With four games left in the regular season, it’s safe to say no player has taken complete control of the MVP race, but there is one QB who looks like he’s firmly entrenched himself as the frontrunner.
Dak Prescott, Cowboys
The star signal-caller of the Dallas Cowboys has been in a zone.
In Sunday’s win over the NFC East division rival Philadelphia Eagles, Prescott went 24-of-39 for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He’s passed for 24 touchdowns in his past seven games.
This is the best Prescott has ever looked at the position, and a lot of the credit has to go to head coach Mike McCarthy, who took over play-calling duties this season. The move seems to be paying huge dividends.
Said Prescott, who’s passed for 3,505 yards, 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions this season:
“Solid enough to get the win. I’ve told you before, I’m my biggest critic. Obviously, not my best game. … Did enough to win, but I always want to do better.”
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
In a wild back-and-forth home win over the Los Angeles Rams, “Action Jackson” saved his best for last. Jackson’s 32-yard touchdown pass to rookie Zay Flowers on third-and-17 with the Ravens trailing late in the fourth quarter showed just how far Jackson has come as a passer this season.
The win made the Ravens 10-3 and the top seed in the AFC. It was the type of game that head coach Josh Harbaugh and first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken have been waiting for, one where Jackson had to trust his pocket passing and make tight window throws with the game on the line, and he did just that.
Jackson finished with 316 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Justin Fields, Bears
Since beginning the season 0-4 the Bears have won five of their past nine games.
In that time, Fields has the third-best QBR in the league. The strong-armed dual threat by way of Ohio State has been his usual dynamic self, but he’s also eliminated the mistakes which have plagued him for much of his NFL career.
In Sunday’s big win over the NFC North division-leading Detroit Lions, Fields tallied 281 total yards and two touchdowns.
As the Bears prepare to decide what they’re going to do with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, Fields is doing his best to make sure they don’t draft a QB.
Russell Wilson, Broncos
Not long ago the Broncos were 1-5 and most believed they’d have a fire sale; one that would’ve included Wilson.
Team brass decided to stick with the core players, and first-year head coach Sean Payton has the team at 7-6 and just one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs for first place in the AFC West.
A huge part of the turnaround has been the play of Wilson, who’s been really solid this season after arguably the worst season of his career in 2022.
In Sunday’s 24-7 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Wilson passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.
This season he’s passed over 2,600 yards, 23 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
In another losing effort, their third in the past four games, Mahomes was solid. Once again, however, he didn’t get much help from his receivers, who either dropped passes, ran the wrong routes or lined up offside, negating the game-winning touchdown in the waning moments.
In all, Mahomes passed for 271 yards and one touchdown.
Watching the game’s best signal-caller complain about the offsides call that cost them a touchdown wasn’t cool, because it was a blatant mishap by the wide receiver.
Mahomes sounded like a whiner when talking about it, but it’s probably a culmination of his receivers letting him down all season.
Even with his receivers struggling all season, Mahomes still has nearly 3,400 yards passing, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions (four on tipped passes off of receiver’s hands).
