NFL News NFL Honors discussion

Dorito Dink said:

If we win the Super Bowl, and especially if we win and Drake gets SB MVP, then it does not matter.

If we lose, it's a real kick in the teeth. Not saying Stafford was undeserving, but it's just wrong that Maye didn't win.

Drake:
- #1 in EPA/play
- #1 Total EPA
- #1 QBR
- #1 Passer rating
- #1 Completion %
- #1 Yards per attempt (if you couple this with the #1 in completion %, you realize how effing insane that is)
- #1 total yards
- #4 in touchdowns

But the schedule!!! Drake had better stats than Stafford (and record) against common opponents. The defenses Drake played were not the easiest schedule - it was middle of the pack. Not to mention, Allen had the 27th ranked SoS last year when he won (another MVP they got wrong - it was obviously Lamar)

Drake's best weapon is a 32 YO receiver coming off a torn ACL. Stafford has Puka, Adams, best offensive coach in the game, Top 10 run game, Top 5 OL

It was a lifetime career achievement award, certain voters even said it (and that Benedict Brady - "he's had just an amazing career, he deserves it")

Completely put a stain on what "most valuable player" means

F em all. Win Sunday.

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The emphasis on touchdown passes reminds me of baseball where they used to focus on batting average and RBIs before realizing those aren’t the most helpful metrics to analyze a player

patfanken said:

For the life of me I CANNOT understand all the angst about Drake not winning the MVP award. Rather I took the news that the vote was so close as a plus since most of us expected Stafford to win the award easily all this past week.

Now I personally believe that Drake is a worthy pick for the award, it is impossible to negate the fact that Stafford is ALSO a worthy choice. After establishing that reality, who should get it is a matter of which of the myriad of comparison stats you happen to value the most. After that it is simply another sport argument at the bar, a never ending argument.

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Ken, the core issue is just that the award has become severely fragmented. What is the "MVP"? It seems to mean many different things to many different people, and also to the voting body.

If you feel the MVP is simply the player who had the "best", most impressive season based on the highest numbers, then yes, Stafford hit the highest bar and his selection makes sense. But if you feel the MVP is the player who had the "best" season based on deeper analytical stats, those favor Drake Maye by a wide margin. And even further still, if you think the "MVP" is quite literally the Most Valuable Player - as in, the player who brought the most single value to their team's ability to succeed - that's probably still Drake, or hell, maybe it's even Trevor Lawrence or Christian McCaffrey. But it's sure as hell not Stafford.

The point is, none of the above are "wrong" but none is the single right answer, and when the voters are using several different definitions then the award becomes very hollow and frustrating. There should be more cohesion and unity among the voters. It feels like there used to be - the winner was unanimous far more often in the past; winning the award by less than 50% of the total votes as Stafford did last night is just absurd.

patfanken said:

Now as to Orlofsky, I don't get the hate. He voted for his friend. Would any of us done differently if we had the chance. Again, it's not like Stafford was an unworthy candidate. And remember, his JOB is to analyze information and make judgements based that info. So when THAT is your job, you are going to be wrong many MANY times. I literally watch sports BECAUSE we can't predict the results with any great regularity. So why should we damn Orlofsky for being wrong this time.

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Not sure I understand what you are trying to say here. If he voted for a player because he is friends with the player then yes, we should be mad because "he's my friend" is not a suitable reason to select someone for a competitive award. You then said it's his job to analyze information and make judgements... which he would have abdicated by choosing someone based on being friends with them.

****in joke that Maye lost MVP, but I knew it would happen. Anti Patriots bias is insane.

sb1 said:

Great acceptance speech

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I would run through a depleted uranium wall for that guy

The only MVP award that matters is SB MVP. The years that Tom won the NVL MVP they either lost the SB (2007, 2017) or didn't even make it (2010).

It's just more fuel on the disrespect fire that has been burning all week.

I would not want to be a Seattle skill player on Sunday.

Drake Maye hasn’t played well in the playoffs and it hurt him in voting.

Drake needs to get the last laugh, nothing else matters.

Matt Stafford will be watching the Super Bowl. Just win. The Super Bowl MVP is the more important award.

Wozzy said:

Drake Maye hasn’t played well in the playoffs and it hurt him in voting.

Drake needs to get the last laugh, nothing else matters.

Matt Stafford will be watching the Super Bowl. Just win. The Super Bowl MVP is the more important award.

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The votes were in before the playoffs started.

sb1 said:

Great acceptance speech

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I was curious who "Stretch" was. Turns out Vrabes has his own Ernie Adams.

Let's see, Stafford took a loaded team that was projected by many to win their division and the SB to a second place finish and playoff loss. Jimmy G could have done that with that team. Sounds like the MVP to me.

TommyD4207 said:

The votes were in before the playoffs started.

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Either way, it’s a meaningless award.

The SB is the only thing that matters.

Wozzy said:

Drake Maye hasn’t played well in the playoffs and it hurt him in voting.

Drake needs to get the last laugh, nothing else matters.

Matt Stafford will be watching the Super Bowl. Just win. The Super Bowl MVP is the more important award.

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Votes were in before the playoffs started.

Maye has been mediocre in the playoffs for a few reasons but win or lose a great SB for Maye will flip the narrative right back.

sb1 said:

Votes were in before the playoffs started.

Maye has been mediocre in the playoffs for a few reasons but win or lose a great SB for Maye will flip the narrative right back.

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Rings matter, the only thing that matters.

Wozzy said:

Rings matter, the only thing that matters.

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Yeah if the Patriots win on Sunday nobody will care about a lost MVP award.

sb1 said:

Yeah if the Patriots win on Sunday nobody will care about a lost MVP award.

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Yeah, ask Stafford if he'd rather have won the MVP this year or the Super Bowl. I am sure he'd have rather had the latter. People ask "how many rings does he have", nobody asks how many MVPs.

sb1 said:

Yeah if the Patriots win on Sunday nobody will care about a lost MVP award.

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Haters will never vote for Patriots. Not for Pro Bowls or any popularity contest. The only way to win is win it all. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Ross12 said:

Yeah, ask Stafford if he'd rather have won the MVP this year or the Super Bowl. I am sure he'd have rather had the latter. People ask "how many rings does he have", nobody asks how many MVPs.

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It's gotta sting that the thing that cost him another trip to the SB was muffed punt return.

The Brandon Five said:

It's gotta sting that the thing that cost him another trip to the SB was muffed punt return.

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I said this elsewhere... Special Teams roster construction and coaching used to be a strength there. They always traded away high picks and would nail their late round picks to make up for it. Lately, not so much. The reason? New England poached Jeremy Springer, who was both the Asst. Special Teams Coordinator and also was their key talent evaluator for special teams players during draft season. You can see how ST performance in LA has degraded since he's left two seasons ago.

So what's the deal about the Herbert vote? He wasn't a finalist so you can "write in" anyone you want like in an election? Who knew?

Wozzy said:

Drake Maye hasn’t played well in the playoffs and it hurt him in voting.

Drake needs to get the last laugh, nothing else matters.

Matt Stafford will be watching the Super Bowl. Just win. The Super Bowl MVP is the more important award.

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The voting ended before the playoffs.

I'm not going to pretend that Maye losing by a single vote doesn't sting. But whatever the outcome of the vote, it all would have hinged on Sunday, anyway.

If the Pats win, everyone, the fans, Maye, the team, will be ecstatic beyond belief, whether he won the award or not.

If the Pats lose, everyone, the fans, Maye, the team, will be extremely disappointed, whether he won the award or not.

So the sting will only last a couple of days. If we win, it'll be a footnote, if we lose, Maye's MVP would have been a poor consolation.