Why Tom Brady Should Be NFL MVP

In his article "Why Tom Brady Can't Be Named NFL MVP," PackSmack compares the NFL to the Boston Marathon. Although an interesting comparison, I'm not so sure it works.

According to PackSmack, the Spygate scandal is like a cabbie giving a runner a four to five mile head start in the marathon. The problem with that analogy is that four to five miles is about fifteen to twenty percent of the race, whereas the one game they were caught cheating in is roughly six percent of the regular season.

Admittedly, it is true that no one has questioned the performances of Brett Favre, Tony Romo, or Adrian Peterson. And no one has accused their respective teams of cheating either.

But does that really mean they are more deserving of an MVP award?

It is true that Tom Brady only has 417 more yards passing than Brett Favre, and that Romo is only 24 yards behind Favre. It's also true that Peterson's 1200 yards rushing and six yards per carry average make for some pretty impressive stats.

But you can't ignore the fact that Brady has also thrown 45 touchdowns, or that he has completed 70 percent of his passes, both of which lead the NFL. He's also only thrown five interceptions—six less than Favre, and nine less than Romo.

However Brady, unlike Romo, has put up these numbers without a consistent running game. After all, Marion Barber has been much better than the underacheiving Laurence Maroney. Although the Packers' run game hasnt been any better, its not much worse either, and Ryan Grant is starting to become a very consistent back.

But Brett Favre certainly has something that Brady does not—in fact I believe he has three of them.

For three years (95'-97'), Brett Favre was the NFL MVP. In Brady's eight years in the league, seven of them as a starter, he hasn't won an MVP yet—and considering the general attitude towards him and his team, I'm not sure he'll have many other chances.

Even if you took away his stats from the Jets game, he still has 3798 yards, 42 touchdowns, and a 69.6 percent completion average. All of which would still lead the NFL.

So my question is: how can Tom Brady not be the NFL MVP?