Could Matthew Stafford be the NFL MVP?

According to New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, ‘[Stafford] and Lamar deserve to be up for MVP,” via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.

Stafford has drawn some more MVP buzz this week, especially after Brock Purdy's four-interception game practically dropped him from the race. There's a realistic chance Stafford could earn MVP, particularly with the way he's been playing as of late.

Since coming back from a brief injury that caused him to miss a game, Stafford has led the Los Angeles Rams to wins in five of their past six games, with their lone loss coming in a tightly fought overtime battle versus the Baltimore Ravens. During this stretch he has put up 15 touchdowns to just two interceptions, while turning the Rams from a 3-6 team to an 8-7 one.

It also helps that this year's MVP race has been unusual in that there's no runaway favorite with just two weeks left in the year. The favorites seem to drastically change almost every couple of weeks, with Lamar Jackson rising this week following the Ravens' win over the San Francisco 49ers.

What won't help Matthew Stafford is he cannot win his own division and didn't have a ton of early season success. Even when the Rams were pesky opponents early in the season, they lost most of their games while Stafford didn't play quite to the level he is now. Of course, the MVP usually goes to a player on one of the best teams. Though Stafford will likely make the playoffs, it may not be enough to compete with a player like Jackson, who is on the team with the NFL's best record.