Week 1 was full of exciting games, as it always is. The feeling of having football back is great for teams that start the year off 1-0. On Sunday night, fans were treated with a classic duel between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, a rematch of last season’s AFC Divisional playoff game.
It looked like the Ravens would pull out the win, as they were up by 15 with under 12 minutes left to play. Things then went in favor for Josh Allen and the Bills, who were gifted a rare fumble from Ravens’ star running back Derrick Henry. Allen, the reigning league MVP, made sure the Bills went out victorious in their last ever home opener at Highmark Stadium.
Speaking of MVPs, Lamar Jackson owns two of them. The heavy debate over the offseason was whether Allen deserved to win, as Jackson was the runner-up. If he had won, it would’ve been Jackson’s third MVP award and certainly would have cemented him as a future Hall of Famer. He’s already on that trajectory, the hope is now to help Baltimore get over the hump in the AFC and add another Lombardi to the trophy case.
Just one game into the 2025 season, NFL executives gave their predictions for award winners. Jackson was chosen to win his third MVP.
Although Allen made a compelling opening case to go back-to-back — “he’s the ultimate difference-maker,” an NFL personnel evaluator noted postgame — Jackson figures to be in the race because of a few factors: His dual-threat ability typically keeps his touchdown total high, he consistently wins games (.736 career win percentage) and he limits turnovers, averaging one interception roughly every third game since 2024.
If Jackson wins a third MVP, he’d already be among the all-time greats.