Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence’s late-season surge ignites an unlikely MVP debate. Jacksonville’s turnaround hinges on his playoff-bound brilliance.
As recently as late November, the thought of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence being in the NFL MVP conversation was crazy.
In Week 12, the Jags played the hapless Arizona Cardinals, who finished 3-14, and the game displayed the best and worst of Lawrence.
Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, but also three interceptions, which gave him 11 on the season to put him amongst the league leaders.
Erratic quarterbacks don't win MVP awards, and through 11 games, that's what Lawrence had been (14 TDs, 11 INTs).
Then, Lawrence got hot.
Really hot.
Through Jacksonville's last six games, the former No. 1 pick threw 15 touchdown passes and just one interception.
More importantly, Jacksonville won all six games, plus the two before that, to end the regular season on an eight-game winning streak and with a 13-4 record.
In one year, Jacksonville improved from 4-13 to 13-4, and the play of Lawrence is as big a reason as any for the turnaround.
For this, Lawrence's head coach feels his quarterback deserves to be in the mix for MVP.
"I think so," Liam Coen said Monday. "You're judged as a quarterback by what your team's record is, by winning and losing, by how much you elevate the team, and ultimately, by what you do in the playoffs.
"The best rise, and the best elevate the people around him. And I think he's continued to do that down this stretch."
For Coen, Lawrence's rise is a perfect example of why discussing who should be the MVP is pointless in the first eight weeks of the season.
"Some of those teams aren't in the playoffs," Coen said. "There's so many good players in this league, and some guys get hot early, and then some guys get hot later, and it's really what you do in January that matters."
So what are Lawrence's chances of winning MVP?
The Jags' fifth-year starter has the third-best chance to win, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Unfortunately, he's pretty far behind the top two: Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford is the odds-on favorite at -175, followed by QB Drake Maye of the New England Patriots (+140).
Lawrence is behind Maye at +3,000, so his lifting the MVP trophy this season seems unlikely.
Regardless of awards, Lawrence and the Jags have had a fantastic season.