Kansas City, Mo ? When Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams scored 26 touchdowns in 2000, he was named the NFL’s MVP.

Priest Holmes needs just five touchdowns in his final four games to break Faulk’s mark. He’s also leading the NFL in rushing and yards from scrimmage.

But with the Kansas City Chiefs huffing and puffing along at 6-6 and probably on the verge of missing the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, does Holmes have even a chance of putting an MVP trophy on his mantle?

Denver defensive end Trevor Pryce would put it there with his own hands.

“I can describe him in three letters: M-V-P,” Pryce said after Holmes ran for 113 tough yards against the Broncos in October. “To me, he’s the MVP of the league.”

The last player from a non-playoff team to be voted the NFL’s MVP was Buffalo’s O.J. Simpson in 1973, the year he became the first player to rush for 2,000 yards. The award has never gone to a player on a team with a losing record.

But the Chiefs will argue their humble, undersized, 5-foot-9 running back deserves all the consideration he can get. He is not, after all, a flash in the pan. He led the NFL last year in rushing and total yards from scrimmage.

“Whether he’ll be recognized as the NFL player of the year, I don’t know,” coach Dick Vermeil said. “It’s tougher, No. 1, in a (small-market) community than in a high-profile atmosphere. But it’s hard to ignore performance, even with the (Chiefs’) win-loss record.”

Vermeil, who coached Faulk in the 1999 Super Bowl, thinks a player who accomplishes as much as Holmes ought to be held in even greater regard if his team isn’t winning.

“Maybe someone should say, ‘My God, this guy is doing this and they only won nine games,’ or however we’ll end up,” Vermeil said.

There’s no doubt the six-year veteran, who came into the league as an undrafted free agent, is putting up eye-popping numbers. Going into Sunday’s game against Faulk’s Rams, he has 19 rushing TDs, only six short of Emmitt Smith’s NFL single-season record.

His 1,956 yards from scrimmage put him on pace to break the NFL record of 2,429 Faulk set in the Rams’ 1999 Super Bowl season.

“He ought to be the MVP. There’s no doubt about it,” said Chiefs center Casey Wiegmann.