2011 NFL Predictions: Why Tom Brady Will Win Yet Another MVP

Tom Brady is as close to a leading man in a hit movie as it gets, and I am not referring to his looks or his oft commented-on wife. The New England signal caller is like Robert De Niro starring in a Martin Scorsese flick. It’s a sure thing. 

It’s been too good to be true for Pats fans since Drew Bledsoe went down in 2001. You have arguably the best mind the NFL has to offer on the sidelines in Bill Belichick, coaching the most savvy and fine-tuned quarterback in recent memory—maybe in NFL Films memory. It has played out to the sweet music of three Super Bowls and the first perfect 16-game season in history.

Tom Brady looks to join Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the only three-time NFL MVP winners in 2011 (Manning has four). I like his odds.

In addition to playing on a team that just flat out wins (121-39 in the regular season since 2001) he has proved an unfaltering ability to make clutch plays and avoid the big mistake, the interception. He has thrown 114 touchdowns versus only 25 interceptions his past three years of play, including 36 touchdowns to an astounding four interceptions last season. That is a rate of 4.56 touchdowns per interception since 2007. 

That is a huge stat when considering his perennial competition and fellow stat machine Peyton Manning has thrown fewer than 10 interceptions in a season just once over 13 seasons, including 17 last year. Fellow former Super Bowl MVPs and air-mail specialists Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are coming off of 22- and 11-interception seasons, respectively. Brady's biggest MVP competition of all last year and certain to be this year as well is Michael Vick. 

Missed time due to injury may have cost Vick last year’s Most Valuable Player award in a lot of people’s book, yet I believe his late barrage of interceptions made it much easier to choose Brady for voters.

Vick only had six to Brady’s four, but Vick threw interceptions in each of his last six games, in which they lost three, including a playoff defeat to the Packers. Throwing touchdowns is one thing to open MVP voters eyes, but keeping the ball in your team’s hands is most important in winning NFL games.

The Patriots did win, and they surely will continue to this year. A year removed from a 14-2 season the Patriots' young, overachieving defense added a year of experience to their name and made a couple difference-making acquisitions in Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Ellis.

The biggest addition to the Tom Brady MVP campaign though, is Chad Ochocinco. We all remember when the Patriots made the move for beleaguered all-world wide receiver Randy Moss. It turned into Brady’s first MVP and a slew of NFL records. While Ochocinco is not one of the best receivers the NFL has ever seen and no one is expecting 23 touchdown catches, he is one of the better receivers the league has seen in the past decade.

At the very least, Ochocinco as the focal point of the passing attack in New England opens up more opportunities for Brady’s favorite targets Wes Welker and Deion Branch. With a new toy in the fold in addition to Welker, Branch, speedster Brandon Tate, a surprising tandem of talented tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and a backfield always ready to be on the receiving end, the options are endless.

That arsenal of weapons, paired with Brady’s knack for making the right decisions and Belichick putting him in position to succeed, this is clearly as good a season as any for Brady to join the NFL’s most elite with a third MVP.

Now this is a movie I will pay to see all season long.

And please, by all means comment with your 2011 NFL MVP prediction. That's the beauty of a new NFL season dawning on us, all of our favorite teams and favorite players have a new season to rewrite the history books!