The Buffalo Bills enter the 2025 NFL season with their star quarterback, Josh Allen, widely regarded as a top contender to defend his 2024 Most Valuable Player crown.
However, murmurs are growing that a formidable rival, Cincinnati Bengals‘ signal-caller Joe Burrow, might outshine Allen statistically and steal the spotlight if his team outperforms expectations.
Allen’s 2024 campaign earned him MVP honors (his first since Thurman Thomas in 1991) after leading the Bills to a 13-4 record, topping the NFL in points scored (525), and engineering a dominant “Everybody Eats” offense in which 13 different players caught touchdowns.
But even with a spectacular year, there’s reason to believe victory in this year’s MVP race won’t come easily.
Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, a two-time MVP, narrowly fell to Allen in 2024 despite posting more impressive raw numbers, a discrepancy attributed in part to Allen playing 106 fewer offensive snaps and benefiting from the presence of All-Pro running back Derrick Henry.
Heading into 2025, Jackson and Allen are co-favorites at +550 odds, with Burrow not far behind at +650, per DraftKings.
Yet for Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon, it’s Burrow, rather than Jackson, who poses the greatest threat to Allen‘s supremacy.
Last year, Burrow threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns, finishing second in pass attempts (652) despite the Bengals missing the playoffs after a slow start and depending on an elite receiving corps led by Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. As Gagnon put it:
“The bar will be higher this time, especially if Joe Burrow again puts up superior numbers and the Bengals actually win.”
How Burrow could upend the favorites
If Burrow replicates, or exceeds, his height-of-last-season numbers and Cincinnati finishes strong, voter sentiment may shift.
Allen‘s claim to an unprecedented five consecutive 40+ touchdown seasons is undoubtedly rare, yet MVP voters have historically leaned toward high-volume performance and team success.
Gagnon affirms Allen‘s bid, too:
“Last year’s winner has finished in the top five in MVP voting in each of the last three seasons and has all the tools to repeat,”
Allen, a four-time MVP finalist, joins only Aaron Rodgers (who defended in 2021) in having recent credibility in repeat MVP conversations.
But Allen‘s situation isn’t without challenges. Although he led the Bills to a 13-4 mark and a deep playoff run, including victories in the Wild Card (31-7) and Divisional (27-25) rounds before falling to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship, Burrow‘s team is hungry to shake off underperformance and break into the upper echelon this year.
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