NFL MVP Odds 2016: Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers Surge — Coach Of The Year Odds Favor Jason Garrett, Andy Reid
Who will be the NFL MVP for 2016? How about the 2016 NFL Coach of the Year? Now that the 2016 NFL regular season has come to a close, and the NFL playoffs are at hand, it is time to start looking at which players and coaches deserve some awards for leading their teams this season.
The race for the 2016 NFL MVP is as close as it’s been in quite some time, and a man who was the longest of long shots at the start of the season has been crowned the new favorite with the campaign in the books.
The odds to win the NFL MVP award have changed so much over the past three weeks that it is enough to make your head spin!
While this looked like a two-man race down the stretch between New England’s Tom Brady and Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott, the late horses have come charging up the rail and taken over. According to the latest favorites from Oddsshark, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has become the new man to beat down the stretch. Ryan, now listed at +125, proved last weekend that his team meant business this year as they stomped over the New Orleans Saints in the season finale and officially claimed the No. 2 seed on the NFC.
Ryan finished the day with four touchdown passes, 331 passing yards, and a gaudy 139.9 quarterback rating. He also broke his own franchise record for passing yards in a single season, finishing 2016 with 4,944.
If you had wagered on Ryan to win this award back in August of 2016, and he pulls the feat off in February, you could have made a small fortune. On August 1, Ryan was listed at +6600 to win the award – and up to +7000 at other sports books.
Aaron Rodgers has also leapfrogged Tom Brady and Ezekiel Elliott to claim the second spot in the MVP running at +150.
The 2014 MVP made a statement to the media when the Packers were 4-6 and struggling all the way around as a team. Rodgers said the Packers would “run the table,” from here on out when they were 4-6 and make the postseason – and that is exactly what they did.
Winners of six straight games, Aaron Rodgers, went from fielding questions of “What is wrong with you and this team,” to “You are now an MVP favorite, how does that feel?”
While Rodgers is probably quite happy about the turnaround, he won’t be all smiles this weekend unless the Packers beat the New York Giants in round one of the playoffs.
Okay, enough of the players, let’s move on to the coaches. Who will win the NFL Coach of the Year award for 2016?
Sportsline indicates that the favorite right now is Jason Garrett. The Cowboys leader has taken a team that not many experts gave a chance to in the preseason to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Following an injury to veteran starting quarterback Tony Romo, many NFL gurus didn’t give Dallas much of a chance to compete in 2016. After all, they would be starting a rookie quarterback and running back.
Little did anyone know then that both Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott would be two of the best in the game in 2016. Garrett deserves his praise, and he should be a shoe-in for the award, well, as long as Dallas doesn’t end up on the outside looking in after one postseason game.
Kansas City’s Andy Reid and New England’s Bill Belichick are neck-and-neck for second place.
Reid has done a great job in K.C. this season, especially considering that not many people had picked the Chiefs to do much in 2016. It may be unfair, but for Reid to pull off this win, his team may have to win a postseason game. The Chiefs haven’t had much success in the postseason in quite a long time, but this team seems to have the capability to make it to the AFC title game.
Unfairly when it comes to coach Belichick, he is so successful that he often gets overlooked for awards.
The Patriots weathered the storm of having no Tom Brady the first four weeks of 2016 and losing Rob Gronkowski to a season-ending injury back in early December.
It will be interesting to see who wins each award this season because an argument could be made for several players and coaches.
Below is a look at the current odds to win the 2016 NFL MVP and NFL Coach of the Year.
- Jason Garrett -150
- Andy Reid +200
- Bill Belichick +250
- Jack Del Rio +400
- Adam Gase +1200
- Dan Quinn +1500
- Jim Caldwell +2200
- Ben McAdoo +2500
- Dirk Koetter +4000
- Pete Carroll +5000
NFL MVP Odds (Via Oddsshark as of Jan. 3)
- Matt Ryan (ATL) +125
- Aaron Rodgers (GB) +150
- Tom Brady (NE) +350
- Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) +750
- Dak Prescott (DAL) +5000
- Le’Veon Bell (PIT) +5000
[Featured Image by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images]
