NFL MVP's who didn't deserve to win

[74_75_78_79_]

What's ur take on Bananas', 74_75_78_79?

Lost his desire? Not the same after injuries, or simply one of the first 90s players to check out after a big payday? Many free agents would follow the same example ...

All I know is, end of day, he was a one-year-and-change-wonder. Just the same, not just anyone could have filled in for him in '92. He was a big reason for the Steelers' resurgence. But so were others for the 'Burgh in '92. Had injuries not gotten to Foster in '93, perhaps a similar output as well. He was a true All-Pro in that very immediate time. But what happened, happened, and then it was Bam/Pegram, then finally - and best yet - the Bus!

Good argument for Moss in 2007 but Jerry Rice in 1987 has an even better argument, with 22 TDs in only 65 catches, and 12 games. He added another TD rushing ...

Indeed! Just imagine he in a full 16-game season! And re-forward to 2007...yes, Moss a BIG addition! Perhaps a 'twin' of his '98 rookie performance. But before pushing aside Brady, do know that he basically had no marquee WRs up until then whilst their offense not being too pass-heavy. As the case with his top-two counterpart, Montana, the numbers/stats never really told the tale with Tom either.

[Throwin_Samoan]

Holy cow, re-litigating a 32-year-old MVP vote? Even Barry Foster doesn't care anymore.

[sheajets]

If I were to cast a "just to be different" vote in 1994 for MVP...maybe make a case for Ben Coates. Became an elite tight end that year. 96 receptions. At that point it was the most ever by a TE. He was also a good blocker...clutch catch after clutch catch.

[Crazy Packers Fan]

The obvious choices for me are 1982 Mark Moseley and 1987 John Elway. Moseley was a kicker who wasn't even perfect that season, so the less said about that the better. Elway won only because the dominant Montana-Rice duo split votes. Jerry Rice had an NFL record for receiving touchdowns while playing only 12 games. Joe Montana was great, but Rice deserved the MVP so much more than either QB. Voting went Elway-36, Rice-30, Montana-18.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

I might get some flak for saying this but everybody who has won the MVP award has had a season in which they deserved to win. Now, can you make a case that maybe a player or two had a better season? Sure, but that's really almost every year. Guys who don't win, they have a lot of credentials also. You've got 100s of players in the league, and every year you're going to have some incredible performances. Only one gets the MVP award.

Moseley - I think that falls into the "You had to have been there" category to understand how it was possible. Far more consistent that any other player at his position. Kicked a game-winner in the snow in the division title game, and that set an all-time record for most consecutive FGs made at the time. He also scored all of Washington's points in another important game. It would be like Lou Groza winning the MVP in 1953. I wouldn't have had a problem with that choice either. Was Fouts awesome? Yes, he was pretty much every year I remember. But he didn't win MVPs in other years also. One of those seasons he threw for 4800+ yards which was way more than the person who won. So, you could make a case for Dan Fouts in multiple seasons. Plus, we're just talking one of the MVP awards. Fouts did win the Pro Football Writers Award over Moseley. But man, Mark Moseley was money in his day when it came to IMPORTANT kicks. Back then, he was clearly better than all of his peers and he was for several seasons at either putting his team ahead by two scores late, kicking the game-winning FG in the final minute, that sort of thing. You ask any coach during that period who they would want kicking a FG to ice or win a game - everybody would have said Moseley without thinking about it.

All that said, it would have been nice if Chuck Foreman or Lenny Moore had an MVP trophy. Those are two players that I think might have been the most worthy to have not won an MVP.

[SeahawkFever]

How about Brian Sipe in 1980?

No knock on his season, but Lester Hayes in that same season might have deserved more consideration considering how many picks he had.

[Ten Minute Ticker]

Not MVP, but Randall Cunningham in 1998 didn’t deserve to finish ahead of Randy Moss in the voting. Moss bailed Cunningham out of short throws with his pure talent.

Atlanta noticed it and set their defensive gameplan in the NFC title game in part because of Cunningham’s arm.

[7DnBrnc53]

Jerry Rice had an NFL record for receiving touchdowns while playing only 12 games. Joe Montana was great, but Rice deserved the MVP so much more than either QB. Voting went Elway-36, Rice-30, Montana-18.

Rice had several two-yard TD's, though. And, he partly feasted on bad teams like Atlanta, the Rams (that year, not in 88 and 89), and Green Bay. Elway was the main reason that the Broncos were in the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

[SeahawkFever]

Jerry Rice had an NFL record for receiving touchdowns while playing only 12 games. Joe Montana was great, but Rice deserved the MVP so much more than either QB. Voting went Elway-36, Rice-30, Montana-18.

Rice had several two-yard TD's, though. And, he partly feasted on bad teams like Atlanta, the Rams (that year, not in 88 and 89), and Green Bay. Elway was the main reason that the Broncos were in the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

I looked it up: Rice had eight touchdowns that were five yards or less, one of them being his rushing touchdown.

That still leaves 15 more touchdowns that were at least six yards, including eight touchdowns that were at least 40 yards.

You’ll find short touchdowns against the 87 Rams and 87 Falcons (my score percentage stat finds the 87 Falcons to be the worst team that year for the record), and a few long touchdowns against bad teams too (Tampa Bay had a 20th ranked defense for instance).

But you’ll also find a few long touchdowns against the Saints and Browns who were both top five defenses that season.

If you want to say Elway is more integral to his team and deserved MVP because of that, I could see that argument (he was a quarterback after all), but Rice had an excellent 1987 too I’d say, and there’s something to be said about receiving an MVP vote as a non quarterback (or running back pre-2012), and Rice did that.

[SeahawkFever]

I remember years ago Elliott Harrison who used to do historical videos for NFL Films on YouTube in the later 2010’s once did his Top 10 MVP snubs which he made back in early 2018.

Here were his choices:

10: 2008: Ed Reed instead of Peyton Manning

9: 1982: Wes Chandler and Everson Walls instead of Mark Moseley

8: 1965: Gale Sayers instead of Jim Brown

7: 2003: Priest Holmes instead of Peyton Manning and Steve McNair

6: 1971: Roger Staubach instead of Alan Page

5: 1990: Derrick Thomas and Randall Cunningham instead of Joe Montana

4: 2009: Chris Johnson instead of Peyton Manning (I’ve also heard people say Drew Brees instead Peyton in 09 as well)

3: 1983: Eric Dickerson instead of Joe Theismann

2: 2014: J.J. Watt instead of Aaron Rodgers

1: 1987: Jerry Rice instead of John Elway

Not in that video, but another I’ve also heard is 1986: Dan Marino instead of Lawrence Taylor, and the person argued that the Dolphins, while 8-8, had the best offense in the NFL and one of the worst defenses; the latter being something that is out of the quarterbacks control (unless we are far back enough that players played both ways which is not the case in 1986).