What a thrilling 2020 NFL post-season we have on our hands on the completion of Week 17. Two teams, reigning Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs and NFC North champions Green Bay Packers, have secured a bye in the first round of this year’s NFL Playoffs. Their starting quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes are battling it out for individual honours in the race for NFL MVP. But there appears to be another addition to this list in the form of Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry.
During Sunday’s win over Houston Texans, Henry became the eighth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000+ yards in a single season. His tally of 2,027 rushing yards is the fifth-highest behind Eric Dickerson, Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis and Barry Sanders.
Critics and analysts have argued that ‘King Henry’ deserves recognition for his standout displays in 2020. But can he outsmart the likes of Rodgers and Mahomes to the NFL MVP title?
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Nick Wright claims Derrick Henry deserves to be in the NFL MVP conversation
Most Rush Yds since Wk 10, '19 (includes playoffs)
Henry: 3,369
Cook: 1,910
Jones: 1,810
Chubb: 1,758"Mahomes is the MVP but he's not going to win it. Henry makes more sense than Rodgers, who is going to win it. The gap between Henry & everyone else is massive." —@getnickwright pic.twitter.com/pIIrMymWsw
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 4, 2021
On today’s instalment of First Things First featuring Nick Wright, the outspoken American analyst dived into the NFL MVP debate involving Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Derrick Henry.
He said, “Patrick Mahomes is the MVP. However, he’s not going to win. He’s not gonna win. There’s a weird thing in the NFL, where if you’re so good through 14 games, you don’t really have to play the 15th or 16th game. They use it against you….Derrick Henry makes more sense…Derrick Henry has run for 125 yards or more in all five wins. There are two losses or the two games. He didn’t win for him.”
Derrick Henry has three 200-yard rushing games this season.
The only player in NFL history with more 200-yard rushing games in a single season is Earl Campbell, who had 4 in 1980. pic.twitter.com/yeV9A3kzHp
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 3, 2021
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“The gap between Henry and everyone else is so read to show what he leads the NFL in over the last season and a half… I personally would feel better about him winning it than Rodgers winning it. I do know this. He has been the most dominant player in his position, not only this year but over the last two years as far as the gap between him and everyone else in his position,” Wright said on the show.
Without a doubt, Henry’s season with the Titans is one for the NFL record books to behold. But Rodgers is also having a stellar individual season of his own with the Packers, leading the league in passing TDs at 48.
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All three players mentioned in this article are set for interesting match-ups in the NFL Playoffs. The coming few weeks will determine which of these three is more worthy of the coveted award. Surely a Lombardi Trophy will certainly not hamper their NFL MVP aspirations.
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