The Super Bowl is the one sporting event that grabs the attention of sports fans and non-sports fans alike. Whether it’s the commercials, the half-time show or the game itself, it’s a great spectacle from start to finish. Still, while we can get caught up in the extra-curriculars of the broadcast, the game itself still pins the best of the best against each other; that means the best teams and the best players and this game has some elite players. Here, we’ll take a look at the players with the best chances of taking home the hardware as the games’ MVP.
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Super Bowl MVP Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tom Brady -110
Matt Ryan +185
Julio Jones +1600
LeGarrette Blount +2000
Julian Edelman +2000
Devonta Freeman +2500
Chris Hogan +3300
Dion Lewis +3300
Tevin Coleman +5000
Martellus Bennett +6600
Taylor Gabriel +7000
Mohamed Sanu +8000
Vic Beasley Jr. +8000
Malcolm Butler +10000
Devin McCourty +15000
James White +15000
Jabaal Sheard +20000
Trey Flowers +20000
Patrick Chung +20000
Steven Gostkowski +25000
Ricardo Allen +25000
Deion Jones +25000
Keanu Neal +30000
Logan Ryan +30000
Matt Bryant +40000
The Quarterbacks
When it comes to the MVP, the quarterback of the winning team is often crowned with that honor. Of course, it’s not a given and should players like Julio Jones, LeGarrette Blount or Devonta Freeman have monster games one of them could take the crown, but with the quarterback the field general, they often have the upper hand.
As a result, it’s no surprise that Tom Brady leads the field at -110. The Patriots are the favorites to win the game so it just makes sense he’s given the best odds. Of course, he’s the safest pick, but the least lucrative, too.
Still, you cannot discount the fact that’s already got three Super Bowl MVPs to his name. He’s the heart and soul of this team and will be facing a lackluster Atlanta defense.
Without Rob Gronkowski, Brady will get even more credit for leading the team to victory—should that happen—particularly considering this should be a high scoring affair.
Getting down to the stats, Brady had 28 touchdowns and two interceptions in his 12 regular season games and still managed to throw for 3,554 yards in his suspension shortened season. He’s also a media favorite despite being a bit of a controversial figure nationwide. He’s got the name recognition to garner the fan portion of the vote in addition to the media’s portion.
Obviously, after Brady in the odds is Matt Ryan at +185. Matty Ice is a contender for the season MVP honors as well.
He’s always been a good performer during his professional career, but has stepped it up this season. For much the same reasons that Brady is a popular pick, Ryan is the most likely choice should Atlanta win the game. After all, it won’t be Brady in that case as the losing quarterback has never won the Super Bowl MVP trophy.
If the Falcons win the Super Bowl, there’s no doubt Ryan will have to play a huge role. This is the NFL’s best offense by a number of metrics and it’s an offense driven by the passing game. They will not win this game on defense and while Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are talented backs, they’ll likely not win this on the ground either.
As for Ryan, he’s throw for 18 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last six games, including his first two postseason games of the season. He’s also posted at least a 121.8 rating in all six game while completing at least 70.3-percent of his passes in five straight contests.
Those are just ridiculous numbers and with each passing game, his confidence has grown and grown. The one drawback is that he’s playing away from Georgia Dome for the first time this postseason.
The Best of the Rest
If the Falcons win and Ryan isn’t the MVP, odds are it’s Julio Jones. He sits at +1600 with the third most favorable odds.
It’s no surprise. Jones is the most recognizable player on the team. He’s a superstar amongst receivers and he has the resume to back it up. Much of Ryan’s success this year can be attributed to Jones and if Jones sees the bulk of passes and finds the end zone a few times in the games as the direct recipient of much of Ryan’s stats he could easily get the honors over the QB. That said, it’s been quite a few years since the last reciever got the award. There’ve been seven MVPs since.
Similarly, it’s been even longer since a running back took the honors, but LaGarrett Blount is fourth in the odds at +2000 with Freeman and Coleman contenders, too. Nevertheless, the Pats shut down Le’Veon Bell who is far superior to either Freeman or Coleman. Meanwhile, Blount hasn’t had a 100-yard game since Week 11 and has just four multi-touchdown games all year, non in the postseason.
The X Factor
This is a Super Bowl being hyped up around the offenses of these two clubs with the highest ever opening total and plenty of love for the quarterbacks, but don’t count out a defensive player taking home the MVP honors. That’s happened in two of the last three Super Bowls.
On the defensive side of the ball, that leaves Vic Beasley Jr. at +8000 and Malcolm Butler at +10000 as interesting longshots.
As noted before, if the Falcons are going to win, it’s going to be on the strength of the offense, but they cannot allow New England’s offense to go unchecked. That is where Beasley comes in.
The outside linebacker led the NFL with 15.5 sacks and will be asked to keep Brady on his heels. If he’s able to get into Brady’s head and knock him on his back a few times while the offense presents a more balanced approach with Freeman, Coleman, Jones and Ryan all having good, but not great games, Beasley could find himself in the running, particularly if New England’s offense doesn’t put up as many points as expected.
Meanwhile, Butler got some love in the conference championship bout for how well he handled Antonio Brown and he’s likely to matchup with Julio Jones. He’s undersized for the matchup, but that could actually play in to his recognition if he can shutdown Ryan’s favorite target.
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