NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds: Joe Flacco Approaches Damar Hamlin After Dominating Jets
NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds: Joe Flacco Approaches Damar Hamlin After Dominating Jets
Week 18 of the NFL regular season is upon us, meaning very different things for various teams. Some are fighting for their playoff lives, and others are resting their starters as they prepare for the wild card round. Many players are fighting to secure contract incentives, and a select few are padding some final stats in hopes of earned an NFL award.
With just one game remaining, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award is still very much up for grabs. But will the two players in contention even see the field in Week 18 to fight for it? One of the most interesting awards is primed to see a very strange ending, and the result will be unknown for weeks.
Damar Hamlin leads the pack for the Comeback Player of the Year with a slim odds advantage, but Joe Flacco has come off of his couch and into America's living room as he tries to steal the award away.
This market has seen some of the most volatile moves throughout the season, with many challengers rising up the board to take a shot at Hamlin. Most notably, Joshua Dobbs looked primed to steal the top spot in November after leading the Vikings to repeated victories. However, the magic fizzled out with a multi-interception game and his subsequent benching.
Now, Hamlin and Flacco are alone atop the leaderboard. Neither player has seen much time this year, with Hamlin getting infrequent action and Flacco only joining the team five weeks ago. Did the former Super Bowl winner get enough action in his one month of starring for the Browns, or is Hamlin's recovery too much to overcome? Let's take a look at the latest NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds to see where each player stands as the regular season comes to a close.
NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds
| Player | Odds | Implied Probabilty |
|---|---|---|
| Damar Hamlin | -230 | 69.7% |
| Joe Flacco | +200 | 33.3% |
| Baker Mayfield | +2000 | 4.8% |
| Matthew Stafford | +7500 | 1.3% |
Damar Hamlin is still leading the pack at -230, giving him a 69.7% chance to bring this award home. He has been a heavy favorite for this award since the year began, fluctuating anywhere from -600 down to -155 at a low-point. His odds have seemingly re-stabilized after Flacco's latest charge to the top, most likely on the news that his main challenger may be sitting out in Week 18.
Despite his miraculous recovery and return to football, Hamlin hasn't been on the field a whole lot this year. His story is enough to earn him this award, but he has only stepped into a game a handful of times this year, and has just two tackles on the season.
Can Joe Flacco's recent resurgence top Hamlin's life-saving comeback? It has become a two-horse race down the stretch, and both players are neck and neck n the market. If Flacco doesn't win the award, it is likely because he simply ran out of time as the regular season comes to a close.
Flacco is just behind Hamlin at +200 odds, with some sportsbooks pricing him a bit lower at +175. He was at all the way back at +6600 one month ago, and has flown up the charts following the most recent win over the Jets, rising as high as +105. But without playing in the final regular season game, his chances may be fizzling out.
Flacco only joined the Browns after Thanksgiving, and played in his first action on December 3rd. He has started five games for Cleveland, and after getting his sea legs under him in the first loss to the Rams, he has rattled off four straight victories. For a team that was expecting a struggle to make the playoffs over the final few games, Flacco turned everything around for them and has been a savior for the franchise.
Browns Season Outlook Odds
Following the Flacco-led blowout victory over the Jets, the Cleveland Browns have now clinched the first AFC Wild Card spot, granting them the fifth seed in the playoffs. That spot guarantees them a game against the winner of the AFC South, which could mean either the Jaguars, Texans, or Colts as the results sort themselves out in the final week.
The Browns have already beaten all three of those teams in the latter half of the season, two of them with Flacco at the helm. It is a very winnable playoff game, and if he were to advance, it only further proves the critical effect he's had on the Browns.
Unfortunately for Flacco's Comeback Player of the Year Award odds, he is likely to be resting on Sunday in their Week 18 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. If the Browns didn't have their exact seed locked up, Flacco would have a chance to earn more stats and gain ground in this race.
Since they are all set for the fifth spot, he will more than likely have the week off to rest and prepare for the wild card round. The Browns have already seen several quarterbacks go down this year, and cannot afford another injury after coming all this way. The NFL awards are not announced until February 8, but are only set to account for regular season statistics.
Despite the rules of the award, if Flacco led the Browns on a deep playoff run, it would be hard to see him not getting selected as NFL Comeback Player of the Year. This is a 38-year-old retired father of five children who was on the couch less than two months ago, and is now throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns as he leads his team to the playoffs. There is nothing more comeback-oriented than that. Keep an eye on the buzz surrounding Flacco as the playoffs get underway, and see if his performances can increase the odds and earn him this award.
NFL Odds
Peter is a sports writer focused on coverage and analysis of college football and basketball, as well as the NFL and other major sports. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he has been writing sports articles for over 8 years.
After working for ClutchPoints, Peter joined OddsChecker in 2023. He is a New York sports superfan and is fluent in the sports betting industry.