Josh Allen? Lamar Jackson? Saquon Barkley? Joe Burrow? UK NFL fans, how do you vote?

The MVP race has taken on the feel of a political campaign (minus the bad spray tans, dad dances, and red baseball caps…most of the time), with social media playing out with impassioned tributes to drum up support for their respective candidates.

What ensues are fascinating insights into how fans view football, how they view the quarterback position, how they view winning and how they view the MVP itself.

As the playoffs approach, the campaigns are entering their final stages. But is it a two-horse race? A three-horse race? Or the Fatal Four?

Josh Allen made his final argument Sunday, throwing two touchdown passes while rushing for another to help the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets 40-14 to clinch the AFC. With the No. 2 seed in the league, it’s now unlikely that the star quarterback will play on the final day of the regular season.

In an incredible December, Allen threw for 18 touchdowns with one turnover, becoming the first player in NFL history to score 40 touchdowns in five consecutive seasons.

“At the end of the day, Josh Allen gets the MVP,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said. “I’ve been in this league long enough to know that MVP has been there every year for years. What he’s done with this team and this organization in this community, no offense to anyone else, but I have a hard idea. “I really believe there are people who do more. “

Allen, who has yet to win an MVP in his illustrious NFL career, continues to lead Buffalo in pursuit of a long-awaited Super Bowl. He’s still the bread and butter of the Bills offense, the whole team runs on him, the whole team relies on him, has the best arm in the league to incite chaos and has the cheating ability to run over defenders like a linebacker.

Entering Sunday’s game, Allen will have completed 307 of 483 carries for 3,731 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 531 yards and 12 scores in what will be the ultimate boost for a young offense , despite the talent and performance of James Cook. , using fewer running backs than its Super Bowl rivals.

“I don’t know what else he can do,” right tackle Spencer Brown said. “That’s the consistency, he does that to anybody he comes into contact with. I mean, it’s very clear to me. And then now people are saying, ‘Oh, this is Charles Barkley’s MVP.’ I It’s not up to me to think, ‘Ah, he’s the only player to do that,’ but No. 17 is definitely the MVP.”

To most, his fiercest competition comes from two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who just had another otherworldly passing and scrimmage clinic while passing for two touchdowns and rushing for two. touchdowns, making the Houston Texans look extraordinary in the game. Christmas won 31-2.

Jackson has currently thrown for 3,955 yards and 39 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 77.9, the highest in the league, and an EPA+CPOE composite rating that is the highest in the league. He has rushed for 852 yards and 4 touchdowns, which just broke Michael Vick’s NFL record. The most yards rushing by a quarterback.

With Derrick Henry, he led an offense that ranked first in yards, fifth in passing, second in rushing, third in points, and second in EPA/games, making up for the second-ranked pass defense. Poor situation. Ranked 14th in EPA/race.

“I think Josh Allen might get the advantage just because Lamar has two. If Josh has two, you’re going to side with the guy who doesn’t have one, and that’s human nature,” CBS’ Tony Romo said.

“I just think right now, I’m going to follow the record. One guy has two fewer losses. One guy gets two seeds. So that guy, if it’s that close, winning or losing hardly gives you an advantage. The thing is, head on Head-to-head, Lamar beat him. Now I do think Lamar had an impact on the game, but you can’t take anything away from those two guys, I’m both good.”

Elsewhere in Week 17, Saquon Barkley rushed for 167 yards to help the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Dallas Cowboys 41-7 to capture the NFC East title. With this, he became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. At the same time, he only needed to rush for 101 yards in the final game of the season to beat Eric Dickerson. Dickerson’s long-standing single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards.

Barkley rushed for a league-high 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns on 345 carries, while also hauling in 33 catches for 278 yards and two scores, accounting for the Eagles’ first loss since moving to New York. 38% of total scrimmage yards in a season. giant.

No running back has been named MVP since Adrian Peterson in 2012, and only 13 running backs have won the honor in the Super Bowl era. So with competition from such a dominant quarterback, the chances are slim, as Christian McCaffrey proved after dropping out of the conversation despite making the league in last year’s scrimmage. Leading 2,023 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Still, Barkley continues to be part of the conversation heading into the final week, a testament to his influence. Even if he doesn’t win the MVP, Barkley still has a chance to make history by breaking Dickerson’s record against his old team, even if his priority is postseason success.

“Whatever his decision is, I support it,” Buckley said. “If his mentality is, let’s go out and try, we’re going to go out and try. If his mentality is, let’s take a break and get ready for this run, I’m all for that as well.

“I’m not overly trying to get it. I’m not afraid. I’m happy to do it. But at the end of the day, we have more important things to focus on.”

Joe Burrow underscored why he deserves to be in the conversation on Saturday when he went 39-for-49 for 412 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a score to help the Cincinnati Bengals beat Denver 30-24 in overtime. team, keeping the vitality of the season. Broncos.

Burrow now leads the league in completions (424) and passing yards (4,641) with 42 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, leading the Bengals to their fourth straight win, pulling them back from 4-8 , but somehow still pulled away from the lead. A chance to make it to the final weekend of the playoffs.

His heroics salvaged what looked like a lost season while the Bengals defense slipped, ranking sixth in yards allowed, ninth in passing games and fourth in points scored. At his best this season, he is the best in every area.

Take him out of the equation and the Bengals would be dead and buried long before December. If he can defy all odds and lead Cincinnati to the playoffs, wouldn’t that be the definition of “MVP”?

“I don’t know anyone who can stand on the field and watch Joe Burrow and not say he’s the best player in the world,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “I wouldn’t trade Joe Burrow for that. Any player in the universe, to me? That’s an MVP to me.”

Allen is the face of the entire Bills franchise, without a focal point like Derrick Henry or Jamaal Chase to wreak havoc, instead utilizing an “everyone eats” offense that holds weekly auditions in search of prominence. participation.

Jackson continues to break the boundaries among NFL quarterbacks as the greatest two-way threat the league has ever seen, and Baltimore’s touchdown machine eliminates concerns about holes in the defense that would be more pressing if there were a different face under center.

Burrow is playing the best quarterback game in the NFL, he’s rescued the Bengals from the abyss, and he’s probably the most proven and feared threat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Barkley is on the verge of history, having transformed the Eagles offense with one of the greatest seasons in running back football history.

Good luck to the voters.

Watch every game from the NFL Playoffs throughout January, followed by Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, live on Sky Sports NFL.