As a yearly tradition, selected media members choose the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
While there are no fixed criteria in choosing the rightful winner, voters cast their ballot for the player who sustained excellence throughout the season.
It helps if the athlete breaks a league record or tallies gaudy numbers every game.
The entire NFL MVP voting panel is now gonna come into question because of Hub Arkush#PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/esh6nRZ1PH
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 5, 2022
But even if several players deserve consideration, this year’s vote seems to be narrowing down to two quarterbacks.
Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers and Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are leading the pack in sportsbooks and stats.
That said, it’s best to look at the merits of both play-callers on why they deserve to win the league’s most prestigious individual award.
The Case For Tom Brady As MVP
Playing at a high level when you’re 44 years old is astonishing in itself.
But if you quantify Brady’s performance this season, he’s been the best throughout the regular season.
He leads the league with 4,990 passing yards and 456 completions through Week 17.
Brady’s also thrown 40 touchdown passes with only 12 interceptions.
.@TomBrady opened up Antonio Brown in his "Let's Go!" podcast: “We used to think that we were robots out there and we’d go out there and play and it’s more than that now."
"There’s a humanity to everything that we’re doing out there."pic.twitter.com/7sFoPobfLu
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 5, 2022
More importantly, he led Tampa Bay to a 12-4 record regardless of the receivers that line up with him.
Chris Godwin is still on injured reserve while Antonio Brown missed massive parts of the season.
Mike Evans was his only marquee wideout left, and he’s playing with relative unknowns like Tyler Johnson and Cyril Grayson.
Those two receivers were featured during their game-winning drive against the New York Jets in Week 17.
Sorry Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady is the MVP. pic.twitter.com/JOpsKK3l10
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) January 5, 2022
Brady completed 34 passes for 410 yards and three touchdowns in that game alone.
He had two more 400-yard games and five more games with at least 300 yards.
His lowest output came against the Chicago Bears, but he still threw four touchdowns despite finishing with only 211 yards.
Finally, he’s at his best when the Buccaneers reach the red zone, generating 64 touchdowns and zero picks in that area since 2020.
The Case For Aaron Rodgers As MVP
A win by Rodgers will give him his fourth MVP trophy.
Ironically, four is also the number of interceptions he’s thrown all season.
That’s an insane amount when you put it alongside the 35 touchdowns he has.
That said, he’ll burn opponents if he has the time to execute plays.
If you have an NFL MVP vote and you can't separate what Aaron Rodgers does on the field vs. what he does off of it, you probably shouldn't have an NFL MVP vote.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 5, 2022
While the Packers have a 13-3 record with one game left, Rodgers lost twice before clinching the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
His first loss was that Week 1 disaster against the New Orleans Saints, while the other was versus the Minnesota Vikings.
But even in that Week 11 loss, he was still excellent with 385 yards and four touchdowns.
Likewise, he’s thrown just two additional interceptions since that defeat against New Orleans.
Peyton wants @AaronRodgers12 to slow down on the MVP awards 😅
"If you win this fourth MVP, I don't think you really wanna get to five. I think you just retire and you go off into the sunset." pic.twitter.com/9JJzPvEief
— ESPN (@espn) January 4, 2022
He’s spotless in nine of his last 10 games and has yet to throw an interception against an NFC North team.
As for other numbers, he’s fourth-best in completion percentage (68.6), ninth in passing yards (3,977), and first in both quarterback rating (67.8) and passer rating (111.1).
Rodgers continues to be excellent despite not having his primary left tackle in David Bakhtiari.
A toe injury and the COVID-19 virus did not deter him from leading the Packers to another division title and a postseason berth.
Who Wins MVP?
It’s not that Brady isn’t valuable to the Buccaneers’ cause, but Rodgers is the rightful MVP.
Take him away from the Packers, and they won’t make the playoffs.
Likewise, their offensive line is shakier than Tampa Bay, giving Brady more comfort in making throws.
It’s hard to take some credit away from those men in the trenches because they allow plays to happen if they did their job well.
Aaron Rodgers is (-400) to win MVP 👀 pic.twitter.com/xVTx61ZIBV
— PFF Bet (@PFF_Bet) January 5, 2022
Tristan Wirfs, Ali Marpet, and Ryan Jensen are some of the best in the league, and that’s a huge relief for Brady.
Furthermore, Packers’ opponents know that most of Rodgers’ throws go to Davante Adams, yet they still can’t stop their connection.
Finally, what matters in an MVP is their display on the field.
That said, their external views must not taint the voters’ decision.
NEXT: Can Jonathan Taylor Win NFL MVP?
Benoit Benjamin says
Totally subjective.
The Packers have been good for many years now. When Brady was starting with the Bucs in 2020, the Packers were just coming off an NFC Championship birth. The Packers already had continuity. They were good throughout the Favre years and Rodgers stepped in right behind that. The Packers are one of the premier franchises in NFL history.
Brady took a moribund franchise and completely turned it around in Year 1. The Buccaneers hadn’t been to the playoffs in over a decade. Brady lead them directly to a Super Bowl Championship (beating Rodgers in the process(. No other player could have done that.
By definition Brady is the most valuable player in the league and it isn’t even close. Why are people so hung up on Rodgers 4 INTs? 7 of Brady’s INTs came from from receivers fumbling the catch and another was picked on a Hail Mary in the end zone to end the half.
If Brady weren’t on the Bucs, they wouldn’t have signed Gronk, Fournette, Brown, Bernard, Sherman and Bell, Attracting players to your team that others cannot makes you an MVP.
Brady continues to make wine out of water with guys like Scotty Miller, Cameron Brate, Tyler Johnson, Breshad Perriman, and Cyril Grayson. Do you not think these guys will disappear into obscurity ala Brian Hogan and Danny Amendola when they’re moved on from the GOAT? Does Rodgers have this ability? No. No one else does.
I don’t understand the Rodgers love other than I understand the Brady hate. Oh and Rodgers can zip the pretty pass and look effortless. Who cares? The MVP is not about the most talented or most efficient. It’s about who did the most for his team and who accomplished the most. Statistics are part of that.
Brady wins on all statistical fronts except by a fraction on QBR, completion % and TD to INT ratio. But if you have 1,200 more passing yards, essentially 30% more of a season’s worth of passing yards, how can that not automatically qualify you as more productive at the position if wins and losses are the same, as they are?
Brady hate and fatigue is real. It’s the only reason he’s not the hands down MVP. If the name on Brady’s jersey said anyone but Brady, you’d have a runaway MVP candidate.
Human beings are stupid. Chris Simms, Shannon Sharp, Nick Wright, Rob Parker and now Lawrence Fernandez are all high on the “dumb humans saying and thinking dumb things” list.
Once you accept that it will never change, you will enjoy life more.
Bob says
I have to concede the point on being able to bring in talent, and the fact that he turned around a franchise, but the Bucs weren’t exactly a talentless trash team before Brady stepped in; they were literally a good QB short of being a legit contender. He did a lot with a little though, I agree with that, but I beg to differ on Rodgers’ inability to do the same. On the contrary, that’s ALL Rodgers has done his whole career. How many receivers have they had that went elsewhere and couldn’t put up numbers like they did in Green Bay? Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, are just a few off the top of my head.
All that being said, this year is a tough one. I legitimately believe it could go either way. They both deserve it though.
Bucky says
Except we aren’t talking about last year. We are talking about which INDIVIDUAL player is the most valuable in the league for the 2021-2022 season.
You say if it was any other name but Brady on his jersey the choice would be obvious for these people. I say if you want to ignore their names then you look at the stat percentages that matter most for a quarterback for this season.
Eye in the Sky says
Percentages are a fools game. Raw stats are far superior for an MVP. Would you rather have fewer TDS and fewer passing yards or more? Would you rather score more points or less. Idiots abound in the media because they get paid under the table (they say and have bosses who force their votes against Brady because Brady has worn out the reading public with his consistency greatness). They are in the business of making(or is it taking) your hard earned cash so will manipulate whatever they need to, to make a buck.
Consider Matt Ryan’s MVP. Brady had all the percentage stats and even better than Rodgers this year and even won as many games as Ryan with four less tries. Brady even set the All-Time record for TD/Int Ratio that year but because he was Brady….no MVP. If they applied that reasoning this year, Rodgers wouldn’t get it either.
Historians never forget says
Not only that year but the following year as well when Cam Newton got the award with less than 60% pass completions. They said his win total made the difference but if that was the case then why didn’t Brady’s win total make a difference against Ryan? Others said it was his running that made the difference but that made no sense because Brady had well over 900 more passing yards outdistancing Cams running yards. A lot like this year with Brady having over 1200 more passing yards than Rodgers. The award is fixed against Brady. The only time he gets it is when his gap is so unbelievably large the media fears an uprising if they get caught cheating. Media will say whatever they can whenever they can to suite their own needs and not the truth. Brady also led the league in TD passes that year against Cam but the media who loved Peyton was fearful Brady would over shadow Peyton with another MVP and destroy their fantasy rivalry that never really existed.,.so they refused to give it to Brady though well deserved. And then Newton lost to the Broncos worse that year in the SB than did Brady in the Championship game and Newton made what some would call history when he acted afraid to jump on a fumble allowing the Broncos to take the game. Could go into how Peyton got his first MVP too and his other problems at Tennessee and his wife’s medications and the NFL Commissioner giving Peyton credit for a lateral so he could steal the passing yards record from Brees and and and then he stole four games from Brady even after paying to have a study done on football psi impacted by temperature four years before he conned America with it. Professors at Stanford, MIT, Harvard and throughout the world then labeled Goodell for what he is (also, commish was a Jet Exec bet you didn’t know that, explains his ultimate hatred for Brady and Pats), and lost in court for deflate gate on the merits but won on a retrial from another angle because the NFL is not considered legitimate competition (REALLY) but entertainment.. Don’t want to start a race war as biased but back then the media could not stomach McNair getting the award over their beloved Peyton and a QB in his own division at that. Lots of commish actions against Brady and for others only makes what Brady does oh so much more deserving of the MVP, an award which is about to become worthless as they again manipulate it away from Brady.
Historian says
Yeah know what you mean. The following year too when Cam Newton had a completion percentage of less than 60% and Brady led the league in TD passes but Cam’s “team” had more wins. Interestingly, that is the year Cam refused to jump on a fumble in the Super Bowl and caught a lot of flack for being “afraid”. Something no one has ever accused Brady of. Michael Strahan of the Giants can tell you about that.
Media uses whatever they can to make excuses to not give it to a Brady. They even went out of their way to give it to Peyton in an attempt to say they had a rivalry to fuel more viewing. If you remember those years the media did everything they could to pump up Peyton and knock down Brady to sell everyone on a rivalry that never really existed just to make a buck and they got away with it. They also did it because they would have egg on their collective faces if the raw truth was actually published and Peyton a gifted QB but not on Brady’s level (who is?) ended with his deserved 3 MVPs and Brady got his deserved 6 MVPs including this year. Good rule of thumb. Trust the media and you get someone with dementia (a horrific disease), a criminal family, a corrupted election, a destroyed economy, a worsened pandemic and a downward spiral across all segments of our country and worse, as the leader of the free world. And these are the guys touting Rodgers for MVP based on less yards by over 1200 and fewer TDS, fewer first downs, and done with a more injured team by a WHAT? 44 year old. This is epic MVP and the irony is that Brady may lose the MVP but by voting for Rodgers the media will be losing mega millions in the stories that could have come out of a 44 year old winning the MVP which he unabashedly and fully deserves. The media is not only corrupt but in their corruption is also blinded, and their actions will be the cause of their own undoing, and failing to cash in, in a big way, on that truth. Brady has clearly won the MVP but only if corrupt media types say he did.
Historian says
You nailed it! Yeah, know what you mean. The following year too when Cam Newton had a completion percentage of less than 60% and Brady led the league in TD passes but Cam’s “team” had more wins. Interestingly, that is the year Cam refused to jump on a fumble in the Super Bowl and caught a lot of flack for being “afraid”. Something no one has ever accused Brady of. Michael Strahan of the Giants can tell you about that.
Media uses whatever they can to make excuses to not give it to a Brady. They even went out of their way to give it to Peyton in an attempt to say they had a rivalry to fuel more viewing. If you remember those years the media did everything they could to pump up Peyton and knock down Brady to sell everyone on a rivalry that never really existed just to make a buck and they got away with it. They also did it because they would have egg on their collective faces if the raw truth was actually published and Peyton a gifted QB but not on Brady’s level (who is?) ended with his deserved 3 MVPs and Brady got his deserved 6 MVPs including this year. Good rule of thumb. Trust the media and you get someone with dementia (a horrific disease), a criminal family, a corrupted election, a destroyed economy, a worsened pandemic and a downward spiral across all segments of our country and worse, as the leader of the free world. And these are the guys touting Rodgers for MVP based on less yards by over 1200 and fewer TDS, fewer first downs, and done with a more injured team by a WHAT? 44 year old. This is epic MVP and the irony is that Brady may lose the MVP but by voting for Rodgers the media will be losing mega millions in the stories that could have come out of a 44 year old winning the MVP which he unabashedly and fully deserves. The media is not only corrupt but in their corruption is also blinded, and their actions will be the cause of their own undoing, and failing to cash in, in a big way, on that truth. Brady has clearly won the MVP but only if corrupt media types say he did.
Owners Insane? says
And yet despite all the haters, Brady just keeps chugging along not after personal accolades like a true champion, regardless of what the media steals from him. The media has forgotten, if they ever knew it, that they are not hurting Brady but the fans and it’s the fans who refuse to buy their product because the media has been so unfaithful to the truth. Watch again as the NFL either loses viewers or at least gains far fewer than they could have, meaning that the media is strangely stunting the NFL’s growth and the money that goes in the pockets of the owners. If I was an owner I would be ensuring an honest media so as not to lose the millions more the media is causing me to lose. Then again I am more concerned with integrity. To each his own.
Mensans Chose Brady says
How much does it cost to get your ears pierced if you play for Tampa Bay?
A buck an ear (A Buccaneer). Answer provided for:
1. blind Rodgers voters who would rather have an efficiency stat over a raw stat, to better explain…..
2. like a higher TD to Interception Ratio (Rodgers) than more actual TDS (like Brady). Go figure?
3. Or a higher completion percentage (like Rodgers) over more Passing yards (like a Brady and 1200 more) that actually gets your team closer to the opponents goal line. That’s five extra games worth of yards for Rodgers to reach this year. Will be the greatest difference ever stolen? by the media
4. Or a higher pass rating which is oh so flawed (like Rodgers) reason why the QBR came into existence. And QBR is controlled by Brady hating ESPN folks yet still Within 3 tenths of one percent.
Yet consider that Brady had 8 dropped TD passes and in the top five of dropped passes (not his fault yet shows he had to do it over and over again before ball caught and TDS earned AND still he out distanced a Rodgers by 6 TD and 1200 plus yards. And that’s not even counting he’s 44.
5. or the DVOA and PFF (like Brady #1 in both) better accepted by math statisticians in the know.
And the list goes on not to mention:
6. doing more with less
7. getting players to join your team
Isn’t the idea of the game to score more touchdowns?
And isn’t it better to gain more yards than just complete passes?
So why is it that the media can’t see the difference?
8. And why is media focusing on 9-0 loss to Saints for Brady, when Rodgers lost 38-3 to same Saints?
Yeah really, Brady looses by 9 wow not MVP worthy but Rodgers looses by 35 and it’s “no big deal”.
Every game counts the same, timing not supposed to be an issue they say.
9. And Rodgers causes discontent in the organization while Brady is the glue that holds his together.
This is a real head scratcher when you consider things in total.
10. Not really a tough decision for a nine year old. But then few 9 year olds are corrupt.
Will the media again prove their corruption runs deep enough to steal yet a third MVP from Brady?
Mensans chose Brady says
Hey won’t you please publish this last mensan write up. It’s the best of all those published so far and shows perfect rationality why Brady is head and shoulders above Rodgers and far more deserving for the MVP. It also explains why Brady’s raw numbers far out weigh Rodgers efficiency numbers.
Do you hate Brady too?
Anonymous says
Thank You
Integrity bring greater prosperity says
If Aaron Rodgers wants to zoom up the legacy ladder next to Brady and past all the other pretenders, he will do what no one has ever even dreamt of doing. This will establish him as par excellence: he will take the MVP that the media inappropriately gave him that Brady deserved, and walk it over to Brady with the world watching and declare that the media made an emotional mistake and that Brady rightfully won the award. Immediately, Rodgers has a friend in Brady for life (worth more than the MVP itself will ever get him) and a place in history as an honest, humble man of integrity. And with 3 MVPs himself and a chance for more, who wouldn’t choose him in any future close race. Win win win all around, even the media doesn’t get tagged for their corruption, and the end result is as it should be. Would pay to see that movie.and the follow up movie on the Rodgers story and the follow up movie on the friendship that developed between Rodgers and Brady as a result. And and and. Lots of money to be made for Rodgers if he only has a heart and a conscience.
Problem is does he? And who knows maybe the final story will soften the blow to the media’s legacy for their continued corruption over the years and their poorly veiled hatred of all things Brady. Or they could just do the proper thing and give to Brady what Brady has earned thereby knocking Rodgers out of the loop and getting a bigger payday immediately for the honesty that has been so sadly missing in media these past years. The outcome of this race will determine whether the media remains corrupt or if they are changing their hearts towards integrity. Their decision will be our answer.