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There's just one week left in the the 2021 NFL regular season, which means it's time for our second-to-last weekly check-in on the MVP race. We have been and will continue to use this space to take the temperature of our rotating panel of experts, trying to get a feel for who is in the lead, who is in contention, who is hanging on the fringes, and how those groups are changing from week to week. 

Each of our experts was asked to submit their top-five MVP rankings. Five points were awarded for a first-place vote, four for a second-place vote, three for a third-place vote, two for a fourth-place vote, and one for a fifth-place vote.

With just one game left, it appears that Aaron Rodgers is on his way to his second consecutive MVP trophy. Rodgers would become just the second player to win MVP four or more times. (Peyton Manning won five MVPs.) Tom Brady is the only player even remotely close to Rodgers in our poll, with each player having more than twice as many points as the third-place finisher, Jonathan Taylor.

Without further ado, let's get to the voting...

The panel of voters: Jonathan Jones, Ryan Wilson, John Breech, Jared Dubin, Jordan Dajani, Bryan DeArdo, Cody Benjamin, Josh Edwards, Chris Trapasso, Tyler Sullivan, Jeff Kerr

The full MVP leaderboard

1. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (52)

2. Buccaneers QB Tom Brady (43)

3. Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (19)

4.  Rams WR Cooper Kupp (16)

5. Bengals QB Joe Burrow (14)

T-6. Bills QB Josh Allen (10)

T-6. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (10)

8. Steelers DE T.J. Watt (1)

*New on the list this week

Dropped out: Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Rams QB Matthew Stafford

Most first-place votes:

  • Aaron Rodgers (9 out of 11)
  • Tom Brady, Cooper Kupp (1)

Most second-place votes:

  • Tom Brady (9)
  • Aaron Rodgers, Jonathan Taylor (1)

Most total ballots: 

  • Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady (11 out of 11)
  • Jonathan Taylor (8)
  • Cooper Kupp, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes (6)

Positional representation:

  • QB (5)
  • WR (1)
  • RB (1)
  • DE (1)

So who will actually win?

At this point, it would take an upset of epic proportions for Rodgers not to win. The Packers have already wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and it's possible Rodgers doesn't even suit up Sunday against the Lions. Even if he does, there's not much anybody else can do to overtake him at this point. It's all but over.