Matthew Stafford’s first NFL MVP award, which he won on Thursday night, took a long time coming — after 17 years in the league. For most in the football world, the honor was well-deserved for the kind of season the veteran QB recorded. But for Dave Portnoy and those from in and around New England, it was a major disappointment since Drake Maye lost by just one vote.
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The MVP voting ranked the final nominees in this order: Stafford (24), Maye (23), Josh Allen (2), and Justin Herbert (1). Besides disappointment from the Patriots fans whose quarterback lost by one point, the list also sparked strong reactions from those who claimed Herbert should not have been nominated to the list. His addition was all the more glaring since Super Bowl contender Sam Darnold didn’t get a spot.
And make no mistake, Darnold is one of the best game managers in the league. He made the Vikings look monstrous in 2024, and just when no one gave the Seahawks a chance, he punched them a ticket to the Super Bowl. Since then, the Herbert voter has come out to explain why he cast what many believed to be an unusual vote.
“I was the Justin Herbert vote,” Sam Monson, the ‘Irish NFL Analyst,’ wrote on X. “The guy had the worst offensive line in the NFL all season, and despite that, he was working miracles in almost every single game. Stafford’s OL became 2/5ths as bad as Herbert’s for 5 minutes, and he became a turnover howitzer. He embodied ‘value’.”
Monson’s confession further irked Portnoy, who was already livid by Maye losing the MVP award. “Imagine thinking you outsmarted every other human who watched football. Only cost Maye the MVP. Luckily, we play for Lombardi’s in New England,” Portnoy wrote in response.
. Imagine thinking you outsmarted every other human who watched football. Only cost Maye the MVP. Luckily we play for Lombardi’s in New England. https://t.co/b5fvOrjbw6
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 6, 2026
In his subsequent tweets, Monson, responding to Portnoy and the Pats fans’ contention, explained that the emphasis of the award is on how ‘valuable’ a player is. He was trying to convey that it “is basically impossible to objectively evaluate with so many dependencies. But the idea that one vote altered a guy’s legacy is stupid.”
It was a courageous move by Monson to admit that it was his vote that potentially became the difference maker for Stafford. And understandably, he attracted the wrath of the fans who thought he made the vote about himself rather than voting for the most deserving player.
