Drew Brees is Officially the New 2018 NFL MVP Favorite

• Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes in the Saints 48-7 victory over the Eagles in Week 11
• Brees has now thrown 11 TDs in his last three games and no INTs
• The Saints pivot has taken over as the favorite to win the 2018 NFL MVP

One of the biggest atrocities of the modern day NFL is the fact that Drew Brees does not have one single NFL MVP to his name.

Drew Brees, the quarterback who owns five of the nine 5,000-yard passing seasons in NFL history. This is the same man who is now the league’s all-time leader in completions and passing yards, and has also led the league in passing touchdowns on four occasions. (He’s second all-time in career passing TDs, too.)

This all-time great has never been honored with the league’s MVP award.

But this abomination may finally be coming to an end, as Brees has overtaken Patrick Mahomes as the favorite for the award.

2018 NFL MVP Odds

Mahomes had emerged as the favorite following Week 3, when the second-year QB threw three more TDs, bringing his season total up to an NFL-record 13.

The Chiefs’ signal-caller has remained the favorite ever since, and even became an odds-on favorite just two weeks ago.

But all that has changed now, as he relinquishes that title to Brees.

To see this movement, head to our 2018 NFL MVP Odds Tracker.

Brees the New Favorite

At 39 years old, Brees may be having his greatest season yet.

Drew Brees had a field day against the defending Super Bowl Champions ? pic.twitter.com/gYQD4zFYfq

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 19, 2018

No, he’s not going to break Peyton Manning’s record for passing yards in a season, and most likely won’t add another 5,000-yard season either. It’s also extremely unlikely he breaks Manning’s record for passing touchdowns in a season, and probably won’t even lead the league in that category this year.

But he doesn’t need to do any of that to win the MVP.

One of the craziest charts I’ve ever seen. These are Brees’ stats on tight window throws vs Mahomes. Look at that completion %!!!! pic.twitter.com/UatGzXHqtU

— Mike Renner (@PFF_Mike) November 21, 2018

Instead, Brees has played the position to near perfection, putting up unbelievably efficient numbers.

The pivot is pushing his own record for completion percentage, which he set last year, completing 76.9% of his passes, and has only thrown one (ONE!) interception in 334 attempts.

The BEST throws from @DrewBrees‘ four touchdown day! #PHIvsNO pic.twitter.com/k67NqFM0Yq

— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2018

Add in 25 touchdown passes, 11 of which have come in the last three weeks, and an average of 296.4 passing yards per game, and his absurd 126.9 passer rating on the season starts to make sense.

Brees is making the most difficult position in all of sports look far too easy.

And perhaps the most important stat working in Brees’ favor is that the Saints are 9-1, having recorded wins over the Rams, Vikings, and Eagles. Looking to the last 16 MVPs, only two were on teams that failed to win at least 12 games – Matt Ryan in 2016 (11-5) and Adrian Peterson in 2012 (10-6).

It’s not supposed to be an award based off team success, but it almost always plays a major factor in the voters’ decisions.

Is there Still a Case for Mahomes?

Of course there is.

This race is far from over. There are still six weeks of football to be played, and it won’t be every week that Kansas City’s opponent forces them into desperation mode to add to their 51 points already on the board.

*Denotes a league-best

In fact, if you didn’t listen back in August when we said take Brees at +1400, now is not the time to bet the Saints QB.

But if you did get him at those longer odds, or don’t have any money on either yet, Mahomes is the smarter bet right now. One of these two will win it.