Brady for MVP?

[primetime]

16th ranked is 88%. Gostkowski is 94% with 30/32. 88% of 32 is 28.16.
That would be at worst 8-5 if he was a league average kicker, and that assumes 2 misses would have been game deciders, and we that is if we they came at exactly the wrong time.
He is having a nice year, but MVP is ridiculous. He has made 2 more FGs than an average K would have.

That's ignoring range. He's 5/6 from 50+ and 13/15 from 40+, and his foot ultimately led to wins against the Texans, Broncos, Browns, and Bills. I'm exaggerating by calling him the MVP, but he's having the best season of his career and has been instrumental in winning.

 

[Ring 6]

That's ignoring range. He's 5/6 from 50+ and 13/15 from 40+, and his foot ultimately led to wins against the Texans, Broncos, Browns, and Bills. I'm exaggerating by calling him the MVP, but he's having the best season of his career and has been instrumental in winning.

Other side of the coin.
The Bills kicks were 33 and 35 yards
The Broncos kicks were 31 and 31
Any kicker should make those.

I'm not knocking him, just saying that doing something that has a 90% success rate is not extraordinary.
Yes he is having a good year, but the line is so thin that had he missed any of the critical ones, costing a win, it would not be a good year at all.

 

[Buchanty]

I fear that fantasy football has corrupted the MVP award, and unarguably stats win fantasy leagues. Therefore those with the most stats are the most valuable to own. That is not going to change in my lifetime, so for this year there is no contest to Peyton winning his fifth (one more than his unprecedented fourth).

I wish they would call it the Most Valuable Fantasy Player award since MVP should go to the one that has meant the most to his real rather than virtual team.

I cannot deny that Manning has had an amazing year, but (and it's a big but) his spectacular achievement is almost predominantly statistics based. He has done little to overcome adversity. You can mention the neck surgery but he got the CPY award for that in 2012.

By adversity I mean overcoming:

• injuries and loss of key players
• strong defenses from winning teams*
• Late 4th Quarter comebacks (winning drives)
• relying on players with single digit game experience
• unfortunate bounces of the ball (aka referee miscalls)

* KC is the only winning team with a decent defense (sorry Eagles and Cowboys) and any division rivalry game should be slightly disregarded because they are the ones in which results can go either way.

Indeed Manning has made playing QB look easy this year, largely because it really was easy. His receivers were ridiculously open especially in short yardage (which only tells me the strength of the defense he faced). They were so open even a Jets QB could have landed a pass to them. He does release the ball faster than most but he has been served by a O-line that has given him solid protection.

My other count in which Manning has less than I would expect of a real (rather than virtual) MVP, is highlight reel plays or the Wow Factor shots. I am not saying that he hasn't thrown some bullets or high skill passes, but they are few and far between compared to the bread and butter short ones that go for long YAC. His outside throws are increasingly wobbly and he has been helped by players that can turn a normal play into major progress or a score.

I am not advocating TB for MVP as he struggled at the beginning of the season and the beginning of too many recent games, but he does win big on my adversity factor.

I don't mind PM overtaking TB's TD record, after all records are made to be broken, and I expect that his in turn will be broken in the not too distant future. Vive le sport!

I also don't mind PM getting the MVP or having 2 or 3 times more MVPs than TB...... just as long as TB has 4 to 5 times more superbowl rings.

 

[chasa]

one thing that blows my mind is how can you give Peyton MVP votes when with the same cast of characters as tebow, and in some cases, better players, the broncos still cant win a playoff game with manning?

Post season success should matter when it comes to mvp

 

[YearbookCurfew]

Even though I am a huge fan of TFB, even I can't deny that he's having a very un-Brady like season. Manning is playing the best football of his career, so, as much as it pains me, he deserves the MVP.

 

[Kontradiction]

Actually it is the Manning Victory Parade

No, no, no. It's...

Most
Valuable
Peyton

 

[Ivan]

Bu bu bu bu bu bump



So, if the Patriots win out andd Brady leads them to the top seed in the AFC, while beating manning and the Bronco's in the process, Peyton still gets the MVP because of his stats?



Really?



Gonna have to change the name of the award to Most Valuable Fantasy Football Player if that happens.

 

[Ivan]

I'm not looking past the next two games because imo they are both going to be tough, however if both the Patriots and Bronco's are tied going into week 17 then i think the debate about this in the media is really going to change. Peyton has been the anointed one all year, and the gaudy stats will certainly lead many to support him, but at 12-3 apiece i think many will start to rally in support of Brady, and nothing would be funnier than Brady not going to the Pro Bowl while winning the MVP and Super Bowl.


Actually, now that I think of it, if Peyton breaks Brady's TD record, wins the MVP, then loses to the Patriots in Foxborough and ends up starting the Pro Bowl while Brady gets another ring, that would be much much funnier, especially if Brady got the SB MVP.

Christ, i would hand over a $1,000 right now to see that happen.

 

[crypto]

Nick Foles deserves it at the moment. His stats are through the roof and what he's done for Philly epitomizes the award. Frankly though if Peyton breaks Brady's TD record he deserves it, unless the Broncos lose both their remaining games or something. Everybody on this board would agree were it the other way around.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I think they gave it to Adrian Peterson last year because he came within 8 yards of breaking the all-time single season rushing record, and topped 2,100 rushing yards---not because they "got it right" with suddenly changing their line of thinking.

Just a month ago Brady was being criticized for being too old, having lost it, etc. We all (check that, most of us) knew that wasn't the case and that it was more of a lack of weapons. The return to health of Gronk went a long way towards helping to open things up for Brady in relation to his other targets, and we've seen the night/day difference in the numbers. He's made a nice rebound in the past 5 or so games, but it's hardly enough to warrant MVP consideration.

Manning has the weapons, the fantasy stats on an every week basis, and most of all he's going to have a season where he breaks the single season TD record. It's really a no-brainer.

Respect, I almost went with you all the way except for semantics ( I guess). This part makes me a bit uneasy. I think Brady has done more than enough to warrant consideration. Consideration and actually winning the MVP are different things. Maybe you could say he doesn't deserve to win it (which I'd disagree with) and saying he should at least be in the discussion.

Brady, more than any QB in the league, lost key players at every offensive skill position (Hernandez, Welker, Woodhead). Gronk missed most of the first half of the season. Heck, even Lloyd gave them something. Insert rookie receivers. Add that to the fact that the offensive line has been inconsistent at best. We lose our All-Pro right tackle and his backup. Then, as if all of that weren't enough, the defense gets eaten through by injuries. Our best RB keeps giving the ball away. C'mon. You get the point.

What has Brady done with all of that?

He's led the team to a 10-3 record and within three victories of being the No. 1 seed. The Patriots are two bad calls away from being 13-1 (I feel the Cincy loss was legit - they didn't play well enough to win). He did this while leading comebacks in three straight weeks. You could say that the O should have played better in all three of the first halves of those games. Sure. But that's not the point. When the game was on the line, the man delivered.

His numbers were not impressive in the beginning part of the season, but isn't that the problem with sports-related awards and arguments these days? It's all about stats. The focus on statistics, with seemingly no regard or account for situation, is always going to be flawed. IMHO, there is no reason why this team should be 10-3 and in contention once again with everything it's gone through. No other team has had losses to key players at almost every position on both sides of the ball.

Personally, I could care less about the damn thing. I'm so hungry (yes, hungry) for Brady to get his fourth. Heck, the guy should be going for six right now. I want a championship. They can keep anything else (although it was nice for Brady to have those 50 TD's record). And if the Pats do it, this will be the best performance of Brady's career (and BB too), IMHO.

 

[supafly]

Bu bu bu bu bu bump



So, if the Patriots win out andd Brady leads them to the top seed in the AFC, while beating manning and the Bronco's in the process, Peyton still gets the MVP because of his stats?



Really?



Gonna have to change the name of the award to Most Valuable Fantasy Football Player if that happens.

The MVP is decided at the end of the regular season every year. What happens in the postseason is completely irrelevant to the award, which is based on the 16 games of the regular season.

It's a complete 100% no-brainer that Peyton Manning is going to win the MVP. The arguments made in this thread make plenty of sense, but unfortunately the award is not decided by the player who is most valuable to their team. It never was. Manning breaks a major record this year and has had the attention since week 1.

Meanwhile, Brady read articles about how he'd "lost it" due to age, poor receivers, etc. Nothing has really changed, aside from Brady having better stats since midway through mainly due to the return of Gronkowski, who is now gone again anyway. It's great to see Brady's name thrown in the hat, but he's not much of a realistic candidate this year for that specific award, which is always based on stats, media attention, etc.

Brady's 21 TD's are nothing compared to Manning's current 48 (with 2 games left). Not only is he going to break the record, he's probably going to blow it away. It'd be nice if the award were given to the...actual most valuable player and they took other aspects into account, but they don't, and they likely never will.


"The AP NFL MVP award is voted upon by sportswriters at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs, though the results are not announced to the public until the day before the Super Bowl."

 

[PatsFan24]

Yeah....as of now Manning is still the front runner.

 

[PatsBoy12]

He should win it, but he won't. I could care less. Let's win.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

You could make the case if he ends up with the best record over far more talented teams but its usually stats based. I don't really have a problem with it being stats based as long as they're consistent. But as we all know the only time they've abandoned the stat case is to give it to manning when he had no case statistically but "won with poor teams."

My gut feeling is that like Favre, the previous all time most MVP winner people will one day look back at Manning's 8 MVP's or whatever and 1 SB with stats that are only marginally better than many others and ask- Why did they keep giving this guy awards?

Favre was going to go down as an all time great, but he failed to bring the rings making the voters look a bit silly. Not so silly they won't do it all again though.

 

[Rob0729]

Florio makes the argument for Brady for MVP, granted not without taking a swipe at him too.

Brady could steal MVP from Peyton | ProFootballTalk

Here's Florio's swipe:

While Brady’s passing skills arguably have begun to diminish, he now has a chance to do what has been throughout the season unthinkable. Brady can help the Patriots secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, forcing Manning and company to return to Foxboro for yet another cold-weather elimination game after which Peyton possibly won’t be telling people to shove things where the sun don’t shine.

Brady's passing skills have diminished? What about Manning's? Yes, Brady isn't putting up ungodly numbers, but his spirals are still tight and his off target passes seem to be more about miscommunications with receivers than bad passes. Meanwhile Manning's passes clearly don't have the zip on him, but he is lucky to have guys like the two Thomases and Decker who can go up for balls down the field.

 

[the Patriot]

If Manning had accomplished what Brady has accomplished this year, he would win MVP. They gave him the MVP a year he threw 28 tds to 14 ints, so clearly big numbers aren't an issue if you're Peyton Manning.

The only reason I can possibly see the AP not awarding Peyton MVP is buyer's remorse. I think they're finally looking back at his career and thinking, "Is this guy really a 5 time MVP?" At least I hope they are.

 

[BradyManny]

Forget about the MVP. For starters, Peyton had the thing sealed by Thursday night kickoff with his 7TD night.

But really, who cares? We want a ring. We've re-learned again this season that the sum is greater than its parts.

Starting this offseason, this team has lost the majority of its players that are appreciably above average for their position to an odd combination of free agency, arrest and injury. Yet, by playing more complementary football than it has in the past five years, and by playing more clutch football too, it is still in a position to realistically contend for a title.

That's amazing.

Screw the MVP race. Let's get the 1 seed, win two home games and go win a cold, snowy SB in NYC. Peyton can win all the MVPs he wants. If we are playing in February while he's at home making Manning-faces, I can live with it.

 

[JMC00]

Florio makes the argument for Brady for MVP, granted not without taking a swipe at him too.

Brady could steal MVP from Peyton | ProFootballTalk

Here's Florio's swipe:



Brady's passing skills have diminished? What about Manning's? Yes, Brady isn't putting up ungodly numbers, but his spirals are still tight and his off target passes seem to be more about miscommunications with receivers than bad passes. Meanwhile Manning's passes clearly don't have the zip on him, but he is lucky to have guys like the two Thomases and Decker who can go up for balls down the field.

Also doesn't help when your line has allowed you to get sacked the most in your career.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Brady deserves consideration but Peyton will end up with like 52 TDs and 5,000 yards passing. Based on stats alone, it's easy to justify Peyton winning the MVP.

Not to mention the media ballwashes Peyton any chance they can get. PM has the MVP wrapped up as long as he doesn't epic choke the last two games of the season the way he did against San Diego.

 

[Ivan]

The MVP is decided at the end of the regular season every year. What happens in the postseason is completely irrelevant to the award, which is based on the 16 games of the regular season.

It's a complete 100% no-brainer that Peyton Manning is going to win the MVP. The arguments made in this thread make plenty of sense, but unfortunately the award is not decided by the player who is most valuable to their team. It never was. Manning breaks a major record this year and has had the attention since week 1.

Meanwhile, Brady read articles about how he'd "lost it" due to age, poor receivers, etc. Nothing has really changed, aside from Brady having better stats since midway through mainly due to the return of Gronkowski, who is now gone again anyway. It's great to see Brady's name thrown in the hat, but he's not much of a realistic candidate this year for that specific award, which is always based on stats, media attention, etc.

Brady's 21 TD's are nothing compared to Manning's current 48 (with 2 games left). Not only is he going to break the record, he's probably going to blow it away. It'd be nice if the award were given to the...actual most valuable player and they took other aspects into account, but they don't, and they likely never will.


"The AP NFL MVP award is voted upon by sportswriters at the end of the regular season, before the playoffs, though the results are not announced to the public until the day before the Super Bowl."

Sup, I realize it's a regular season award, that's why i based it on leading the Patriots to the number 1 seed and beating Manning and the Bronco's in the regular season.. I still expect them too give it to Manning but imo leading this Patriots team to the #1 seed and beating Manning and the Bronco's to do it trumps stats. Like i said, if Manning wins it then it is a Fantasy MVP, not the real one. I honestly don't care that much who wins it but this season will definitely delineate what the award is really based upon.