Tom Brady deserves the MVP award.
After a four-game suspension to start the season, Brady threw for 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions – an NFL record for touchdown-to-interception ratio. He completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 3,554 yards. He led his team to an 11-1 record during his 12 games on the field. Along the way, he passed longtime rival Peyton Manning to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history. And he did it all with his best offensive weapon, tight end Rob Gronkowski, out for much of the season after undergoing back surgery.
Let’s address some of the arguments against Brady as MVP.
Some use Brady’s suspension and the Patriots’ 3-1 record during his suspension to argue against his value.
Brady’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, was excellent in less than six quarters before going down with a shoulder injury.
Third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett exceeded very low expectations in the next 1 1/2 games before flopping against the lowly Bills in his final outing.
Does anyone think the Patriots would have home-field advantage through the playoffs with Brissett at quarterback?
And let’s not forget, both Garoppolo and Brissett were injured by the time Brady returned.
There was talk about Julian Edelman – who was a mediocre quarterback at a small college before becoming one of the best slot receivers in the league – starting at quarterback if the Patriots were unable to patch Brissett together for the Bills game.
These injuries highlighted an undervalued facet of Brady’s career – his odds-defying durability.
Since becoming the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001, he has not missed a game to injury with the exception of the 2008 season, when a devastating knee injury ended his season in week 1.
His durability sets him apart from many of his “peers,” like Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo, who seem to spend more time on the sidelines than in the huddle.
This durability becomes more incredible when you consider that Brady is the oldest player in the league who isn’t a kicker or a punter.
Durability can make or break a team’s chances. Just last week, the Dolphins and Raiders made quick exits from the playoffs with their starting quarterbacks out.
Other top MVP candidates include Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, of the Cowboys; Aaron Rodgers, of the Packers; and Matt Ryan, of the Falcons.
Brady has better numbers than Prescott, despite missing four games.
Elliott had a great year, but owes much of his success to the best offensive line in the league. DeMarco Murray put up huge numbers in Dallas two years ago, then was traded away and has yet to even approach those numbers again.
Rodgers has been brilliant the last two months, but his Packers squeaked into the playoffs after a slow start that was attributable, at least in part, to his early season struggles.
Ryan had a career year and should be the only serious threat to Brady as an MVP candidate. His numbers are a little better, though Brady’s would likely be similar with the benefit of a full season.
But Ryan’s Falcons lost five games with Ryan at the helm. Brady’s Patriots lost one. To look at it another way, it took Brady 12 games to win 11; it took Ryan 16.
When two MVP candidates have competitive numbers, the team’s record should decide. Whose performance was most valuable to his team? When it comes to this question, it is hard to argue against Brady.
Brady frequently wins games for his team. Just as importantly, he almost never makes the kind of mistakes that lose games.
Of course, every Patriots fan wants Brady to win the award and give us the last laugh in the Deflategate saga.
Hopefully NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell – whose legacy so far includes sweeping the concussion crisis under the rug and slapping woman-beaters on the wrist while spending millions to prosecute a minor equipment violation – will have to present the Patriots with the Lombardi Trophy in a few weeks too.
But it’s not just Patriots bias behind the case for Brady as MVP. The case for Brady consists of numbers – stats and wins. Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers say Brady should be MVP.
