Has the NFL MVP ever missed the playoffs? Joe Burrow would join a rare club if it happened

Posted by author January 3, 2025 NFL

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been picking apart defenses yet again this NFL season. So much so that he’s in contention for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, despite the Bengals having a losing record for most of the year.

Although Burrow leads the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns for the 2024-25 campaign, and became the league’s first 4,000-yard passer this season, the Bengals (8-8) only have a 17% chance of returning to the playoffs, per The New York Times, after missing out last year.

While a Super Bowl run seems unlikely, there’s still a chance Burrow could be crowned the league’s MVP. On Friday, DraftKings gave him the third-best odds to win the award. So has the league’s MVP ever missed out on the playoffs?

Has an NFL player won MVP but missed the playoffs?

Only two players in NFL history have achieved the rare feat of being named MVP but not making the playoffs:

Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas (1967).
Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson (1973).

Unitas, quarterback for the then-Baltimore Colts, won his third MVP title in 1967 after passing for 3,428 yards, 20 touchdowns and a league-high 58.5% completion percentage in the Colts’ 11-1-2 season.

The team missed the playoffs after losing in the final week of the regular season. Due to the tiebreaker (point differential in head-to-head games), the Colts finished second in the Western Conference Coastal Division and did not make the postseason, which included only the four division winners.

Simpson became the first running back in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards during his MVP season. He also broke Jim Brown’s single-season rushing record (1,863 in 1963), ending his season with 2,003 yards.

The Bills went 9-5 and finished second in the AFC East that year, missing the playoffs.

Joe Burrow humbly acknowledged talk surrounding his MVP bid

As Burrow ran off the Paycor Stadium field following the thrilling overtime win against the Denver Broncos in Week 17 − keeping his team’s playoff dreams alive − he was met with “MVP” chants from Bengals fans.

When asked about the moment during Tuesday’s walkthrough, Burrow didn’t quite entertain the talk surrounding his MVP bid.

“I doubt it,” he said of winning the award this year.

But he also added: “I’ll win one one day.”