This is a follow-up article to Clinton Portis for 2008 NFL MVP that I did after Week Eight. Here is how my MVP Candidates ranked.
No. 1 Redskins RB Clinton Portis
No. 2 Saints QB Drew Brees
No. 3 Cardinals QB Kurt Warner
After Week 11, however, a lot has changed. Clinton Portis has a partially torn MCL and still played on Sunday against the Cowboys. If he keeps playing without healing properly, I can't see him getting back to his pre-injury numbers. Kurt Warner has continued what he is doing, and so has Drew Brees.
With that said, here are my new top three 2008 NFL MVP candidates.
No. 1 New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees
Yes, I have him at No. 1. A lot of you would say, "Are you crazy, Warner is the best by far." Here is why Brees is my No. 1. Starting with his numbers, Brees has thrown for 3,251 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He has a QB rating of 95.4. Brees has also only been sacked eight times.
Now look at who he has posted those numbers with.
The Saints' top two receivers are Lance Moore, with 609 yards and five touchdowns, and Devery Henderson, with 554 yards and three touchdowns.
Moore is in his third season, and in his two previous seasons combined, he has 312 yards and two touchdowns. That's it. No one knew him before this season. Then you have Henderson, who in his previous four seasons combined has 1,497 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns—not too bad.
The Saints do not have a single rusher who has gained more than 300 yards this far in the season, and their defense is ranked in the bottom of the league. They have had no help from guys like Jeremy Shockey or Marques Colston, who have missed time with injury. That is why Drew Brees is my No. 1.
No. 2 Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner is having one of the best seasons of any QB, especially one by a guy who everyone thought should have retired by now. Warner's numbers stack up like this: 3,155 yards, 20 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a QB rating of 105.5.
Now Warner's QB rating is 10 points higher than Brees and he has more touchdowns and fewer picks, but you need to look at his supporting cast.
His top two wide receivers are doing what they are expected to do. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald have already established themselves as two of the best in the league. Combined they have 1,731 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns. Drew Brees would kill for just one of them at receiver!
The Cardinals also have support in their run game, scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground. Plus the defense is a lot better than the Saints defense.
No. 3 Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis
Portis did lose the top spot, but he is not off the list. Yet. Portis has had a great year up until now, but with his knee injury, I am not sure how he will hold up down the stretch. Other than Drew Brees, Clinton Portis is the most important player to his team. Without him, they cannot succeed.
Portis has 1,063 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. Adrian Peterson has the most rushing yards in the league with 1,100, but when you add Portis' receiving yards, he has more total than Peterson. The bad news for Portis is that the MVP race only has two competitors, and right now he is not one.
Well, there you have it: my updated MVP race. The Saints are 5-5, and if Brees can get them back to the playoffs he will win. Warner and the Cardinals are 7-3, but I think Matt Leinart could step in to get the Cardinals to the promised land. If the Saints did not have Brees, they would go nowhere.
Honorable Mention
Chicago Bears RB Matt Forte
Forte is the centerpiece of the Bears offense, averaging 99 yards a game from scrimmage this year. He has 777 yards rushing and 322 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. Key stat for Forte—no fumbles, and he is only a rookie. He should end up being the clear choice at offensive rookie of the year at least.
22 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Alexeiv Goodenov 7 months ago
OMG, look guy, no QB has ever won league MVP without making the playoffs.
Please look at past season, seriously.
Like 1987, Elway was nowhere near top QBs that season, but all of them missed the playoffs, including Marino, so away we go.
The Saints are 5-5, and are clear game behind three 6-4 teams for that FINAL Wild Card spot.
The Falcons own tiebreak, now, but if Saints win it their second meeting they may take tiebreak, however the Saints also lost their one game against the Skins, who are 6-4.
You can't ignore that.
And even still Warner can actually surpass Brees in Yards and then Brees will have nothing considering that as good as Fitz and Boldin are they weren't breaking stats with Leinart.
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
You are entitled to your opinion, but like I said this is my pick now, four weeks ago it was Portis. If the Saints do not make the playoffs and the Cardinals do and Kurt keeps doing well, he will probably be my pick in the end.
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Alexeiv Goodenov 7 months ago
So to clarify, Tampa bay right now sits a game above everyone for 5th seed.
Skins at 6-4 effectively own a two game lead over the Saints due to tiebreak.
Boys also own a game lead.
The Saints have only one gimme game, being the Lions, who may still be winless in week 16 and therefore very hungry for a win. They have Panthers, Bucs and Packers, all solid teams, ok so maybe not the Pack, but Bears and Pack are teams that have a good shot against the Saints, and then there's the Falcons who Saints would HAVE to beat in order to catch/pass.
They basically HAVE to go 5-1 to end the season to have a legitimate shot, while the Skins only need to go 4-2 and they will own tiebreak and get in at 10-6.
Warner's Cardinals have already won the NFC West, like, literally won it.
They have Rams and Seahawks left, which should be gimme games.
Then of the Eagles, Pats, Giants and Vikings they should nab at least one win.
10-6 is very probable and might even give them #2 seed, although they did lose to the Skins, so 11-5 is more the goal.
Warner, more yards, more TDs, less INTs, 11-5 team as #2 seed.
Brees, 8-8 or 9-7 Saints team...............fail.
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Isaac Barrow 7 months ago
yeah he obviously deserves MVP after leading his team to 5-5 and having nothing on Kurt:
Kurt Warner: 3155 yards, 20 TD, 7 INT, 105.5 rating, 7-3 record
Drew Brees: 3251 yards, 18 TD, 11 INT, 95.4 rating, 5-5 record
the only advantage drew has is yds, and that is a misleading stat.
Kurt: better TD-INT ratio, higher qb rating, better record
'nuff said.
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C Douglas Baker 7 months ago
I wouldn't say you are crazy at all but right now I am leaning toward Kurt Warner. Brees has had a great year and has dealt with a lot of injuries at RB/WR so it's been an impressive run so but the time I choose mine at the end of the year I might be right back at Brees.
But Kurt Warner, other than a few games where he fumbled and bumbled away the game, he has a fabulous season and has taken a morbid organization and turned it into, dare I say, a Super Bowl contender? Granted he has a good running game and the best recieving corp in the league...so maybe that argues for Brees, but as of today I'm leaning towrard Warner.
But I might damn well just change my mind.
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Sean Gerski 7 months ago
You mention Warner's supporting cast, but do you mention that the Cardinals have no running game? Teams are basing their defensive game plans solely on stopping Warner and they still can't do it.
But, aside from that, Warner is beating Brees in every significant passing stat except for yards (TDs, yards per attempt, fewer interceptions, and a much better QB rating). And keep in mind, it is easier to accrue passing yards on a losing team. How many times have you seen the Saints, when losing at the end, go into passing mode against a prevent defense? Brees gets a lot of yards that way. But the winning team often just hand the ball off at the end, taking away passing opportunities for the QB.
In the end, however, Warner's team is in first and Brees' team is in last. You are not the most "valuable" player in the league if your team is in last place.
As for your other "reasons":
The Cardinals have a better defense? Both defenses are bad. The Patriots had a good defense last year. Should that have cost Brady?
You mention how few times Brees has been sacked. That is because they have what is known as a good offensive line. Warner does not have that luxury.
You think Leinart could step in and take them to "the promised land." You are one of the very few people in the world who thinks this. Matt Leinart, through 5 games last year, posted the worst passer rating in the NFL (61.9) and threw the fewest yards per game (129). He completed only 0.4 TDs per game, and tossed 2 interceptions for every TD. In those five games, he threw 1 TD to Boldin and zero to Fitzgerald.
But aside from that, are you voting for MVP based on who has the worst backup? You had Portis as your number one and he has the very capable Ladell Betts behind him. Should that cost him votes? For New England, it looks like Matt Cassel will take the Patriots to the playoffs. Does that also mean Brady should not have won last year?
And, finally, you say "The Cardinals also have support in their run game, scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground." Want to take a guess how many rushing TDs the Saints have? 11!
If you have an agenda against Kurt Warner for some reason, just say it. Your argument for Brees does not stand up and you leave out facts to "support" it.
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
If I had an agenda against Kurt, he would not be a close number 2 on my list. My argument is that with out Brees the Saints would not have a chance.
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Kris Cardella 7 months ago
It's easy:
After 10 games, it's Warner by a country mile.
Granted, this could change in the coming weeks, but it looks as if the Cards will make the playoffs, and the Saints will not.
So Brees might have great stats(although not as good as Warner's), but he hasn't won his team enough games. That's who the MVP is for. The player that led his team to victory.
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Shane H. 7 months ago
i have to chime in with the fact that Brees is quarterbacking a teaming at .500. Out of your choices I would go with Warner. I wouldn't even ave Forte in the equation.
I recently wrote a piece on a MVP candidate, many are disagreeing but I would like you to check it out:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/82603-kerry-collins-is-the-clear-mvp-choice-right-now
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
Forte is not in the equation, just had to give him a shout out as a Bears fan for the outstanding season he is having.
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Joshua Joffrion 7 months ago
Brees is a whole lot more consistant than Warner is
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Jake Miller 7 months ago
Hey for all of you that dont know what m.v.p. means, its not most winning player, it is who is more valuable to the team. That means what team would have better chances w/o there Q.B.? And we all know that Arizona would still be a 500 team at worst. Now the Saints on the otherhand would be around a 1-9 team, because I think Mississippi St. could beat Oakland. Now do all yall know what the meaning of valuable is? all you Arizona fans need to stop being babys and realize that yall have the most valuable PLAYERS not player. I mean even I can complete passes to those two W.R. for the Cards.
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
thanks for the comment Jake. You were able to sum up the point I was trying to get across in this article.
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Alexeiv Goodenov 7 months ago
Again, show me a QB who won league MVP on a non-playoff team.
It's never happened, and I recall when Marino led the league in yards by a hell of a lot but his team was 8-8, whoop.
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
Again the playoffs havent started yet, at least wait until then for that to be your main arguement. Right now Brees is the MVP. He is the most valuable to his team.
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Alexeiv Goodenov 7 months ago
Dude, did you completely disregard my assesment of the standings?
Saints NEED to go 5-1, and even then the playoffs are not a guarantee.
I'm sorry.
Saints have a 5% chance of making the playoffs, and with that, Brees has 5% chance of winning league MVP.
Not to mention the one category he leads Warner in is not by much, Kurt could very well catch up before the season's done.
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Demond Sanders 7 months ago
Sorry guys. The MVP is going to be Peyton Manning. Dude has kept the Colts in the playoff hunt single-handedly.
Brees won't make the playoffs and Kurt Warner's season is imploding. 5 TDs, 5 INTs in his last three games. He plays in a terrible division and has cherry-picked some awful teams thus far.
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T.W. Krems 7 months ago
First he does not have MVP numbers, and second, the Colts will have to make the playoffs as a wild card, in order to do that they have to finish better than the Ravens and Patriots. Peyton Manning should not be in any MVP talks at all. Hell if you put him in MVP talk, you would have to say Matt Ryan because he is keeping his team alive, or Matt Forte for keeping the Bears alive. I assume that you are a Peyton fan and thats why you say this.
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nathan torreano 7 months ago
Where is Brett Favre in this conversation? Steve Marriuici, Deion Sanders, and many others say Brett Favre is the MVP up to this point. I don't think a single player has changed the culture of his team more than Brett; Brett also puts up great numbers (including against the formerly undefeated Titans)...seems like a Bears fan that never liked to give ole #4 much credit.....
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Dylan Gerstein 7 months ago
ELI MANNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ivan Alcantar 7 months ago
Well why is Adrian Peterson not mentioned here? The Vikings have no passing game ranked one of the last and still yet Peterson is leagues leading rusher with solely teams concentrating on him and the run. I mean when you have like 8 or 9 maybe sometimes 10 guys in the box arent you supposed to stop the runs? Well Peterson doesnt care you can put 12 guys in the box and you still wont stop him as they did yestersdays monday night football game against the bears. I give respect to every player making their statement for MVP but, why isnt AD here?
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James Williamson 7 months ago
I think Warner should get it b/c of what he had to do to get as far as he has. He had a perfect game against the Dolphins! The Cardinals are actually going to playoffs.
But playoffs or no playoffs. If Brees did not have Kurt Warner as competition, then I don't care if he didn't win a game. You break a record of Dan Marino's and you deserve an award.
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