Falcons’ Ryan soars in final MVP survey
USA TODAY Sports’ NFL staff handicapped the race for league MVP from Week 1 through Week 17. With the regular season over, we have our final winner.
A first-place vote is worth five points, a second-place vote is worth three and a third-place vote is worth one.
The final installment of our 2016 MVP tracker:
1. QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons (33 points): His candidacy was never in question, but Ryan’s runaway victory — six of our seven panelists awarded him their first-place vote — might surprise some. But Ryan is clearly a worthy choice. His 117.1 passer rating paced the league (and was fifth highest in NFL history) and exceeded his previous personal best by 18 points. And Ryan built that figure even while pushing the ball downfield for the NFC South champion Falcons, with his 13.3 yards per completion also the league standard in 2016. Despite making riskier throws, Ryan still ranked third in completion rate (69.9%) while finishing second in TD passes (38) and yards (4,944). He led Atlanta to a league-high 540 points, tying the 2000 “Greatest Show on Turf ” St. Louis Rams for eighth most all time. Ryan also established records by throwing TD passes to 13 different receivers in one season, while his mark of consecutive games with at least 200 passing yards now stands at 55. Last week: 1.
2. QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots (12 points): Despite being suspended for the season’s first four games, he provided another sterling campaign laced with personal and team success. The Patriots finished with the NFL’s best record (14-2, 11-1 with Brady) and earned home-field advantage for the sixth time since he became the starter in 2001. Brady’s 28-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio puts him in the record book, and his 112.2 passer rating was the second best of his 17-year career. However, even projected over a full season, Brady’s yardage (3,554), completion percentage (67.4%), passer rating and TD total would fall short of Ryan’s numbers, and he also had the benefit of being protected by a defense far superior to Atlanta’s.
Last week: 2.
3. QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (8 points): He closed with a flurry, passing for 1,667 yards and 15 TDs with zero picks as the Packers fulfilled his “run the table” prediction over the final six games and reclaimed the NFC North crown. Rodgers also paced the NFL in TD passes (40) for the first time in his career.
Last week: T4.
4. RB Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys (7 points): Despite being a healthy scratch in Week 17, he burst onto the NFL scene by leading the league in carries (322) and rushing yards (1,631). He’s likely to ride one of the best freshman seasons ever to offensive rookie of the year honors. Last week: 3. 5. QB Derek Carr, Oakland
Raiders (2 points): His value might not have been more obvious than the regular-season finale, during which the Raiders’ once-fearsome offense floundered without its injured leader. Despite dealing with a broken finger on his passing hand before suffering his season-ending broken leg, Carr established personal bests in completion percentage (63.8%) and passer rating (96.7) while throwing for 3,937 yards and 28 TDs. But his primary accomplishment was leading the Silver & Black back to the postseason for the first time in 14 years. Last week: T4. 6. QB Dak Prescott, Dallas
Cowboys (1 point): It’s safe to say no rookie quarterback has exceeded expectations as much as Prescott did. Picked in the fourth round — he wasn’t even the first or second choice on Dallas’ draft board — Prescott established a rookie standard for passer rating (104.9) while tying Ben Roethlisberger’s mark for wins by a rookie quarterback (13). Prescott threw 23 TD passes and ran for six. And, despite Elliott’s dominance, consider the Cowboys went 1-11 in games not started by Tony Romo in 2015 but were 13-3 without their longtime starter a year later. Last week: T4.