finally got his MVP moment. It's asinine that Mahomes had thrown for nearly 4,000 yards and 41 touchdowns entering the ' game against the on Sunday and still needed an "MVP moment," but it's just the reality of an MVP race that is as competitive as we've seen in recent years. is completing 75.7 percent of his pa ses and sporting a 31-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. has thrown 29 touchdowns and six interceptions. , an interior lineman, is leading the league in sacks with 16.5. turned the into a Super Bowl contender. A normal great season won't be enough to win MVP this year. More than a few deserving candidates will fall short. They'll fall short because, barring a collapse, His MVP moment on Sunday only cemented his status as the frontrunner who's earned substantial separation from the rest of the pack. More NFL After Mahomes started the year by throwing for 896 yards, 13 touchdowns, and zero interceptions in his first three games, we adjusted our expectations for him. His 300-yard, four-touchdown outbursts became his new normal. They lost their luster. As he started to turn the ball Dustin Pedroia Jersey over more frequently, his lead in the race slipped. Wth Brees hot on his heels, Mahomes needed a signature moment to cement his status atop the leaderboard. He had a chance to do exactly that a few weeks ago against the in what became the best game of the season, but his five turnovers marred an otherwise spectacular performance in a narrow defeat.On Sunday, Fittingly enough, the moment didn't come in one of his better statistical games. Against a Ravens defense that is now Mahomes completed 35 of 53 pa ses for 377 yards, two touchdowns, one pick, and a 91.5 pa ser rating -- his third-lowest pa ser rating of the season. But what he did was (in addition to his sick no-look pa s earlier in the game) lead the Chiefs back from the dead against one of the best defenses in football with an impo sible throw on fourth down before sending the game to overtime on yet another fourth down play. Here it is, the moment Mahomes won MVP: WOAH Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) Patrick Mahomes' fourth down completion to Tyreek Hill on the game-tying drive had just a 15.8% Completion Blake Swihart Jersey Probability based on the following factors:Air Distance: 43.6 yardsWR Separation: 1.0 yardsQB Speed at Throw: 15.95 MPH Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) And so, it should come as no surprise to hear that, all five NFL writers here at CBS Sports ranked Mahomes first on their MVP ballots.Once again, Brees garnered all five second-place votes while Rivers checked in behind Brees. Also noteworthy is that two players dropped off the leaderboard entirely. and , after getting shut down by the Bears on Sunday night, received zero votes for the first time this season. On the other hand, Andrew Luck reappeared on the leaderboard after a 399-yard outing in a win over the Texans.Overall, the board shrunk from eight candidates to seven. 2018 MVP vote heading into Week 151. Patrick Mahomes -- 25 points 2. Drew Brees -- 20 points 3. Philip Rivers -- 11 points 4. Aaron Donald -- 7 points 5. Khalil Mack -- 6 points 6. -- 5 points 7. Ru sell Wilson -- 1 point Below, you'll find the individual ballots and their corresponding explanations. That way, you'll know who to yell at on Twitter. John Breech's ballot Patrick Mahomes Drew Brees Philip Rivers Andrew Luck Aaron Donald Unle s Mahomes has a four-interception meltdown at some point over the next three weeks, I think he might have all but wrapped up the MVP with his performance on Sunday. Going up against the NFL's top defense, Mahomes threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns. Not only that, but he was throwing no-look pa ses and he converted a fourth-and-9 in the fourth quarter with an absurd 48-yard bomb that he threw acro s his body as he was being chased out of bounds. It was the kind of a play that kind of made me want to give him the MVP on the spot. On Brees' end, he seemed to struggle for the second straight week. For Jim Rice Jersey one, he only threw for 201 yards against a bad defense on Sunday, and he also had two UGLY turnovers. Of all the people on my ballot, I'd say Rivers is the biggest dark horse. If he can lead the past the Chiefs on Thursday and to an AFC West title (the Chiefs would have to lose a second game for that to happen), then I could see Rivers stealing this away. Luck and Donald probably have no shot at this award, but I'm required to give five names on my ballot, so I Chris Sale Jersey 'm giving five names. Will Brinson's ballot Patrick Mahomes Drew Brees Philip Rivers Andrew Luck Ru sell Wilson Lot of bad QB performances this week. Mahomes may have just sealed up the award with his no-look pa s and then the fourth down throw to Tyreek to save the game. I've heard of podcast listeners who found him at +150 to win MVP if you see that value out there you better jump on it. I think it will come down to Thursday night; Brees could pa s him if Rivers and the Chargers upend the Chiefs run at the division but I don't see that happening. Jared Dubin's ballot Patrick Mahomes Drew Brees Aaron Donald Khalil Mack Philip Rivers This award is officially Mahomes' to lose over the final three weeks of the season. So many of the other candidates have fallen off in recent weeks, but he just keeps on rolling. It's almost not worth discu sing the qualifications of other candidates at this point, because everybody's chance at winning depends not only on their performance, but also on Mahomes stumbling, which seems incredibly unlikely to happen. Sean Wagner-McGough's ballot Patrick MahomesDrew BreesPhilip RiversKhalil MackAndrew LuckI don't really anticipate my top four spots changing anytime soon, but Rivers can pa s Brees if he outplays Mahomes on Thursday night and if Brees stumbles. But most of the drama at the top of my ballot is done with unle s Mahomes really crashes in the final three weeks. I took Aaron Donald off my list entirely after the Bears made him invisible. And I'm swapping in Andrew Luck, who has the on the verge of a playoff spot. Really, though, there wasn't a good fifth option with Donald, Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Ru sell Wilson all submitting disappointing performances in Week 14. For now, I'll give Luck a vote. But even he doesn't seem entirely deserving considering the Colts got blanked by the two weeks ago. Ryan Wilson's ballot Patrick Mahomes Drew Brees Aaron Donald Khalil Mack Philip Rivers Patrick Mahomes faced his toughest test of the season against the Ravens' top-flight defense, and while it wasn't pretty at times, it was impre sive to watch the first-year starter win games in the most improbable ways imaginable. Drew Brees, meanwhile, had another ho-hum outing, this time against a not-even-replacement-level Buccaneers team. A lot will have to happen over the final three weeks for Brees to unseat Mahomes. Aaron Donald had a quiet evening against the Bears in a game where he -- and Wade Boggs Jersey everyone else on the Rams -- wa