With 16 whole weeks remaining in the 2016 NFL regular season, here’s how we view the MVP race…
1. Matthew Stafford, Lions: Just one week, but that was pretty encouraging. Stafford completed 31 of 39 passes and led Detroit on a last-minute scoring drive beat a good Colts team on the road. Three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 128.6 rating. That’s tough to deny.
2. Jameis Winston, Buccaneers: The second-year quarterback completed 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards while throwing four touchdown passes to one interception in an impressive Week 1 road victory over the division rival Falcons.
3. Andy Dalton, Bengals: He completed 23 of 30 passes while leading the Bengals to a comeback road victory over a tough Jets team.
4. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers: Without Le’Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton and Heath Miller, Big Ben led the Steelers to a 22-point road victory over a reigning division champion in Washington, posting a 112.4 passer rating in the process.
5. Alex Smith, Chiefs: The veteran quarterback looked a bit like a gunslinger Sunday, completing 34 of 48 passes for 363 yards in a big comeback victory over the division rival Chargers.
6. Drew Brees, Saints: Dude had four touchdowns, zero picks and a league-best rating of 131.3 in the opener against Oakland. It’s not his fault the Saints defense blew it.
7. Andrew Luck, Colts: Dude had four touchdowns, zero picks and a conference-best rating of 119.5 in the opener against Detroit. It’s not his fault the Colts defense blew it.
8. Leonard Williams, Jets: New York lost and Williams probably isn’t a real MVP candidate, but the big man recorded 2.5 sacks in the opener and looks primed to have a monster 2016 season. For now, he’s at least your top candidate for defensive player of the year.
