Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) reacts as he walks off the field after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC Championship Game Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

SI predicts Josh Allen won't do enough to keep NFL MVP away from first-time winner

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI
By Ralph Ventre | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 9:45 PM ET

Aaron Rodgers pulled it off in 2021, but the terrain may be slanted against Buffalo Bills' quarterback Josh Allen as he attempts to repeat the feat.

Allen captured his first NFL MVP award this past February, edging out Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson in a close vote. Winning the award for the second straight year, however, is an achievement that will likely elude Allen in 2025, according to Sports Illustrated senior reporter Albert Breer.

As for the new MVP frontrunner, Breer is jumping on the Joe Burrow train, suggesting that the Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback had a strong case for the award in 2024.

"The wild thing is that he could have won it last year, in a season when the Bengals didn’t even make the playoffs. He threw more yards (4,918) and touchdowns (43) than anyone else, and had the most throws (652) and completions (460), too, while maintaining the fourth-highest completion percentage (70.6%) in all of football. His passer rating of 108.5 was third. And he accomplished all that with the NFL’s 30th-ranked run game alongside him, and the league’s 25th-ranked defense playing opposite him—giving him a heavy burden week-to-week. That’s without even getting into Tee Higgins’s health, or Ja’Marr Chase’s contract standoff, which forced Cincinnati to integrate younger players at the receiver spots on the fly." — Albert Breer

Breer did concede that "Josh Allen was richly deserving of MVP last year" as he led the NFL's second-ranked scoring offense despite losing wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. While the Bills added Joshua Palmer to fill the spot vacated by Amari Cooper's departure, the offense still lacks that bona fide WR1.

Allen became the first player in NFL history to total at least 40 touchdowns for the fifth consecutive season while the Bills became the first team to score 30 passing touchdowns and 30 rushing touchdowns in the same regular season.

Although his raw individual statistical totals weren't as impressive as Jackson's, Allen played more than 100 fewer offensive snaps than his rival. Additionally, Jackson had the support of generational running back Derrick Henry. Not to mention, the Bills posted head-to-head regular season wins over both the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions along with a superior overall record.

Meanwhile, Breer projects the Burrow-powered Bengals to achieve success that will be "pretty hard to overlook."

Should Allen, however, again lift his supporting cast to another 13-win season, the Bills' QB1 should be in serious contention for a second straight MVP no matter what Burrow and the Bengals do.