The Kansas City Chiefs have experienced a halting start to the 2025 season, as they look to return to the Super Bowl for the fourth straight season. With Week Six now in the books, the defending AFC champions managed to get themselves to a .500 record with a contentious 30-17 win over the Detroit Lions Sunday.
The win was propelled by 30-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who put together his most complete game of the season, connecting on 22 of 30 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns for a 132.2 passer rating.
Even so, according to ESPN’s weekly passer rankings, Mahomes turned in only the third-best performance of the week in ratings compiled before reigning MVP Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills played his Monday night game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Nonetheless, Fan Duel Sportsbook saw enough in Mahomes’ performance to vault him over Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into second place on the betting odds tables in the race for NFL 2025 Most Valuable Player, with odds of +270 compared to Mayfield’s +470.
BetMGM also placed Mahomes ahead of Mayfield, with +450 odds to Mayfield’s +750.
Josh Allen Remains Heavy MVP Favorite
Allen remains favored â heavily â to repeat as MVP, with +140 odds according to both sportsbooks.
DraftKings Sportsbook had Allen at +155, but Mayfield was the biggest beneficiary of the week, seeing his odds rise from +1100 to +400, tying him with Mahomes for second place on the table.
Mayfield, the eight-year veteran who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2018 â selected out of Oklahoma by the Cleveland Browns â lifted the Bucs to a 5-1 record, one of only two teams (along with the Indianapolis Colts) at that mark, with a 139-rated outing against the San Francisco 49ers in which he threw for 256 yards on 17 completions out of 23 tries with a pair of touchdowns.
Neither Mahomes nor Mayfield threw an interception on their Week Six games.
New England’s Drake Maye Enters MVP Conversation
But the top-rated performance by a quarterback in Week Six, at least prior to Allen’s Monday night outing, belonged to a relative newcomer â New England Patriots‘ sophomore quarterback Drake Maye.
The No. 3 overall pick in 2024 out of North Carolina, Maye took on the New Orleans Saints in only his 18th NFL start and powered the resurgent Patriots to their third straight victory for the first time since 2022.
Maye compiled a stellar passer rating of 141.1, according to ESPN’s rankings. He threw for three touchdowns and 261 yards, connecting on 18 of his 26 throws without an interception.
The 23-year-old’s rating would have been even higher if not for two highly questionable, to say the least, offensive pass interference calls that wiped out a 61-yard touchdown pass to DeMario “Pop” Douglas, and another 51-yard connection to Stephon Diggs down the sideline.
The win boosted New England’s record to 4-2, and while Maye remains a long shot in the MVP race, his performance in New Orleans at least put him in the conversation around the award. According to Sports Casting Bets, Maye’s odds are now +2200, placing him eighth on the table, ahead of such veterans as the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott (+3000) and Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl winner Jalen Hurts (+2800).
Maye does even better in the FanDuel odds, placing sixth at +1600, just behind Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers and Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, both at +1500.
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