ExpatPack

Remove AP and insert Brady or Manning and the Vikings are probably still 7-6.

Remove Ponder and insert any decent QB like Flacco, Schaub, Josh Freeman, or Andy Dalton and the Vikings win the NFC North division crown.

MoLewisrocks

What that actually means is a lot of his yardage is of the empty variety. If they had a competent QB his numbers wouldn't be where they are.

Say you swapped QB and RB between the NEP and Vikings... Ridley has the same 10 TD's as AP. The value difference maker would be the QB's production...

MVP Brady
CPOY Manning
OPOY Peterson if he tops 2000 yards

MoLewisrocks

Brady has been working behind a makeshift OL for most of the season. Once again he's make it look easier than it should, which is why everyone from fans to mediots seems oblivious to that simple fact. When he has time it's because he's bought it. Other than that he's releasing the ball in <3 seconds. Brady is unique in that his style is doing whatever it takes to win...

upstater1

You totally disregard key aspects of the QB position. Like timing and pocket awareness and 3 step drops, 1 step drops. There's a reason why Brady looks the way he does. It's not a matter of having more talent up front.

The interior of the Patriots line has largely consisted off street free agents and undrafted free agents: Connolly, Thomas, McDonald, Wendell. Heck, one of these guys was a Packer!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nick_McDonald.jpg

It's been this way over the years. Hochstein, Andruzzi, Jennings, Neal, etc.

And the one constant in the midst of all of this is Brady knowing how to move around the pocket, Brady making quick throws, a passing game designed to cover OL weaknesses, etc.

I am NOT saying Rodgers couldn't do any of this. Just saying that GB sends him back there with deep drops looking for long-developing pass plays.

It's just wrong to say Brady has the luxury of better offensive lines.

BradyManny

This is the key for me, as to why Brady is not the lead MVP candidate at the moment.

What he's doing is not new.

Winning with depleted weaponry? Done it. Winning with depleted line? Done it. Scoring at nearly league record pace? Done it. Beating a schedule of good pass defenses? Done it. Adjusting to new offensive coordinator? Done it.

Peyton hasn't come back from neck surgery and played well before. It's new. It's that simple.

Now, there is hope - this Sunday, Peyton faces a top 10 pass defense for the first time in ten weeks, and a top five pass defense for the first time this season. He could struggle. If he does, then much like Vick in 2010, the comeback story will eventually be overwhelmed by facts.

ExpatPack

But it's actually not true. Most of AP's yards are not of the empty variety. If you can believe it, he was used rather sparingly over the 1st half of the season in favor of Ponder throwing the ball. Matter of fact it wasn't until about 3-4 games ago that that moron of a Vikings Offensive Coach started feeding the ball to Peterson more in key red-zone situations.

Even with a quality QB, that would only increase Peterson's effectiveness. Maybe he'd get a few less runs, but I'll bet his total yardage wouldn't go down much.

ExpatPack

Well as compared to Rodgers Brady has had that luxury. Does that mean the Pats have had the best line in the NFL and Brady hasn't had to make adjustments? Definitely not saying that. There are a number of factors involved and you're right to cite several, like 3-step drops, quick passes and the like.

One more I'll add is the effectiveness of the cover-2 against the Packer offense. Everybody's playing it against the Packers and it has worked, and Mike McCarthy has been too stubborn over the season to think outside the box . . . until lately. They finally got a run game going. Nobody the caliber of Ridley, but that's another matter.

Cover-2 doesn't work as well against the Pats because they have a better run game and better TEs. Those two things are Cover-2 killers. Jermichael Finley is way too inconsistent to be compared with Gronk or Hernandez.

upstater1

Good post. Note however that Gronk and Hernandez haven't been the same either this year. Even when they've played, they've been limited.

BradyManny

Huh? Either I'm reading this wrong or this is one of the wackiest statements I've read on the board.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have been in 7 of the last 11 Super Bowls, and Ben Roethlisberger was in 3 of the other four. How you could possibly think that any roster would not be a SB contender with those two guys on it is beyond me. Brady & Peyton will win no matter who their RB is. They don't need Adrian Peterson.

Meanwhile, teams like the Vikings who build around premiere RBs continue not to matter, and will only matter when their QB is good.

It's a QB league. The best RB in the league, like AP, can be on a crappy team. He will not solely be able to improve his team. Brady & Manning will never be on a crappy team. They've had some pretty mediocre talent around them and still gone far.

Put Brady or Manning on the Vikings, and you can put Laurence Maroney at RB, and that team is going to be playing into late January.

Deus Irae

To say that you are wildly underrating the impact of Tom Brady is to make an enormous understatement.

__________________
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