Tom Brady: 5 Reasons New England Patriots QB Will Win NFL MVP in 2012

In the end of the season, individual awards are meaningless. All that matters to most NFL players is a ring.

However, while being awarded the Jim Thorpe trophy just once is a small honor, if Tom Brady can earn it a third time, he will join very prestigious company.

The NFL MVP award has gone to four men twice, one of them being the New England Patriots quarterback. Only three men have earned a hat trick of MVP honors, and of course one man has won four times.

Should Brady complete this season with similar numbers as 2011 and be awarded this trophy, he will join Brett Favre, Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown with three MVPs. More importantly, it will put Brady just one MVP award shy of arch-rival Peyton Manning.

To think Brady wouldn't enjoy that is foolish. He is human, and as humans, there is nothing we like more than beating someone we are constantly compared to.

Recent History

Since 2001, only two non-quarterbacks have won the Most Valuable Player award—Shaun Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson.

The NFL MVP is a quarterback award, especially with the way the league has been trending the past couple seasons.

The passing games in the NFL are better than ever, and that means QBs are even more in the spotlight.

Since we can almost assuredly say this award is going to a quarterback, the odds for Tom Brady winning are increased exponentially.

He will still have competition, of course. Peyton Manning is back from injury, and a host of other elite signal-callers will be vying for the honor.

I'll touch on the competition next, but for now, just know NFL MVP=QB, and there may be none better than Brady

The Competition

Let's take an honest look at the competitors for the NFL Most Valuable Player award.

Last year's winner, Aaron Rodgers, will still obviously be in the conversation.

However, his turn as the sexy new QB is over. There will be no more votes for him based on the "he hasn't won it yet" argument.

To repeat, Rodgers will have to not only emulate last season's success, but improve on it as well. That is just too difficult to do, and the Packers won't finish 15-1 again, making Rodgers not look as good.

Drew Brees finished just behind Rodgers for the 2011 MVP. He is also now the NFL leader in passing yards in a season.

While Brees will qualify for the "he hasn't won it yet" votes, I'm not sure he'll get them. I don't think the NFL wants the New Orleans Saints winning anything this year, Brees and the MVP included.

The Saints will have a hard time this season with the absence of some defensive players, their GM and head coach. If New Orleans struggles to win games as a whole, it won't matter how well Brees plays.

Peyton Manning has returned and will start for the Denver Broncos. However, after multiple neck surgeries, can he return to his 2009 form? An enormous question mark lingers over Mile High this year.

Other possibilities could include Cam Newton, Eli Manning or even Calvin Johnson. None of those players have the offensive firepower that Brady will have in 2012, making him a favorite to win it.

Remaining Firepower

Last season, Tom Brady joined Drew Brees in throwing for more than 5,000 yards.

In 2012, his offense has lost very little.

Brady will once again have at his disposal the top tight-end tandem in the league as well as the most dynamic slot receiver the NFL has to offer (barring a holdout).

Security blanket Deion Branch returns, as does third-down back Danny Woodhead. Chad Ochocinco remains on the roster as well, despite a lackluster first season in Foxboro.

The hope is that Ochocinco has finally found time to learn the playbook and become a more vital part of this offensive machine he loves admiring so much.

The Patriots also have two high draft picks from 2011 to slide into the open RB slot. Shane Vereen was a non-factor last season, but the second-rounder has immense talent.

Stevan Ridley showed a lot of promise last season and has tremendous burst on the outside. Ridley could become a big part of Brady's screen-passing game that worked so well earlier in the quarterback's career.

There was not a whole lot of turnover from last season's elite offense, and there should be no reason Brady cannot repeat last season's success with this unit.

New Toys

Patriots fans have been clamoring for a deep threat since Randy Moss shot his way out of town.

This offseason, New England went out and signed Brandon Lloyd to be that deep threat.

Bill Belichick went out and bought his quarterback some new toys for 2012 in Lloyd and Anthony Gonzalez.

He has also vastly improved the defensive unit, which should translate into less pressure for his star QB.

The major departure from Brady's unit is starting running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. However, it just came out that New England will be signing Colts RB Joseph Addai. Addai will fill in nicely for Green-Ellis as a veteran for Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen to continue to learn from.

Though not a lot of flashy stuff going on here, Brady has rarely been about the flash.

He makes teammates better in a lot of ways. Getting him more competent and talented receivers will go a long way toward winning his third MVP trophy.

Sick of Losing

For all the wins he has amassed over the past decade, it has been quite some time since Tom Brady has ended a season with a win.

At this point, I'm willing to bet the quarterback is sick of losing.

Whether it is the first-round playoff to the Jets or the Super Bowl to the Giants, it is all the same to Brady. Losing is losing, and he takes it as badly as anyone.

Another loss in the Championship game to the Giants ticked him off. The Tim Tebow insanity ticked him off. The Peyton Manning media outpouring ticked him off. The ELIte crap definitely ticked him off. Drew Brees beating him to 5K ticked him off. The Aaron Rodgers MVP award ticked him off.

All of these slights, no matter how minuscule, get built up over time. 2012 is going to be when the Festivus pole gets passed to Tom Brady.

It is time for the airing of grievances, and NFL defenses better watch out.