What does MVP mean? Is it the guy that puts up Madden numbers all year, although his team fails to make the playoffs, or is it the guy who is the heart and soul of his team’s success? Of course, neither Drew Brees nor Aaron Rodgers have had trouble winning games, and both are the “glue” that brings the team together, but does one really deserve it more than the other?
One could make an argument this year more than ever that there should be co-MVP’s, probably because they played so similar statistically and it’s hard to give one stat more weight than the next. I think the co-MVP argument is a cop-out though, there have been close races like this one in the past and even though picking a winner may make the runner-up feel like they’ve been robbed, it is the right thing to do. I feel like this extraordinary season for passers fired up the “who is the best QB in the league” more than recent years, and it would be a disappointment to see such an epic competition end in a tie. “You Play To Win the Game!” Herm Edwards had a point.
If it was up to me to choose this year’s MVP, I would have to give it to Brees. As integral of a part that Rodgers was to the Packers success, I argue that the Saints relied on Drew’s success just a bit more. It should be noted that Rodgers did sit out the final game of the season, but that shouldn’t take away from all of the passing numbers that Drew put up. Also, in the final game where Rodgers sat out and called the offensive plays for backup Matt Flynn, Flynn threw for a Green Bay record 480 yards and 6 touchdowns. A popular knock on Aaron Rodgers and his early success in the league was that his numbers were the result of playing in a system that many passes could do. While I don’t buy a second of that argument and anyone who watches him for a second can see that Aaron is a special player, I think that when the backup quarterback stepped in (with Rodgers’ help) and had little difficulty working the offense, maybe some of Aarons numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.
In this past year, Drew Brees attempted 657 passes, a number that was only bested by Matthew Stafford’s 662. Rodgers finished with 155 less attempts than Brees, which I think is significant when trying to determine how central each is to his offense’s success. I think that the weapons that each QB has at his disposal just about equals out, with Sproles and Graham for the Saints, and guys like Jennings and Nelson for the Pack. Rodgers comes out on top of Brees with an NFL-record quarterback rating (122.5 to Brees’ 110.6) and touchdown to interception ratio, but Drew has the edge in passing yards (5,476 compared to Rodgers’ 4,643), completion percentage (71.2 compared to 68.3), and touchdowns (46 to 45). Bottom line, I would think that Green Bay without Rodgers would fare slightly better than a New Orleans team without Brees, although both are scary thoughts for Packers and Saints fans.
good points..Clearly, they are both worthy of the MVP awards.
ReplyDeleteMy vote goes to Rodgers. Flynn's success in week 17 does nothing to disparage Rodgers perfection this season. He's simply never been bad in any game that meant anything.
He has systematically taken apart defenses week in and week out. To say, any QB could do this is foolish. Favre couldn't do it. And Flynn did it for one game...
Brees is excellent and in any other year would win the MVP, but he throw more picks and lost a couple of meaningful games - one to he Rams and another to Rodger's Packers.
Close call, but Rodgers gets the vote