{"id":429133,"date":"2008-12-30T12:11:59","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T12:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vip.local\/2008\/12\/30\/the_votes_have_been_cast\/"},"modified":"2008-12-30T12:11:59","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T12:11:59","slug":"the_votes_have_been_cast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/the_votes_have_been_cast\/","title":{"rendered":"The votes have been cast"},"content":{"rendered":"
This will have to serve as the final MVP Update. The voting is finished as of yesterday. We should know the results on Saturday. Here is one voter’s reasoning<\/a> for casting his vote for Peyton Manning. Dave Goldberg an NFL writer for the AP voted for Pennington<\/a>. Notice how he refers to the Manning candidacy as ‘a bit boring’. Marvez was conflicted<\/a>, but went with Peyton. Good man. <\/p>\n I believe that John Clayton, Christ Mortensen, and Peter King all came out and said they were voting for Manning. Those five votes give Manning a good base of support. Pennington’s campaign came on so late that it will be very tough for him. Beating the Jets in a widely broadcast game was obviously huge. The writers loooove that storyline, but will they want to pick an MVP who might be embarrassed by a tough defense on wildcard weekend? <\/p>\n Here is how I predict the voting goes:<\/strong><\/p>\n Peyton Manning – 16 votes. Chad Pennington – 12 votes. Adrian Peterson – 5 votes. Michael Turner – 4 votes. Philip Rivers – 4 votes. DeAngelo Williams – 4 votes. James Harrison – 2 votes. Matt Ryan – 2 votes. Drew Brees – 1 vote.<\/p>\n I am trying to be conservative here (in order to keep my #18 homerism in check). My gut says Manning should get around 20 votes while no one else gets more than 10. As far as I can tell it is a two man race. It is fitting that the man in second never even made my top 5 list until this week. It has been one of those strange years. I will be shocked and angry if Pennington pulls the upset. He has a chance because so many voters were undecided up until the last minute. Honestly, I thought Rivers would get more buzz for willing his team into the playoffs. I don’t see it turning out that way, though. It looks like Manning to me. <\/p>\n Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n ESPN puts together some stupid list of coaches<\/a>. Anyway, Dungy’s on it. <\/p>\n CHFF lists Indy as the “Team of the Year”<\/a> <\/p>\n Kuharsky grades out the year<\/a>. <\/p>\n Brackett is out<\/a>. I’ll give you some terrifying stats in Eyes tomorrow about why that is so very very bad. <\/p>\n NY Times preview of the game via FO<\/a>. Cool play animation. <\/p>\n Here’s a DVOA based look at the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bucky didn’t change his mind on 18<\/a>. He says he’s the MVP. <\/p>\n Manning and Dungy talk about the possibility that 18 is MVP<\/a><\/p>\n The Football Scientist says the AFC South was strong<\/a><\/p>\n