I don't disagree that he should be a candidate, but the objections seem to be guys like Brees, Pennington, etc. are more deserving this year.
If playing "hurt," and nobody knows how hurt he really was (the Colts are about as candid about injuries as the Pats are), the team barely avoided a 1-6 start, how does that support MVP? He was not sidelined, he played for that lousy start.
And BlueCoats, if you wonder why Pats fans cannot stand Manning, look to his post-game interview when he called out his offensive line. Try to find an occasion when Brady has ever done the same, and he has suffered a number of disappointing losses in his career that clearly were not his fault (look at the beating he took from unblocked linemen in the Super Bowl - Manning has not seen that since his rookie year). And as for taking the high road, look at IndyStar after Brady's injury and tell me there were no Dolts fans celebrating his demise. Few here would celebrate Manning getting injured (plenty celebrate the Colts losing, more because of Polian's antics than because of Manning), because nobody wants to see a rival fall to anything other than a beating on the scoreboard (it's cowardly, and it tends to say you don't think your team can win with that injured player on the field and frankly it would be a hollow victory to see the Colts fall without Manning).