This year’s AP NFL Honors ceremony was one for the history books. This year’s ceremony had high expectations from fans and even players around the league waiting anxiously to find out who got to go home with some hardware. To say the least, the award ceremony wouldn’t disappoint.

The most controversial part of the Honors ceremony was very similar to other years, which was the Most Valuable Player vote. With two quarterbacks highly regarded across the league, and both having record-setting seasons it could only be given to one.

Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, that was the question in which everyone was waiting for an answer. Some people believe as in past seasons the AP NFL honor ceremony should award a Co-MVP. This however has only happened on very rare occasions and only twice in NFL history. Between Brett Favre and Barry Sanders in 1997, then again the MVP award was shared between Steve McNair and Peyton Manning in 2003. This year is different however was very different from those years.

The AP poll which consists of journalists around the country voting on these awards for the NFL changed their rules this year. Different from other years where only first place votes counted towards the tally for MVP this year, second and third place votes would count towards the award as well.

So hypothetically candidate A could have the most amount of 1st place votes but if candidate B had the 2nd most 1st place votes and is close to candidate A and candidate B had a significant more amount of second and third place votes then candidate B would win. Therefore, there cannot be Co-MVPs.

Luckily it didn’t come to that this year as Josh Allen is the first quarterback in Buffalo Bills history to win the MVP. After an offseason of turmoil due to star wide receiver Stefon Diggs being traded to the Huston Texans, Allen and the Bills were predicted to perform poorly especially compared to prior season’s expectations.

Some media analysts even doubted the Bills could make the playoffs during the 2024 season let alone the AFC Championship game. That didn’t seem to bother Josh Allen and the Bills, however, as they took on an underdog mentality with a roster that seemed to be filled with question marks. Those question marks quickly turned into exclamation points to the surprise of many around the league.

The Buffalo Bills adopting the new mantra of “Everybody Eats” was not just a phrase for the media, but rather a new identity adopted by the Bills and their players. Josh Allen’s trust in his teammates and precise decision making is one of the key reasons why the Buffalo Bills had success.

Allen broke records this year including the Buffalo Bills franchise record most career rushing touchdowns, the NFL’s first player with 40+ touchdowns in 5 consecutive seasons, the NFL’s first player to record multiple career games of 340+ yards passing, 60+ yards rushing, 2+ passing touchdowns and 2+ rushing touchdowns, to name just a few.

Overall AP NFL Honors ceremony was as exciting as ever this year. Unfortunately, other awards seemed to be outshined by the tight MVP race, but it still worth acknowledging the hard work and amazing players who accepted awards. Each player in their own right accomplishing something only the 1% of the 1% of athletes could.

Most Valuable Player – Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
Offensive Player of the Year – Saquan Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles)
Defensive Player of the Year – Patrick Surtain II (Denver Broncos)
Offensive Rookie of the Year – Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)
Defensive Rookie of the Year- Jared Verse (Los Angeles Rams)
Comeback Player of the Year – Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
Walter Payton Man of the Year – Arik Armstead (Jacksonville Jaguars)