Super Bowl Odds: 8 Players Most Likely to Garner XLVI MVP Awards

Super Bowl XLVI will be a shootout.  Both the Giants and the Patriots feature high-powered passing attacks that should provide a very entertaining football game.

A quarterback has won the Super Bowl MVP award 24 times in the 45 games that have been played.  With quarterbacks like Eli Manning and Tom Brady taking the field in this Super Bowl, the odds are pretty good that number will move up to 25.

Click through to see the eight players most likely to be named the MVP of Super Bowl XLVI.

8. Jerod Mayo

The Patriots defense has struggled most of the season, but they have a stud in the middle of that defense in Jerod Mayo.  While Mayo was not as good in 2011 as he was in his All-Pro 2010 campaign, he is still a very good player with the capability of making the game-changing play.

A defensive player has not won the MVP since Dexter Jackson did with the Buccaneers in 2003.  The MVP of the Super Bowl is often a player that most people would not have bet on before the game started.  Keep an eye on Mayo to be that guy in Super Bowl XLVI.

7. Wes Welker

Wes Welker has been Tom Brady's second favorite target this season.  Welker led all receivers with 122 catches and was second in the league with 1,569 yards during the regular season.

Welker seems to always step his game up when he is on the biggest stage, and of course there is no bigger stage than the Super Bowl.  You can bet that Brady will look Welker's way early and often.

6. Jason Pierre-Paul

Jason Pierre-Paul has become one of the most feared defensive lineman in the league in only his second year.  He finished the season with 16.5 sacks.

Pierre-Paul will have plenty of opportunities to sack Tom Brady in a Super Bowl that will feature a lot of scoring.  The Patriots will be throwing a lot of passes and Pierre-Paul will make life miserable for Brady in this game.

If Pierre-Paul were to win the MVP, he would be the first defensive lineman to accomplish that feat since Richard Dent in Super Bowl XX.

5. Hakeem Nicks

People are forgetting about Hakeem Nicks this season with the numbers Victor Cruz has put up.  That is a mistake because he had a very good year in his own right.  Nicks ended the regular season with 76 catches for 1,192 yards and seven touchdowns.

The game against the Packers in the divisional round reminded the world what Nicks is capable of doing.  He had seven catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.  One of those touchdowns was a Hail Mary at the end of the first half in the middle of the Packers' secondary.

He will have a field day against the weak secondary of the Patriots.

4. Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski emerged as Tom Brady's favorite target this season.  He had the most prolific year receiving for a tight end in the history of the NFL,  finishing the season with 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Gronkowski continued that hot streak in the playoffs against the Broncos when he caught 10 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.  His numbers were not as good against the Ravens (five catches for 85 yards), but he was sidelined for a while with an ankle injury.  He returned later in the game and will have plenty of time to heal before the Super Bowl.

Gronkowski presents matchup problems for every team he faces.  There is no reason to believe that he will not have another big game in the Super Bowl.

3. Victor Cruz

Victor Cruz has been an unlikely hero this season.  Last year he only played in three games and did not have a single catch.  This year he had 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns.  

He has kept up his hot streak so far in the playoffs, amassing 10 catches for 142 yards in the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco.

If he can put up that line against the 49ers, just think about what he will be able to do against a Patriots defense that can't stop anyone.

2. Tom Brady

All Tom Brady does is win Super Bowl MVPs.  He already has two of them in his career, and he is the second most likely player to win the award in this game.

The Patriots do not have a running game, so the only way they are going to score points is by throwing the football.  The approach has worked so far this postseason as the Patriots have scored 68 points in two games.  Brady has seven total touchdowns in those games.

Brady is a virtual lock to win the Super Bowl MVP if the Patriots are able to win the game.

1. Eli Manning

Eli Manning is at his best in the playoffs and has proven that again this season. You have to put Manning as the overall favorite to win the Super Bowl MVP because the Giants are a more complete football team than the Patriots.

Manning was the MVP of Super Bowl XLII when these two teams met in 2008,  leading a big fourth quarter drive to give the Giants a 17-14 win.  Do not be surprised to see him do it again in Indianapolis.

Another reason Manning is the favorite is because of how well he is playing right now.  He has eight touchdowns against one interception in this postseason.  There is no reason to think that he will not light up the New England defense.