For obvious reasons, the Chiefs having an injured Patrick Mahomes is tough, but this loss for the Lions could be damaging to their title. Detroit is built off of a balanced offense, which is fueled by their “Sonic and Knuckles” backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery. Montgomery was the physical component of this duo and able to convert on short yardage downs. That is going to be crucial in not only extending drives or wearing down defenses, but also keeping Lions QB Jared Goff from getting too pas happy. If he throws over 28 attempts, Lions usually lose, such as they did on Sunday with Goff’s 59 attepts. The Lions do have weapons elsewhere in wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, but also tight end Sam laPorta. If they can find a running back to fill that role that Montgomery left then they should have things remain on track.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings. Last week, the Hall of Fame wide receiver revealed that he was being treated for cancer. Doctors found a form of cancer between his liver and pancreas right outside of his bile duct. Many figures from around the sports world and beyond that, posted their thoughts and prayers for the legend. Monday, before the Vikings hosted the Chicago Bears, former Vikings wide receivers Jake Reed and Cris Carter walked on the field with the team captains to the coin toss, each holding a white Moss jersey. Later on, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson catches a touchdown, does his celebration, looks into the camera and says, “We love you Randy!! That’s for you!!” It goes without saying what Randy Moss means to the sports world as well as past that. Moss has already been treated for this, saying he spent 6 days in the hospital and had surgery. Prayers to the legend for a full recovery.
Shut out to De’Vandre Campbell for clocking out when he wasn’t supposed. The San Francisco 49er linebacker has been starting in place of Niner linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who made his season debut this past Thrusday, against the Los Angeles Rams. Greenlaw has been out all season recovering from an achilles injury suffered in the Super Bowl last season. Apparently, Campbell walked off during the 3rd quarter and never returned to the game. Many of his teammates blasted him during the postgame, after Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed. It’s no way to defend what he did, and it gets even more despicable knowing that he is playing alongside players going thru things that would give them every right to check out but they didn’t. Niners decided not to him and gave him a 3 game suspension instead.
Week 16 is here with all the holiday hype. The Saturday games will actually be the best matchups of the entire week. It starts with the Houston Texans visiting the Kansas City Chiefs. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes may or may not be in this game but KC will need this win to stay fighting for the number one seed. The Baltimore Ravens host the Pittsburgh Steelers later that day. This game is going to pretty much decide who gets the NFC North crown. So this should make the matchup more intense than it already was going to be. But until then…I’ll holla.
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