
All NFL teams now have a win, and two undefeated teams remain – the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are on a bye this week, and they are paying -135 to be the last remaining unbeaten team. A bet on them to go 17-0 pays +1900.
Kansas City improved to 5-0 on the back of players from their past, including Kareem Hunt, who rushed for more than 100 yards on Monday night for the first time since 2020. JuJu Smith-Schuster is also back in the fold in Kansas City, and he had 130 receiving yards against the Saints, his highest total since 2018.
How does it keep working for the Chiefs with so many offensive parts that weren’t in the preseason plans? Because of the man who is in every Kansas City plan, Patrick Mahomes.
MVP
By the lofty standards of Mahomes, he is having a rough start to the season. He’s thrown an interception in each of the five games this season, and Week 5 was the first time that he threw for more than 300 yards.
But he’s unbeaten, and he can still pull magic out of the hat when needed, as he did on a first down scramble in the fourth quarter that twice looked like he was going to be sacked for a loss. Mahomes is the leader in the MVP race, paying +330, largely because he is the leader on the team that keeps on winning.
After three weeks, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had actually jumped ahead of Mahomes on the strength of three very impressive performances. Since then, he has regressed, with two straight losses, including a huge step backwards this week. In Buffalo’s loss to the Houston Texans, Allen was just 9-of-30 for 131 yards. The 30% completion rate is the lowest of his career, and the 4.37 yards per attempt was his worst since 2019.
Allen is now +600 to win the MVP award — which ties him with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson — after his four-touchdown performance in the Baltimore Ravens’ big overtime win at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Offensive Player of the Year
In that Ravens win, running back Derrick Henry was largely held in check. But you can never keep him down fully, and finally in overtime, he broke a big 51-yard run to set up the Ravens’ game-winning field goal. Henry leads all running backs with 572 yards on the season, and he is the +350 betting favorite for Offensive Player of the Year.
Saquon Barkley of the Eagles is third on the NFL rushing list for 2024, and he is +450 to win OPOY. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson hasn’t missed a beat going from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold, and the Vikings star is third on the odds board at +650.
Defensive Player of the Year
On the defensive side of the ball, the top of the odds board is dominated by pass rushers. Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions (+250), T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers (+350), and Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders (+900) are all having great starts to the season. All are worthy candidates for Defensive Player of the Year.
However, Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney may be having the most impressive start to the season of anyone in football. He has an interception in each of the Packers five games, and his current pace would have him shattering the NFL record for most interceptions in a season.
He’s at +1000 to win DPOY, which is an improvement from +2500 just one week ago.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Another week, another big-time performance from Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. His odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year continue to shrink, now down to -230. He had more than 300 yards of total offense in the Commanders 34-13 win over the Cleveland Browns, and his winning streak is now up to four.
The Commanders last four-game winning streak was in 2021.
The preseason favorite and No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, is making improvements each week, and his 304 yards and two touchdowns in the Chicago Bears win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 5 was his best game yet. At +300, he’s still quite a ways behind Daniels. But that’s becoming more about Daniels being great, and less about the struggles of Williams.
Coach of the Year
When the season began, the Vikings were supposed to be the worst of the four teams in the NFC North. A downgrade at quarterback and the other three teams all with high expectations left the Vikings as the odd team out of a three-team division race.
Someone didn’t tell that to quarterback Sam Darnold or head coach Kevin O’Connell, who is the favorite to win Coach of the Year at +160. The Jets tried to make Darnold a good NFL quarterback, and so did the 49ers. Minnesota and O’Connell have succeeded, and now the least thought-of team in the division is the leader at 5-0.
Dan Quinn, the New Commanders head coach, also deserves his flowers, and he is getting them at +275 to win Coach of the Year.

With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.