NFL Executives Make Their MVP Pick, Wild Card Weekend's Biggest Keys | 4 Downs

The 105th NFL season was bookended by absolute spectacles.

Back in September, the Kansas City Chiefs raised the third Super Bowl banner of the Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes era before surviving against Baltimore only after Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely’s toenail came down out of bounds in the back of the end zone as time expired.

Sunday night, in the regular season finale, the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions squared off at Ford Field in a de-facto NFC North and Regular Season NFC Championship Game.

That’s the kind of drama that makes the NFL king of the American sports lexicon.

Those expecting a fireworks show were treated instead to a good old-fashioned black-and-blue divisional defensive slugfest in Motown.

That is, until Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs decided to light a fuse.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings spent the first half spinning their wheels, especially in the red zone, coming away with just three points off seven snaps inside the 10-yard line, across two possessions, in a 31-9 loss.

Sam Darnold, who has been spectacular for much of the season, was just 1-of-8 in the red zone in the first half. While Darnold had garnered some MVP consideration in recent weeks, he finished with just 166 passing yards Sunday night.

When the Vikings needed Sam Darnold to rise to the occasion, it was one of the few times in 2024 that he shrunk under the weight of the moment.

Darnold’s struggles were magnified in the red zone, where he missed three open throws in the end zone, including a would-be touchdown to Justin Jefferson on third-and-goal.

Lions’ defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, seemed to have Darnold rattled with relentless blitz concepts, forcing him into rushed decisions and uncharacteristic errors. At times, Darnold appeared to be ‘seeing ghosts,’ a stark contrast to the composed and decisive quarterback who had garnered MVP consideration in recent weeks. This subpar performance was less about physical mistakes and more about mental pressure, a credit to Glenn’s game plan.

Missed opportunities and questionable playcalling deep in Lions territory spoiled a dominant effort from edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel and the Vikings’ defense, because when given the chance Detroit took advantage of explosive plays before grinding Minnesota into submission late.

Inside this column; half a dozen NFL coaches and executives weigh in on their choice for MVP, why Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers are their own worst enemy, the biggest key for each team playing on Wild Card Weekend winning their game and advancing to the next round, and more.

Just when it seemed like the Lions may need to hold on with all their might, from a health perspective, all the way through this game and to New Orleans Gibbs reintroduced himself.

Gibbs is special, and he proved Sunday night against one of the NFL’s most stifling defenses that he’s capable of altering the scope of a game.

The Lions’ second-year dynamo and former first-round pick opened the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown explosion up the middle and through the heart of the Vikings’ defense. He caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff in the third quarter and dashed off the edge for a 13-yard score to secure the win with 13:12 remaining, giving his injured and beleaguered teammates a bye week and assuring Detroit that the next time they’ll need to board a plane is to NOLA next month.

Gibbs ripped out the Vikings’ heart and stuck it on a pike with a 47-yard run off tackle late in the fourth quarter, before capping the drive with his fourth touchdown, tying the Lions’ record for touchdowns in a single game, announcing his presence to the world as an elite playmaker in the process.

Gibbs finished the night with 139 rushing yards and three touchdowns while averaging six yards per attempt on his 23 carries. He also caught all five of his targets in the passing game for 31 yards and a score.

For Detroit, Sunday night was affirmation that this is the team to beat in the NFC.

Glen’s defense rendering Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison essentially spectators, just 54 yards combined, is a warning shot to the rest of the NFC.

Likewise, Goff’s ability to survive the relentless onslaught of pressure from Brian Flores’ Vikings defense combined with Gibbs’ breakout is the latest way that the Lions have found a way to equally survive and ultimately punish opponents in the span of a 60-minute contest.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is left to wonder how it can overcome red-zone woes, if Darnold’s glass cleat shattered in the most monumental game of his resurgent season, and they’ll only have eight days to do it before staring across the sideline at Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, and the surging Rams.

Sunday night wasn’t just a showcase of Detroit’s dominance or Minnesota’s shortcomings—it was a loud, unflinching reminder that the road to NFC glory now runs through the heart of Motown.

Here’s a big-picture look at the biggest storylines across the league, and an in-depth look ahead at NFL Wild Card Weekend:

First Down: NFL Coaches Executives Make Their MVP Pick

This has been the most hotly debated and often-discussed MVP race that I can remember.

It feels like we have all been screaming at each other about who is going to win MVP since Halloween. In a lot of ways, that speaks to the absurd level of play and strength of the cases to be made for each of the top candidates vying for the award.

Strong and compelling arguments can be made for Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and thanks to the Cincinnati Bengals’ second-half surge, Joe Burrow played his way into the conversation over a torrid final two months of the season.

Jackson, the reigning MVP, is somehow having an even more impressive 2024 campaign than he did a year ago when he took home the award for the second time in his career. Jackson set new career highs with 4,172 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, and only four interceptions while guiding the Ravens to the AFC North championship and rushing for 915 yards and four more scores. It became clear throughout this season that Jackson and Henry mutually benefited from each other’s presence, as the explosive battering ram of a running back ran roughshod for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns in his first season in Charm City.

In Buffalo, Allen was the catalyst to the Bills securing the AFC’s No. 2 seed, and the driving force behind statement victories over the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions that thrust the Bills into the conversation as unexpected but legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Allen has passed for 3,731 yards, rushed for 539 yards, and scored 40 total touchdowns. This has been a season where Allen put his team on his back and played his way, rightfully so, to one of the favorites to win the MVP.

Then, there’s Burrow’s second half of the season where he overcame the NFL’s 22nd-ranked Bengals defense to guide Cincinnati to the precipice of the postseason. Burrow’s 44 total touchdowns are tops among any NFL quarterback. He leads the league with 4,641 passing yards, and a 69.8 completion percentage, all while absorbing a whopping 44 sacks behind the Bengals’ shoddy offensive line. When it comes to value, Burrow’s to the Bengals has proven undeniable, though Cincinnati missing the playoffs likely ends any outside hope of Burrow winning the award.

Meanwhile, Barkley’s 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns still somehow don’t tell the story of his value to the Eagles. Barkley was simply a human erasure of adversity for Philadelphia throughout this season and arguably the single most responsible figure in six of Philadelphia’s 13 wins that mattered. That Barkley became just the ninth member of the 2,000-rushing yard club and 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record are almost footnotes to his importance to elevating the Eagles’ offense and Philadelphia’s potential Super Bowl trajectory.

Throughout the day Sunday, I reached out to nearly a half-dozen NFL coaches, high-ranking executives, and scouts to get their final pick for this season’s MVP award.

Turns out, the debate among the league’s power brokers is as intense as it is among fans. Here are their responses: