Monday’s Christmas Day matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers gave fans a true litmus test of who is truly the elite team in the NFL. It also completely shifted the odds for who will the 2023 NFL MVP award.
49ers star quarterback Brock Purdy came into the game as the favorite to win the award. But as the saying goes, you are only as good as your last game. And unfortunately Purdy may have taken himself out of the running with his performance on Christmas Day.
Purdy struggled heavily to produce much offense against the stout Ravens’ defense, throwing for 255 yards and turning the ball over four times. He was also unable to throw for any touchdowns in the game, the first time all season he has not found the endzone at all.
Meanwhile, Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson, a fellow MVP candidate coming into the game, boosted his chances of winning the award with a terrific game.
Jackson threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers in the game. He was also able to lead his team in rushing, adding in 45 rushing yards on the day.
After this performance, Jackson has now leap-frogged Purdy in the 2023 NFL MVP odds. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Jackson is now a 2-1 favorite to win the award, while Purdy currently sits behind three players at 12-1.
Lamar Jackson is now the favorite to win MVP, while Christian McCaffrey has the second-shortest odds 👀 pic.twitter.com/65D7Eu4XZl
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) December 26, 2023
Interestingly, despite the loss for the 49ers one player on the team did boost his odds to win the award. 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey was one of the lone bright spots for the 49ers in the game, rushing for over 100 yards and recording six receptions on the day while also finding the endzone.
It is certainly interesting to see McCaffrey also jump his teammate, Brock Purdy, in the race for the MVP award with only two weeks left in the regular season, a testiment to how consistant he has been throughout the season even in the 49ers worst offensive performance all year.
McCaffrey still has an uphill battle to win the MVP award, an award that has recently been made a defacto award for the best quarterback in football. Former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was the last non-quarterback to win the award back in 2012.
Only time will tell whether McCaffrey will be able to be the next to accomplish this rare feat. But it sure seems like he has as good of a chance as anyone to do so.
