Joe Burrow needs to throw for an unreasonable amount of touchdowns in the Cincinnati Bengals' season finale to make an extremely late and unorthodox ascent to NFL MVP. He also needs some help elsewhere to secure a spot in the playoffs, where everyone agrees no opposing team would like to see him very much. But the fact that he's even being included in these neverneding premature debates is as good an indication as anything else that he's been spectacular. Consider that just a month ago he was the pilot of a floundering 4-8 club, putting up big numbers but falling short on the scoreboard far more often than winning.
The unusual circumstances have cooked up quite a take stew. From Shannon Sharpe breaking Dan Orlovsky's brain back in December by saying Burrow should shoulder responsibility for the 4-8 mark, to Troy Aikman going on record last Monday night that he'd vote for Burrow as the MVP—opinions have been all over the map.
