Welcome in to the 2021 NFL MVP Watch, where I will be taking a look around the landscape of the MVP race in the NFL this season. This is pretty much the same thing as my Heisman Watch, sooooo…like, do I want to spend a lot of time on an intro?
Shit, I guess I will for the uninitiated – each week, I will count down the five most MVP-worthy performances of the week and offer up my reasoning for each ranking. You finish first, you get five points. Second is four, so on and so forth. I will keep the season point totals going at the bottom of the article and at the end of the season, whoever has the most points gets the 2021 SoBros Network NFL MVP “honors.”
I rarely do this, but I have to give out a couple of honorable mentions before we get started this week. I don’t usually put players from losing teams in the MVP Watch (if you were so valuable, why didn’t your team win?), but I wanted badly to put Dak Prescott in this week. That dude played his guts out against the defending Super Bowl champions on Thursday night – 45/58 (58!!!!) for 403 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. You could see the instant improvement getting him back and healthy provided for the Dallas Cowboys.
Also, let’s give Terry McLaurin a shout out for this thing of beauty:
Early front runner for catch of the year courtesy of Terry McLaurin, WOW pic.twitter.com/gYF5eXKohd
— SoBros Network (@SoBrosNetwork) September 12, 2021
NFL MVP Watch: Week 1
5. Russell Wilson – Another strong start to a season for the Seahawks signal caller – 18/26 for 254 yards, FOUR touchdowns, and a 152.3 passer rating. He’s going to get a chance to pad his stats with that Seahawks receiving corps if they can keep doing to good defenses what they did to the Colts on Sunday.
4. Matthew Stafford – Man, I’m so happy for Stafford. I don’t care if it was against a discombobulated Chicago Bears team. I’m ready to start the ‘Stafford for MVP’ hype train. It just looked like a beautiful marriage between he and Sean McVay. Stafford lit up the Bears to the tune of 20/26, 329 yards, three touchdowns, and a gaudy 156.1 passer rating.
I want a love like this pic.twitter.com/wgRiocYUKQ
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) September 13, 2021
3. Kyler Murray – No one needs to remind the Tennessee Titans that a healthy Kyler Murray is a dangerous Kyler Murray. This dude took advantage of an unprepared Titans team and hung five total touchdowns on the board. He went 21/32 for 289 yards, four passing touchdowns, one interception, and then an additional 20 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. He was in the MVP discussion before he was hurt last year – this is a great start for him to get back into it this year.
2. Patrick Mahomes – “It be like that sometimes.” I can’t think of a better way to describe that Mahomes magic. We saw it on full display against the Browns, as Mahomes continued his undefeated streak in September, going 27/36 for 337 yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown in the win.
1. Tom Brady – No better way to remind us of just how valuable you truly are than by getting one of those signature game-winning drives with a little over a minute remaining on the clock. That season opener was a doozy, and Brady looked like he was picking up right where this Bucs team left off in the Super Bowl. Lesser quarterbacks would’ve crumbled, but not Brady. Brady finished the game 32/50 for 379 and four touchdowns (with a couple of picks in there).
Knew it was over as soon as I saw this. pic.twitter.com/XN7uYk4OzG
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) September 10, 2021
Updated NFL MVP Watch Standings
5. Russell Wilson – 1
4. Matthew Stafford – 2
3. Kyler Murray – 3
2. Patrick Mahomes – 4
1. Tom Brady – 5
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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