It’s the final week of the NFL regular season, which means Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford only have one game left to strengthen their NFL MVP cases.
By many stats, the New England Patriots quarterback appears to have the edge over Stafford, who’s faded a bit down the stretch for the Los Angeles Rams. Maye has more total yards, a better completion rate, a better QBR, a better record and a better passer rating, leading the league in several offensive categories.
However, he’s also compiled those numbers against the league’s easiest schedule. Meanwhile, Stafford has faced the league’s sixth-hardest strength of schedule.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show,” former NFL player and current NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky used that disparity to make a case against Maye.
“If I was voting for MVP today, I would vote for Matthew Stafford,” Orlovsky said. “How you acquire the stats and who you acquire the stats against has to be a part of the conversation…If I went and played high school football right now, I would be ridiculous.”
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Orlovsky’s argument is ridiculous for several reasons. For starters, Maye and Stafford play in the same league, and there’s no such thing as an “easy” NFL opponent. Both are competing against the best players in the world. Comparing Maye’s opponents to high school players is simply absurd.
Furthermore, Orlovsky ignores the fact that Maye has had more success than Stafford against common opponents. In their six games against the same teams this year, Maye is 6-0 and has better stats, whereas Stafford is 4-2.
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He also overlooks the fact that Stafford has much better weapons and a stronger supporting cast than Maye, who’s doing more with less. That offsets the schedule differential somewhat.
Regardless, the NFL MVP race is going down to the wire and could ultimately be decided by who has a better regular-season finale.
