Dallas Cowboys: Five bold predictions for 2017

BOLD PREDICTION #4

Ezekiel Elliott will win the MVP award.

Of the seven men to rush for 2,000+ yards, three of them failed to win the MVP award.  If Elliott is to be the eighth, that will be not be a concern.

Looking back at the three that did not, there are legitimate reasons as to why.

In 1983, Eric Dickerson set what is still the all-time record for most rushing yards with 2,105 but he lost the MVP award.  Instead, Washington quarterback Joe Theismann took home the trophy.

Why?

Well, the Rams did finish just 9-7 to Washington’s 14-2 mark.  They also lost to Washington, twice, by a combined score of 93-27.  That’s not helping your cause.

In 2003, Jamal Lewis ran for 2,053 yards.  He also did so on the second highest number of carries of any to do it (387), playing on a team that went 10-6.  Exactly 500 of his yards also came at the expense of the Cleveland Browns.  They were just as bad then as they are today.

Another thing that went against Lewis was that Baltimore defense.  In 2003, the Ravens were third in total yards allowed as well as takeaways.  They were fourth in passing yards against, sixth in points allowed and rushing yards against.  It’s fair to say that most voters thought the defense was the key to their success.

Meanwhile, the MVP was split amongst quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Steve McNair.  Both led their teams to 12-4 records with Baltimore losing to McNair’s Titans in the first round of playoffs.

Manning beat another running back in 2009 as well, taking it from Chris Johnson this time.  This one is easily more justifiable however as Manning’s Colts won fourteen games in route to a Super Bowl appearance.  Johnson’s Titans, however went 8-8 and lost both games head-to-head with the Colts.