Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady may have just separated himself from the pack tonight in the race for NFL MVP.
Usually by this late in the season someone in the NFL has separated himself from the rest and had the MVP on lock. Last year Aaron Rodgers was considered the heavy favorite for MVP with the only opposition being Drew Brees. This year has been a different story though, with a plethora of candidates for MVP. Peyton Manning has come back from neck surgery and is a shoe-in for Comeback Player of the Year, is among the MVP discussion again. You have the first and second pick in this year’s draft Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III being discussed as potential MVPs.
Luck doesn’t have the numbers and RGIII will get Rookie of the Year, but I don’t see the Washington Redskins making the playoffs and that will hurt him. That leaves Manning as the real opposition to Brady. Manning has thrown for 3812 yards with a 68.3 completion percentage, along with 30TD and 10INT for a 104.0 QB rating.
Manning has only had two-games in which he threw more than one-interception and that was three week two against the Atlanta Falcons and two against the Cincinnati Bengals. Manning threw two-touchdowns against the Houston Texans and no interceptions in a Denver Broncos lost, but they will have one more shot at them.
Brady has thrown for 3537 yards with a 64.8 completion percentage, he has throw 25TD and 4INT for a 102.6 QB rating. On the surface Manning looks to have to have the MVP, but Brady has far less interceptions and played much tougher pass defenses. Manning did face the number one pass defense, but that was week one. Manning’s best days have come against the San Diego Chargers (twice) which is ranked 22nd, the New England Patriots (a loss) which is ranked 28th, the Oakland Raiders which is ranked 29th, the New Orleans Saints which is ranked 30th, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers which is 32nd. Brady has beat the the number three ranked pass defense twice; along with the number four, seven, twelve, and tonight the number eight ranked pass defense.
Just off having his third child five-days ago, Brady shredded the vaunted Texans D. He went 21/35 for 296 yards with four-touchdowns and no interceptions. Brady’s offensive line gave him time all night to throw, which made defensive monster J.J. Watt a non-factor, allowing him at one-point to complete ten straight passes.
Performances like tonight have showed why the Pats are one of, if not, the most dominate teams in football. There is no question who their leader is and after tonight their should be no question who the MVP of the National Football League is.
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