Flaws in voting approach could prevent Bengals' Joe Burrow from winning first MVP

Despite his team's disheartening 2-4 start to the season, Cincinnati's Joe Burrow is still one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. However, if the Bengals continue to struggle, a flaw in the league's voting system could prevent him from earning his first MVP award.

Burrow concluded his 2023 season after 11 weeks because of a ligament tear suffered in his right wrist. NFL.com's Eric Edholm wrote that the injury made Burrow question his football mortality this past offseason.

Nearly a year after wrist surgery, the 27-year-old is back to playing the best football of his NFL career.

Through six weeks, Burrow ranks first in passer rating (110.3), second in completion percentage (71.6), second in passing touchdowns (12) and fifth in passing yards (1,578). His two interceptions are the fewest this season by a player with 200 or more passing attempts.

Despite personal success this season, he likely won't gain any traction in MVP voting if his stellar play continues, but Cincinnati finishes with a subpar record. Burrow will probably have his defense to thank for that.

The defense has been catastrophic, allowing the seventh-most points per game (25.3). To illustrate how abysmal its situation is, if the defense allowed 32 points in each game this season, the Bengals would be 3-3 instead of 2-4.

Unfortunately for Burrow, team record has historically been a critical factor in determining the league MVP, voted on by sportswriters at the end of the regular season.

The most recent quarterback to win MVP on a team with less than 11 wins was Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway of the Denver Broncos in 1987. The Bengals must go 9-2 in their final 11 games to reach the 11-win mark.

According to DraftKings as of Tuesday, Oct. 15, the top six quarterbacks in MVP odds are Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes (+360), Buffalo's Josh Allen (+475), Baltimore's Lamar Jackson (+550), Houston's C.J. Stroud (+650), Washington rookie Jayden Daniels (+1100) and Minnesota's Sam Darnold (+1400). All of them play for teams with 4-2 records or better.

Burrow holds the eighth-best odds (+1700) to win MVP on DraftKings .

Mahomes leading MVP odds epitomize the inequitable value of team record in award voting. He has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns (six), ranks 12th in passing yards per game (247) and has the 19th-highest passer rating this season (88.9). Nevertheless, none of this seems to matter because the Chiefs (5-0) are undefeated.

The defense played well Sunday night during Cincinnati's second win, holding the New York Giants to seven points. Although, it may be too late for those performances to salvage the team's season.

Burrow spoke on the significance of the Bengals' win on playoff hopes and praised the defense's performance in a postgame news conference Sunday .

"We really needed it," Burrow said of the win. "I don't want to say we would've been out of it if we had lost, but we'd be scratching and clawing for the rest of the year. We still really are, but it's good to get a win. Great to see our defense step up like that. They've taken some heat the last couple weeks, but they played awesome today."

Should he continue to build on his hot start, Burrow can easily achieve career highs in numerous statistical categories. Nonetheless, his season will likely be filed away and forgotten due to a lackluster defense and a flawed approach to MVP voting.