Thoughts on the 2021 NFL MVP Chase

The results of my hypothesis.

Aaron Rodgers won the 2021 Associated Press’s NFL MVP award Thursday (February 10, 2022), taking 39 of 50 first-place votes. Tom Brady received ten votes, and Cooper Kupp got one.

Kupp was the winner of my MVP Chase. The MVP Chase was based on a points system. To earn an MVP point, a player must have a passer rating of 97.0 or higher, or have gained 70 or more yards from scrimmage, in a victory or tie.

I believed the award would go to a player from a team that won a lot of games, and who played well in those games. My hypothesis was that the leader in MVP points would win the AP’s award, or be a top candidate, even if the voters aren’t aware of these standards I set.

Nine players earned nine or more MVP Points in my MVP Chase, with seven coming from just three teams: Rams, Packers, and Buccaneers. These teams were also in the top three in most wins. The voters seemed to select the “most valuable” from each team.

• Kupp (12 MVP points) from the Rams won the MVP Chase..
• Rodgers (10 points) of the Packers was tied for fourth with teammate Davante Adams and one point behind teammate Aaron Jones and the Rams’s Matthew Stafford.
• Brady (9 points) tied with teammate Leonard Fournette, Jonathan Taylor of the…