Michael Vick Essentially Loses To Tom Brady in the NFL MVP Race on Tuesday
On the first NFL game on Tuesday night since 1946, Michael Vick took center stage and blew his shot at impressing voters. With a big win he had a chance to overtake Tom Brady in the MVP race, but a loss would likely eliminate him from contention.
Joe Webb and the Minnesota Vikings beat up on the Philadelphia Eagles all night, putting an end to both Vick's MVP hopes and the Eagles' chances at securing a first round bye in the NFL playoffs.
It's likely, but it isn't a sure thing that Brady will be taking home the hardware.
Read on for an analysis of who should win between the two talented signal callers.
Michael Vick: Passing
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One of the reasons for Vick's newfound success this season has been his improved ability to throw the ball. It seems as though Vick has made all the right decisions this year.
When he cocks back his left arm and fires, the ball always seems to rise and fall in a perfect spiral, usually falling right into the arms of an open receiver.
Despite not playing for three weeks during the middle of the season because of a rib injury, Vick has attempted 372 passes and completed 233, good for a completion percentage of 62.6.
Those passes have resulted in 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns. With an additional six interceptions, Vick has earned himself a good but not great Passer Score of 39.85.
Tom Brady: Passing
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Tom Brady is in the midst of a historically great passing season.
The New England Patriots quarterback basically decided that he didn't want to throw interceptions this season, and for the large part of the year, he hasn't.
Brady has put up the pigskin 476 times, completing 316 passes for a completion percentage of 66.
Those throws have resulted in 3,701 yards, 34 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
It all adds up to an astoundingly good 56.34 Passer Score.
Passing Winner: Tom Brady
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Tom Brady has a higher completion percentage, more yards, more touchdowns, fewer interceptions and a higher Passer Score.
I'm pretty sure that that merits him winning this category.
Think about it this way: If it was 4th-and-10 in the fourth quarter and you were down four points, who would you want making the throw?
Tom Brady is going to be the overwhelming favorite in that competition.
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Michael Vick: Running
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The skill and speed produced by Michael Vick's legs and feet is quite well known. Throughout his career Vick has run early and often, usually in a successful way. 2010 has been no different.
Vick has taken off 100 times this season, gaining 676 yards and finding pay dirt nine times.
He's a threat to break a big one on any given play.
Tom Brady: Running
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Tom Brady isn't exactly known for being the most mobile quarterback in the league. In fact, the most running he normally does in a game is when he jogs out onto the field from the sideline.
Brady has tucked the ball away and run for his life 31 times so far in 2010. Those attempts have resulted in just 30 yards on the ground and one touchdown.
Maybe it's his long, flowing locks that slow him down.
Running Winner: Michael Vick
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It's pretty clear who wins this category.
Michael Vick could literally run circles around Tom Brady, and the stats reflect that.
Michael Vick: Team Performance
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Michael Vick has led his team to a 10-5 record, putting them in control of the NFC East.
They've been one of the few teams to beat the Atlanta Falcons this year, but that game came while Vick was sitting on the sidelines with a rib injury. In fact, while he was out, the Eagles went 2-1, proving that Vick may not be as essential to the team's success as he is thought to be.
The biggest win of the year was a 59-28 blowout of the Washington Redskins where Vick absolutely shredded the Skins defense.
He failed to secure a first-round bye for his team, but a playoff spot is a nice consolation prize.
Tom Brady: Team Performance
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The New England Patriots have gone 13-2 through the first 16 weeks of the 2010 season and locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
They lost early in the season to the New York Jets in a game that saw Mark Sanchez outperform Tom Brady. After a lackluster performance against the Cleveland Browns, the Patriots decided to turn it on.
Since then, they've beaten team after team. Of their seven victories after the Cleveland game, five have come against teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today. Only the games against Green Bay and Indianapolis have been close.
Team Performance Winner: Tom Brady
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Tom Brady takes this category as well.
Not only has his team won more games, but they've won more games in dominating fashion.
The Patriots are pretty clearly the best team in the NFL right now and are the overwhelming favorites to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles are not.
Moreover, when Vick missed time, the Eagles didn't really miss a beat.
It all adds up to a Brady win in the team performance section of the analysis.
Michael Vick: Recency Effect
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The recency effect is a psychological principle that explains how people tend to remember what happened most recently more than they remember what happened before. Thus, it makes sense that the voters for the NFL MVP award will remember the end of the season performance.
Michael Vick lost his last game to a team that the Eagles should have been able to beat in their sleep.
His performance has also slipped dramatically as the season has progressed. Vick made it through the first 11 weeks of the season without throwing an interception, but he's thrown six in the last five weeks.
Vick's completion percentage has dropped over each of the last four weeks. At a time when you want to be peaking, Vick is slumping.
Tom Brady: Recency Effect
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The most recent thing that people have heard about Tom Brady is that he broke Bernie Kosar's record for most consecutive passes thrown without an interception. It's a tough record to break, but Brady's 319 throws without a costly mistake have earned him a spot in the books.
Additionally, Brady has been playing some of his best football in recent weeks. The Patriots certainly have as well.
He hasn't thrown an interception since Week 6, and his last single-touchdown performance came in Week 8.
Even though he hasn't been asked to throw as much over the last two weeks, Brady has still thrown multiple touchdown passes.
Recency Effect Winner: Tom Brady
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The game on Tuesday may have sealed this category up for Tom Brady.
If Michael Vick had been able to put an end to his decline and have a great game, it would've turned out differently.
But as it stands now, Brady is the best quarterback in the league in everyone's minds.
Breaking Kosar's record helped with that immensely.
Overall Winner: Tom Brady
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After Michael Vick's performance on Tuesday night against the Vikings, Tom Brady essentially locked up the MVP.
Brady has enjoyed a more successful passing season than Vick. While he's been much less effective running the ball, his team has been far superior to Vick's.
Additionally, he's been better recently than Vick has by quite a large margin. Tuesday gave Vick a chance to change that, but he failed to seize the opportunity.
You might as well hand the trophy to Brady now.
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