NFL awards update, analysis: Does Philip Rivers deserve consideration for CPOY?

One of the more feel-good storylines of the 2025 NFL season unexpectedly arrived last week when the Indianapolis Colts called upon 44-year-old Philip Rivers in an attempt to revive their once-promising season that is now in borderline total free fall.

Rivers, who is known for his down-home disposition and sizable family (he has 10 total children), played presumably his last NFL season for the Colts in 2020 and led them to a playoff a berth before retiring. But following a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Daniel Jones in a 36-19 Week 14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, coach Shane Steichen shocked football observers everywhere when he placed a call to Rivers, who was immersed in coaching high school football, instead of going with sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard after he showed some promise in relief of Jones. Projected backup Anthony Richardson is unavailable because of a lingering injury.  

As you're likely aware, Rivers ended up starting for the Colts last Sunday in a crucial matchup against the Seattle Seahawks as two-touchdown underdogs. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the 18-16 loss to the Seahawks, who were held to six field goals. The Colts (8-6) have dropped four straight to fall out of playoff contention.

In the aftermath of this performance, Rivers crashed the NFL future odds for Comeback Player of the Year at DraftKings Sportsbook. He is currently the second favorite behind 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (-230), which begs the question: Is Rivers a legit COPY candidate, or is the betting action him just a sentimental byproduct of the warm-and-fuzzy vibes surrounding his much-celebrated return?

Call us crazy, but we're going with the latter. McCaffrey has accounted for 1,742 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns while keeping the injury-ravaged 49ers (10-4) in the NFC West hunt, one year removed from an injury-plagued season that sidelined him for most of the year and played a major part in his team watching the postseason from home. In our view, there's no more deserving candidate than McCaffery, who is the rightful favorite and should be the runaway winner of this award.

For what it's worth, we question the judgment and sanity of analysts who have opined that Rivers played well in his return. Their expectation bar was either much lower than ours, or their feel-good bias warped the lens from which they viewed the game. Eight of Rivers' 18 completions went to running backs, and the leading receiver was journeyman running back Ameer Abdullah with five catches. Even the designed short-area targets fluttered and wobbled on the way to their target from Rivers, who was never known for his arm strength and looks predictably worse now.

With all due respect to Rivers for giving it a go and sports fans' natural gravitation toward a Disney-like storyline, we believe Rivers was more of a liability than an asset and the team should have at least given Leonard, whose mobility and willingness to throw deep mirror Jones' physical traits, a chance at saving their plummeting playoff hopes. We find Rivers' inclusion in the CPOY odds borderline farcical ahead of other deserved candidates such as Trevor Lawrence (+700) and Dak Prescott (+750) and believe you are sweating your money if you jump in on the Rivers bandwagon -- unless, of course, you simply want a souvenir to mark the "historic" comeback attempt. 

Is MVP race essentially over?  

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (-300) is now the odds-on favorite for MVP following his 368-yard, two-TD performance in a crucial 41-34 over the Detroit Lions to keep Los Angeles (11-3) atop the NFC West. The Rams face another massive test Thursday when they visit the Seahawks for divisional supremacy. They beat Seattle 21-19 in the first meeting. We believe a Rams victory, even with a modest performance from Stafford, will likely seal the award for the 37-year-old signal-caller.

However, Josh Allen believers still have a glimmer of hope. Last week in this space, we offered that another super-human performance from Allen in a win over the Patriots would likely catapult him back into the MVP race. Allen, who was +2500 two weeks ago and +1500 last week, threw for 193 yards and three touchdowns in leading Buffalo back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Patriots 35-31.

Allen now sits at +550 as the third favorite behind Stafford and Patriots QB Drake Maye (+425), whose MVP stock took a serious hit as he was outplayed by Allen and unable to get the Patriots in position for a potential game-winning score on their final drive. Should Stafford wilt against a formidable Seattle defense and Allen keeps up his dramatic game-winning ways, this could become a legitimately close MVP race.

While the real value on the reigning MVP has dwindled, Allen was still an actionable and viable underdog the in the MVP betting odds for the past few weeks.