By the end of this season, regardless of what happens in the playoffs, Peyton Manning will likely be named AP NFL MVP for the 5th time in his career. He swooped in just in time to rescue the Broncos from a Tim Tebow future and even this late in his career is promising to bring a culture of winning to Denver that they have not known since John Elway was throwing TD's in the 80's and early 90's. Peyton is the best quarterback in the NFL this season, the numbers alone make sure of this.
He has played every minute of every game this season, throwing for a career high 4,811 yards on 393 completions, 47 of which have gone for touchdowns. To sum up, Peyton Manning who still has 2 games left in this 2013 season needs less than 200 yards to amass 5,000 yards passing for the first time in his career and his 4 touchdown passes away from setting an all-time single season record which is currently held by Tom Brady and his 50 touchdown 2007 season.
It is pretty simple, you are giving your team a pretty good chance to win a game when you are averaging 343 yards per game and yet as you delve deep into the meaning of the MVP trophy, the NFL's most prestigious individual award it is still fairly easy to debunk any calls for Peyton to win in landslide fashion.
MVP most plainly means 'the player who impact a team's on field performance the most,' an MVP player is a player, without whom a team would be most lost. Judging by those parameters, there is no doubt that Peyton Manning is not that player. If you subtract him from the Denver roster than Tim Tebow is still the Broncos quarterback a formula that is although it has been compromised of late worked in Denver bringing the club their lone playoff win since 2005. As great as Peyton Manning is, his greatness overshadows that of his teammates meaning that if he were to leave the stage we might understand the underrated greatness of Eric Decker or Julius Thomas.
Tom Brady however plays on a team with no veterans and yet he still grinds out wins and I point out spearheaded a second half comeback when he faced Manning head to head in a cold Foxborough night.
When you take Peyton Manning off the field the Broncos might still have a chance to win and yet, we all witnessed firsthand the trauma and complete terror that happened when Tom Brady went down during a preseason practice prior to their August 16th game with Tampa. As Tom fell, New England panicked as they did not dare picture yet another season without Tom Brady especially without the Matt Cassel like talent waiting in the wings as was the case in 2008 when Brady went down with an ACL tear. They panicked holding their breaths until a hurried MRI on the star's knee came back negative and we were released from our brief period of discomfort. However, that day gave is insight into really how much this peculiarly dressed, slightly quirky hall of fame quarterback really does mean to this town.
Don't get me wrong, Brady has had years like Manning is having in 2013. He has won the MVP twice and has 4 times thrown for more than 30+ touchdowns in a season. He has that explosive quality and yet some of Brady's greatest qualities stem from games taking place in seasons where he has no big name talent to throw to. Such is the case this time around.
The Patriots are 10-4 and although their late game comebacks have often been punctuated by mega kicks by Stephan Gostkowski or onside kick recoveries that all took place when Tom was off the field, even this time around, his nose for the unthinkable has turned double digit losses into victories in the final minutes of games. No matter who he is facing Tom Brady can reverse a trend in which his team fumbles the ball 3 times in a quarter or his receivers commit 5 drops in the game by putting the ball where even a pee wee lineman could catch it. Brady rarely misfires no matter the condition while it is no secret that even with so much experience, Peyton Manning cannot throw with the same accuracy in the cold or during a playoff game. He is inconsistent.
To a casual fan or statistic junkie, a 5,000 yard season seems like a fair case for a runaway MVP win and yet I direct this next statement to those who actually vote for the winner of the award. Before you check that box next to the words 'Manning, Peyton' just think, if you were 1 win away from a championship who would you chose: the man who despite immense regular season success is no better than Tony Romo in the playoffs or the man with 3 Super Bowl wins and 6 AFC titles?
I got my money on the latter of those 2.
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