We know who voted Justin Herbert for NFL MVP and single handedly robbed Patriots' Drake Maye

The NFL MVP vote could hardly have been closer.

And it turns out Patriots QB Drake Maye may have lost to Matthew Stafford because of a vote for Chargers star Justin Herbert.

Stafford got 366 voting points, including 24 first-place votes.

Maye got 361 voting points, including 23 first-place votes.

Josh Allen got 91 voting points, and two first-place votes.

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There was one other first-place vote that went to a player who didn't even finish in the top-five overall: Herbert.

The voter for Herbert was Sam Monson, who explained his choice on X:

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A first-place vote is worth 10 points. Second place is five, and third place is three. Even if Maye was second on Monson's ballot, a swap with Herbert would've made him tied with Stafford.

And if Maye was third or lower on Monson's ballot, a swap with Herbert would've won the Patriots' QB the award altogether.

Obviously, there are a lot of permutations that can be done on a ballot like this that was so close, but this is a particularly quirky one.

It's not to say inherently that Herbert was the wrong vote. And it's not to say that Maye has the same kind of case, given the relative ease of the Patriots' schedule in particular.

But clearly, the voters were almost torn. And one voter who didn't pick one of the main sides at all may have determined the outcome.

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