There is no doubt Brady is this year’s MVP
FOXBORO (TNS) – This is just one of the reasons why Tom Brady is not only this year’s Most Valuable Player but also the greatest of all time.
When Brady is merely good, fans wonder if he’s slipping. When he’s great, it’s because the Patriots have such a loaded lineup. When he’s bad, which happens almost never, he’s old and needs to retire to Gisele and the kids.
It’s like trying to find holes in a block of granite. Or a blemish on Gisele’s cheek, for that matter. Face it, the guy is very good virtually every week. The numbers and, more importantly, the eyes tell us so.
In these parts, no one has to tell football fans that Brady is enjoying an MVP season. He had the Patriots on target to win the American Football Conference with a 12-3 record heading into Sunday’s season finale against the New York Jets.
He’s the best player on the best team and enjoying the best season at the most important position in football. That about sums it up, don’t you think?
Around the country, however, football fans can’t wait to hate on Brady. This is understandable, of course. No one likes a consistent, high-quality winner who’s been in the MVP discussion for the better part of the last 15 years. It gets tiring, so you become lazy and look for something new and fresh. Thus far, only two stupendous seasons by Brady and the Patriots (2007, 2010) have ended with his winning an MVP award.
That will end this season. At age 40, Brady is enjoying an MVP season even though it’s only about the fifth or sixth best of his career.
He’ll win the award because this year is one of the softest campaigns for contenders in a while. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone. Antonio Brown tore a calf muscle. Carson Wentz – who had the best shot at besting Brady – tore his ACL.
That leaves only Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley. The 23-year old has emerged as the best back in the NFL and is enjoying a stellar season. He leads the league in yards from scrimmage (2,093) and touchdowns (19) and combines with second-year quarterback Jared Goff to make the Rams a chic pick to play in the Super Bowl. But an MVP he is not. To be an MVP running back is hard. Old-timers think running back and images of Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell and Walter Payton come to mind. More recent running back MVPs include less-glamorous stars such as Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson.
Whatever the era, a running back needs to be a consistently dominant performer to eclipse a quarterback in today’s pass-happy NFL. While closing like Secretariat in search of oats, Gurley’s full season has plenty of holes. Consider that he’s had games where he’s rushed for 40, 43, 37 and 59 yards. Those are pedestrian numbers, not MVP totals.
In the Rams’ four losses, Gurley underperformed three times. That’s one big reason why the Rams will have to hit the road for a playoff game, unlike New England.
Gurley has elevated his prospects in recent weeks for two reasons.
First, Brady has slumped and thrown more interceptions (5) than TDs
(4) this month. The fact that the Patriots won three of those four games is, of course, conveniently overlooked. Gurley is also one of those rare players who can make you stand up and watch him. Last week in Tennessee, he ran for 188 yards and caught 10 passes for 158 more.
It may have been the most dominant individual performance by any NFL player this season.
That’s an MVP-type effort. Gurley could use a few more of those but – unlike Brady – he sat out his team’s season finale against San Francisco. Seems the Rams don’t really care if they are the third or fourth seed in the NFC.
Well Brady and the Patriots do care where they’re seeded. With any luck Brady can add to his NFL-leading 4,387 passing yards and 367 completions and polish his 67.5 completion percentage, the second-best rate of his career. He’s thrown for 30 TDs (third-best) while not having his favorite wide receiver (Julian Edelman) this season.
Instead Brady has made due with Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan and expertly juggled in backs James White, Rex Burkhead and Dion Lewis. He’s also teamed up with Rob Gronkowski to form the most potent passing connection in the NFL so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the only game the Patriots have lost since October 1 came when Gronk was suspended December 11 in Miami.
Quarterbacks have won the MVP in nine of the last 10 years and it’s Brady’s turn to extend that to 10 of 11. Years from now you can all tell your pals you remember when a 40-year quarterback was the best player in the NFL.