Morning Sports Update
Herbert received one of the 50 first-place votes as Maye had one fewer first-place vote than Stafford.
Drake Maye and Justin Herbert were two of the four players who received first-place MVP votes. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
February 6, 2026 | 11:55 AM
5 minutes to read
Why one voter picked Justin Herbert over Drake Maye for MVP: Drake Maye lost the MVP vote to Matthew Stafford by a total of five points, but he might have won the award had a bizarre ballot been cast in his favor instead.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert received one of the 50 first-place votes even though he didn’t put up relatively impressive numbers. If that first-place vote went to Maye, he would’ve had the same number of first-place votes as Stafford (24).
Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson later revealed himself to be the person who voted for Herbert. He explained that he felt the Chargers quarterback brought the most value to his respective team, more than any player this season.
“The guy had the worst offensive line in the NFL all season and despite that he was working miracles in almost every single game,” Monson wrote on social media. “Stafford’s OL became 2/5ths as bad as Herbert’s for 5 minutes and he became a turnover howitzer. He embodied ‘value’.”
In a follow-up post, Monson wrote that he felt there were two other deserving candidates for MVP this season as well. He didn’t specify who those two players were, but he also felt that Maye’s supporting cast was better than Herbert’s.
“How something is seen preseason is not necessarily how it performs,” Monson wrote when replying to someone who mentioned Maye was one of the top-performing quarterbacks this season despite having a supporting cast that was viewed as lackluster.
It’s hard to argue against Monson’s point that Herbert had less talent around him than Maye this season. Thanks to multiple injuries, the Chargers’ offensive line was ranked as the third-worst in football by PFF. Los Angeles also didn’t have a player eclipse 800 yards receiving, and the Chargers’ leading rusher had 643 yards.
The talent around Maye was better, but not that much better. PFF ranked New England’s offensive line as the 11th-best unit in the league. While Stefon Diggs had over 1,000 receiving yards, the Chargers had more players record over 700 receiving yards than the Patriots this year. New England’s running game was decisively better, though, with TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson combining for 1,514 yards.
Putting the supporting talent aside, Maye decisively had better numbers than Herbert this season. Maye led the league in completion percentage (72 percent), passer rating (113.5), and yards per attempt (8.9). He was also third in passing touchdowns (31) and fourth in passing yards (4,394).
Herbert, meanwhile, threw for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns, posting a 94.1 passer rating and 7.3 yards per attempt. He also threw more interceptions (13) than Maye (eight). On top of that, the Chargers had a worse record (10-7) than the Patriots (14-3).
It should be noted that voting was completed before the postseason. So, the performances from Maye and Herbert in the Patriots’ wild-card win over the Chargers weren’t taken into account in MVP voting.
As for Stafford, he led the league in touchdown passes (46) and passing yards (4,707). Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the other player to receive a first-place vote.
If there’s any good news for those hoping that Maye won MVP, there has been a bit of a curse with winning the award as it relates to the Super Bowl. Only one of the last 26 MVP winners has won the Super Bowl in the same season.
Trivia: The 2025 NFL MVP vote was the closest MVP vote since 2003, when two quarterbacks split the award. Who were those two quarterbacks?
(They both played in the same AFC division.)
Scores and schedules:
The Patriots had a strong night at Thursday’s NFL Honors. Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels won Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively. Former kicker Adam Vinatieri also learned that he’ll be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class.
The Celtics are back at home after a quick Texas road trip earlier this week. They host the Heat at 7:30 p.m. on Friday before welcoming the Knicks at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Boston will remain at home through Wednesday, their final game before the All-Star break.
Finally, the wait for Super Bowl LX is almost over. The Patriots take on the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. It marks the Patriots’ first Super Bowl appearance in seven years as they seek to become the first team in NFL history with seven Super Bowl titles.
Read more from Boston.com:
The moment Adam Vinatieri found out he was a Hall of Famer
It was only right that Adam Vinatieri found out he was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame by one of the only two other kickers who are enshrined in Canton, Morten Andersen. Andersen knocked on Vinatieri’s door and delivered the news to him at his home that he’ll be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
Air Corgi predicts Patriots will lose Super Bowl LX
One of the most popular dogs in sports has made a prediction for Super Bowl LX. Air Corgi predicts the Seahawks will beat the Patriots. The dog picked the Patriots to beat the Broncos in the AFC Championship, but also had the Texans winning the divisional round matchup in New England.
New Celtics center Nikola Vucevic thanks Chicago, is excited to join Boston.
The Celtics finally made their trade of Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic official in the hours ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Later on Thursday, Vucevic had a message for Bulls fans after spending his last six seasons with the team.
Chicago,
Thank you for welcoming me and my family 5 years ago. It was an honor to represent the Bulls, a historic franchise, and to play in front of some of the best fans in the world at the United Center!
While I hoped we could have achieved more together on the court, I will…
— Nikola Vucevic (@NikolaVucevic) February 6, 2026
In another social media post, Vucevic shared his excitement to be joining the Celtics.
On this day
Twenty-one years ago on Friday, the Patriots picked up their third Super Bowl win in franchise history when they defeated the Eagles, 24-21, in Super Bowl XXXIX. Tom Brady threw for 236 yards, and then-linebacker Mike Vrabel made a touchdown grab. But it was Deion Branch who won Super Bowl MVP behind his 133-yard performance.
Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX (2004):
The early 2000s Eagles reached the NFCCG four straight years and finally broke through in 2004, earning a Super Bowl matchup with the Patriots who were looking to cement a dynasty by winning their third title in four seasons.… pic.twitter.com/7LIoQvA0jL
— Fly Eagles Fly Bets (@Fly_EaglesBets) February 5, 2026
Daily highlight
Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg showed that the future has arrived in the NBA on Thursday night. The two young stars combined for 61 points in the Spurs’ 135-123 victory over the Mavericks. Wembanyama had 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and three blocks in San Antonio’s win. Flagg, meanwhile, had 32 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 30 points in four straight games.
Trivia answer: Peyton Manning and Steve McNair
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