Who is the NFL MVP at the season’s halfway mark: Week 10 Preview

It’s halfway through the NFL season: who’s the midpoint MVP and after a frenzied NFL trade deadline, which contenders have loaded up?

With the end of Week 9 marking the halfway point of the NFL season (and the end of Dennis Allen’s all-time forgettable tenure as head coach of the New Orleans Saints), the dust has now also settled on an NFL trade deadline.

It saw contenders load up for a Super Bowl run, a handful of also-rans hold a fire sale and the Cowboys, uh, trade for a receiver… after losing quarterback Dak Prescott to a hamstring injury.

Sure!?

The NFL’s trade frenzy came after a Week 9 that gave fans plenty of highlights – including Eagles running back Saquon Barkley pulling off a spin-move into backwards-hurdling a defender and Garrett Wilson pulling off a Michael Jordan pose while catching a one-handed TD – but also saw a remarkable NINE teams finish the first half of the season on only 2 wins.

SAQUON BARKLEY IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.

📺: #JAXvsPHI on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909gepic.twitter.com/UtCENDw6no

— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024

It begs the question: is anyone – outside of the still unbeaten reigning champion 8-0 Kansas City Chiefs – good?

Well, in the NFC, both the Lions and Commanders are off to franchise-shaping great starts. 7-1 Detroit is ranked tops in the league in DVOA and hasn’t started a season this week since 1956, while 7-2 Washington (with its 2nd ranked offensive DVOA) is off to its best start since 1996.

In the AFC, lurking behind the Chiefs are the 7-2 Bills and 6-3 Ravens, both toting quarterbacks firmly in the MVP conversation and Top 5 in total DVOA.

Each of those contenders made moves at the trade deadline, with Chiefs leaning on new acquisition DeAndre Hopkins in their OT win over Tampa Bay in Week 9, the Lions replacing the injured Aidan Hutchinson by nabbing DT Za’Darius Smith from Cleveland, Baltimore picking up some defensive help in trading for Tre’Davious White from the Rams and the Commanders doing similar in sending out three late-round draft picks to grab Marshon Lattimore from the Saints. The Bills already bolstered their receiving corps with Amari Cooper.

In terms of the halfway MVP conversation, Lamar Jackson has made a compelling case to be the first-half MVP, sitting top of the NFL in passer rating (120.7) and QBR (77.0), third overall for passing TDs (20) and total yards (2,379), and 17th in rushing yards in the league (505), while helming the league’s best offence in yards per game (445.9) that has also scored the most points in the league (283) while averaging 31.4 points per outing.

Who is your pick for Midseason MVP?

VOTE: https://t.co/ULPQ0bK3jBpic.twitter.com/Coy9v9II3d

— NFL on FOX Podcast (@NFLonFOXPod) November 6, 2024

Lamar leads the MVP chatter (and odds) alongside Buffalo’s Josh Allen, ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Goff - who just passed Peyton Manning for the most efficient passing six-game stretch in NFL history, boasting an 82.8 completion percentage going back to Week 3 - as well as rookie Jayden Daniels, who has turned the moribund Washington Commanders around with his electric QB play.

Now the table is delectably set for a second half of a season that has a clear set of contenders, wannabe-contenders, playoff hopefuls and some absolutely cooked also-rans.

After a Week 9 that saw a decent balance between offence and defence – 8 of the 15 games went over the points totals – favourites are now winning at a 55% clip, while total point overs rose sits at 53% for the year.

Week 10 offers up a fun slate of games beginning with a cracking Thursday Night Football divisional clash between the Bengals and Ravens. Germany is subjected to a game between the Giants and Panthers, but fans also get tasty divisional match-ups between Philly and Dallas, Atlanta and New Orleans as well as Denver taking on KC, while the Browns, Packers, Raiders and Seahawks are on byes.

Jaymz Clements from NFL Straya previews Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season above, breaking down all the games for the weekend ahead, showcasing just what’s ahead for NFL fans.

As for the Aussie NFL players, Jordan Mailiata of the Eagles remains on IR and will miss at least the next two weeks with a hamstring injury, Baltimore’s Daniel Faalele continues to improve while the bevy of Aussie punters – Mitch Wishnowsky, Michael Dickson, Matthew Hayball and Tory Taylor – are all continuing excellent seasons.

Aussie NFL fans have a terrific Week 10 slate to dig into, so watch the NFL Straya breakdown above to see who should win and why.

Can Kansas City remain undefeated against a divisional opponent in Denver?

How will Detroit, Baltimore and Washington’s new acquisitions help the rest of the way?

Do the Saints get a dead coach bounce against their hated rival Falcons?

Can Philly end Dallas’ season with Dak on the shelf for at least a few weeks?

Find out with NFL Straya’s NFL Week 10 preview and in the breakdown above.

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NFL WEEK 10 SCHEDULE

FRIDAY 12.15am AEDT

Cincinnati @ Baltimore

MONDAY 1.30am AEDT

NY Giants vs Carolina (Germany)

MONDAY 5am AEDT

NE Patriots @ Chicago

Buffalo @ Indianapolis

Denver @ Kansas City

Atlanta @ New Orleans

San Francisco @ Tampa Bay

Pittsburgh @ Washington

Minnesota @ Jacksonville

MONDAY 8.05am AEDT

Tennessee @ LA Chargers

MONDAY 8.25am AEDT

Philadelphia @ Dallas

NY Jets @ Arizona

MONDAY 12.20pm AEDT

Detroit @ Houston

TUESDAY 12.15pm AEDT

Miami @ LA Rams

Byes: Cleveland, Green Bay, Las Vegas, Seattle

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Follow along the entire NFL season with NFL Straya:

NFL Straya on YouTube

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NFL Straya on Spotify

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