Josh Allen carried the Buffalo Bills offense in 2024. Now, he carries home his first NFL MVP trophy.
The Bills quarterback was named 2024 AP NFL Most Valuable Player on Thursday at NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre.
Allen narrowly edged out 2023 winner, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, with 383 points and 27 first-place votes compared to Jackson's 362 points and 23 first-place votes. In doing so, Allen became the third player to ever win MVP after not making first-team All-Pro.
Trailing that incredibly tight race, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley placed third in voting (120 points), followed by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (82) and Lions QB Jared Goff (47).
Buffalo revamped its offense in the offseason, trading No. 1 wideout Stefon Diggs to the Texans and watching Gabe Davis sign in Jacksonville. The Bills were essentially asking Allen to do more with less. He delivered.
Allen totaled 41 touchdowns -- 28 passing, 12 rushing, one receiving -- and became the only player in NFL history with 25-plus passing TDs, 10-plus rushing TDs and a receiving score.
Allen (five seasons) also joined Aaron Rodgers (six) as the only players in NFL history with 40-plus offensive touchdowns in at least five career seasons. Rodgers won MVP in four of six such seasons. Allen nets his first after five straight seasons of 40-plus TDs.
The big-armed quarterback didn't force the ball deep as much as in previous seasons, generating a career-low 8.3 yards per attempt average, per Next Gen Stats, but he led a more proficient offense.
The Bills scored 30-plus points in 12 games in 2024, which is tied for the second-most games with 30-plus points by a team in a season in NFL history, with only the 2013 Broncos (13) generating more.
Allen continued to make jaw-dropping plays but curtailed the mistakes that had typified his first six seasons in the NFL. He threw a career-low six interceptions and took just 14 sacks -- 10 fewer than in any other season. Buffalo became the first team in the Super Bowl era with fewer than 15 sacks allowed and fewer than 15 giveaways (eight) in the same season.
Allen's ability to carry a team with zero first-team All-Pros and just two Pro Bowlers on the initial roster (Allen, left tackle Dion Dawkins) likely gave him a leg up on Jackson and others. Allen finished 14th in passing yards (3,731) and tied for seventh in TD passes (28). Meanwhile, Jackson put up better statistics on the Ravens than those of his 2023 MVP season. Yet, Allen's ability to overcome the perception that it could be a building year in Buffalo might have tipped the votes in his favor.
The Bills finished the season 13-4 and clinched the AFC East in Week 13, the first time a team has clinched a division with five weeks remaining since the 2009 Colts, per NFL Research.
Buffalo ultimately fell short of its postseason goal, once again losing to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Allen takes home a consolation prize in the form of the MVP trophy. Next year, he'll hope to break through with a Lombardi.
