With four weeks remaining in the 2016 NFL regular season, here’s how we view the MVP race…
1. Derek Carr, Raiders: That’s yet another fourth-quarter comeback for Carr, who trails Matthew Stafford (seven) by one in that category. Stafford has already tied the single-season NFL record. The league’s highest-rated fourth-quarter passer has really carried first-place Oakland.
2. Tom Brady, Patriots: He didn’t dominate the Rams, but without Rob Gronkowski he was still able to quite easily pick apart a good defense in order to remain in the No. 2 spot. However, he’s losing ground to Carr.
3. Dak Prescott, Cowboys: I don’t want to dock the rookie quarterback points for throwing only 18 passes (and completing only 12) on the road against a good Minnesota defense, but he wasn’t sharp in that game and it continues to look as though he and Ezekiel Elliott will cost each other MVP votes.
4. Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys: Offensive penalties in Minnesota cost him another 100-yard game on the ground, but the rookie back still had 105 yards from scrimmage and he still leads the NFL in rushing by a 242-yard margin.
5. Matthew Stafford, Lions: A dominant performance from start to finish in New Orleans. The Detroit quarterback has that comeback record, but he’s also the league’s sixth-highest-rated passer for first-place Detroit.
6. Matt Ryan, Falcons: The veteran quarterback’s rate-based stats are fantastic. In fact, he’s just behind Brady in the passer rating race. But he cost his team with a pick-six in a huge loss to the Chiefs, and the Falcons have now dropped two of three.
