Who is the Patriots’ team MVP at the bye week of 2022?

The New England Patriots are 5-4 at their bye week and in a solid spot in the playoff picture. Which player is the team MVP halfway through?  There hasn’t been a ton of good to report from the offense after nine games, but the defense is yet again holding their own.

The Patriots’ roster is mostly solid from top to bottom.  They have a bunch of good players, but don’t have many great or elite ones.  They have some clear issues to fix for the rest of the season and for future seasons, but there are some good things to take from the first nine weeks.

Which players stick out as the team’s MVP through the first half of 2022?

Patriots’ team MVP at the bye week

There are two candidates that I think are obvious choices to be the team MVP at the bye week.  Offensively, Rhamondre Stevenson is the team’s MVP on that side of the ball.  With 618 rushing yards, he ranks 9th in the NFL and has already hit his production output from all of his rookie season.

He also ranks 12th in the NFL in total scrimmage yards, which may be an even more impressive feat.  He’s taken over the RB1 duties as Damien Harris continues to struggle a bit and deal with injuries.  Stevenson is on pace for over 1,500 scrimmage yards this year and is a clear candidate to be the featured piece of the offense going forward.

Defensively, is there any other choice but edge rusher Matthew Judon?  My goodness, he is on a tear this season.  Last year, in his first year as a Patriots, he hit a career high sack total.  Well, in just nine games in 2022, Matthew Judon has just about hit his total production from 2021.

He has 11.5 sacks through nine games, along with 10 tackles for loss and 19 QB hits.  He’s on pace to get very close to the single-season sack record, and the defense does have some favorable matchups left on their schedule.

New England has the 7th best scoring defense, and Judon is perhaps the biggest contributor to that.