1. Patrick Mahomes, quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +100
Previous Rank: 2
What a performance by Patrick Mahomes. The Super Bowl MVP frontrunner completed over 76% of his passes on the way to 325 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
Mahomes’ leadership throughout the entire game was second to none, rallying the troops when they were down 0-9 to score three straight touchdowns and never look back.
After Mecole Hardman muffed a Buffalo punt that allowed them to score the opening touchdown of the night, Mahomes made sure he found his receiver on their very next drive, allowing Hardman to get the Chiefs’ first touchdown.
To make his performance even better, Mahomes was a limited participant at practice all week due to his concussion and managed to come out, put up a performance like that and only get sacked once all game.
Mahomes won Super Bowl MVP last year, but his performance was far from perfect, throwing two touchdowns and two picks while completing under 62% of his passes and getting sacked four times.
He will need to have a much better performance against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, but if their week 12 matchup is anything to go off, he will be coming in full of confidence. He ended that day with a season high 462 passing yards, completing over 75% of his passes for three touchdowns and no picks while also rushing four times for 28 yards.
2. Tom Brady, quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +210
Previous Rank: 3
While it was a tale of two halves for Brady, he well and truly established himself as the GOAT, winning an NFC Championship after just one season in the conference and will now play in his 10th Super Bowl.
Tampa Bay’s first half consisted of five drives resulting in three touchdowns (two from Brady’s arm) and two punts for a 21-10 halftime lead. Brady added another touchdown just over a minute into the second half to put the Bucs up by 18 but it was all downhill from there. Three straight drives resulting in interceptions and Brady had to be saved by his defense and some interesting decision making from Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFleur.
Tom Brady’s Super Bowl appearance percentage is higher than Ben Simmons’s career 3-point shooting percentage pic.twitter.com/HmudTn0rDU
— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) January 27, 2021
Brady will now be the first quarterback in NFL history to start a Super Bowl in three different decades, reaching his 10th, five more than second place. He has won Super Bowl MVP four of the six times he has won the final game of the season and given how he has Tampa Bay’s offense cooking at the moment, it seems like all he would need to do is win to add his fifth. Tampa Bay has scored 30+ in six straight games and that is all thanks to TB12.
3. Travis Kelce, tight end, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +1300
Previous Rank: 6
Travis Kelce has now eclipsed 100 receiving yards in two straight games and in seven of his last 10, with the other three being 98, 68 and 82 yards. During the regular season, Kelce broke the single season tight end record for receiving yards this season and also became the first tight end in NFL history to record two seperate 100 catch seasons.
Last weekend against Buffalo he had 13 catches from 15 targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the sixth straight game that Kelce had a touchdown reception and he now has 14 total for the season.
In their week 12 matchup, Kelce was held scoreless but still had 82 yards on eight receptions from eight targets. Tampa Bay held Green Bay’s first option tight end, Robert Tonyan to just 22 yards, but the big fella still managed to get one in the endzone and given how Kelce is playing at the moment, he could be getting a lot of action in this one.
4. Tyreek Hill, wide receiver, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +1200
Previous Rank: 8
Tyreek Hill has been the game breaker for Kansas City during the postseason, recording 110 yards against Cleveland before a massive 172 yards on nine receptions against Buffalo.
While the Cheetah has been held scoreless the last two weeks, he finished the regular season with the second most receiving touchdowns and ended up with three touchdowns and a massive 269 yards against Tampa Bay during the regular season.
Last time @cheetah played the Bucs… 😳 pic.twitter.com/FiuawGRavv
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) January 27, 2021
Tyreek Hill has become the dependable long option for Mahomes and that was even highlighted in Super Bowl LIV where he finished with 105 yards. He will be looking to rack up more and more yards next Sunday and there is no shock that he is third favorite to take home the MVP.
5. Leonard Fournette, running back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +2500
Previous Rank: 9
While his postseason run of gaining 100 total yards ended on the weekend, Fournette was still instrumental in Tampa Bay getting the win and reaching the Super Bowl.
Fournette ended with 55 rushing yards on 12 carries, with 4.58 yards per attempt his third highest mark of the season. He managed to find the endzone for a third straight game and should be licking his lips with this matchup.
During the regular season, Kansas City was in the bottom half of the league for defense on the ground and just gave up 129 rushing yards to a Buffalo side that doesn’t have a good rushing offense. Fournette has been one of Brady’s most reliable options during the postseason and will need to have a big game if the Bucs are any chance of causing the upset.
6. Mike Evans, wide receiver, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +3000
Previous Rank: Unranked
After a massive 119 yards in the Wild Card round against Washington, Mike Evans has just 54 yards in two games since. Despite this, he is still a massive threat and Kansas City will need to stick with him all night or else he could break the game open.
Evans ended the regular season with the fourth most receiving touchdowns and despite getting low yardage in the last two weeks, he has actually recorded the first touchdown in both games.
With five games of 100+ receiving yards and three games with multiple touchdowns during the regular season, there is no surprise that Mike Evans is a top chance for Super Bowl MVP.
7. Devin White, linebacker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +4000
Previous Rank: Unranked
In just his second year in the league, Devin White was named a captain on defense for Tampa Bay and ended the regular season fifth in total tackles. He has then carried that over into the postseason with 36 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
Bucs defense starting out HOT in the 2nd half 🔥 @jwhite_333 @DevinWhite__40
📺 #TBvsGB on FOX
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/gkAlDWLkuP
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 24, 2021
Last week against the #1 offense in the league, White tied a season high with 15 total tackles and took a fumble recovery for 21 yards to set up a one play touchdown for his offense.
If Tampa Bay has any chance of winning this game, they will need to slow down Mahomes and the Chiefs offense that has averaged over 35 points from their last five playoff appearances, including 31 in last year’s Super Bowl. White will be leading the charge in that effort and if he plays at his best while Kansas City’s offense struggles, he can certainly win MVP.
8. Tyrann Mathieu, safety, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +4000
Previous Rank: 10
Tyrann Mathieu is the clear leader, heart and soul of this Kansas City team and has been selected as one of six captains by his teammates for this postseason run.
After finishing the regular season with six interceptions, third in the league, Mathieu has had a very impressive two postseason games. After seven tackles and an interception last week, the Honey Badger followed it up with six tackles a quarterback hit against Buffalo.
Brady showed last weekend that he can be careless with the football at times and Mathieu will be ready to pounce. Given Tampa Bay has scored 30+ in their last six games, if the Badger can get a few tackles for loss, an interception or two, he had one against the Bucs in week 12, and help keep Tampa’s score low then he will give himself every chance to be named Super Bowl MVP.
9. Sammy Watkins, wide receiver, Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +8000
Previous Rank: Unranked
A surprise entrant to the Super Bowl MVP Power Rankings, Sammy Watkins finds himself at number nine. Having not played since week 16, Watkins will have been out of action for 42 days by the time Super Bowl Sunday rolls around.
However, Watkins makes the list for the x-factor that he brings, highlighted in last year’s Super Bowl run. He averaged 96 receiving yards across three games including 98 yards against the Niners on five receptions from six targets. He has the ability to break games open, especially when the focus is often on Hill and Kelce.
Watkins had just one game over 70 receiving yards and only two touchdowns for the season, but he has proven it on the biggest stage and we aren’t counting him out here.
10. Sean Murphy-Bunting, cornerback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Super Bowl LV MVP Odds: +20000
Previous Rank: Unranked
After just one interception during the regular season, Sean Murphy-Bunting has come alive in the postseason. Over the last two weeks, SMB has 11 total tackles, tied for the third most over a two week stretch for the entire season.
Third INT of these #NFLPlayoffs for Sean Murphy-Bunting! #GoBucs #NFLPlayoffs
📺: #TBvsGB on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/cHuzDq5flQ pic.twitter.com/V2H8AQPEWH— NFL (@NFL) January 24, 2021
What has been the biggest difference has been that he has had one interception in each of their three games, including against Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, which ties a Tampa Bay postseason record and he has become the first player in NFL history to record an interception in each of his first three postseason games since 2009.
If he managed to restrict either Hill or Watkins whilst also getting a pick in a Super Bowl win, Murphy-Bunting could very easily win Super Bowl MVP whilst also breaking some more records in the process.
*Odds correct at time of writing.
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Image by: RJ Erigio
