Only 3 more weeks after this left in the regular season and there really is no clear favorite for the MVP. It just seems like a moshpit of players at the moment.
Derek Carr looked to seperate himself on Thursday, but he truly had an awful game. A truly awful game. 17-41, 0 touchdowns, 117 yards passing, and a rating of 49.1 and a loss will really tank your MVP chances. His stats have taken a major step back, and they do not look MVP worthy at the moment. Much of his MVP hype is based on the raiders success and a few last minute heroics. His stats won't be enough to compensate if the raiders fail to win their division.
Matthew Stafford like Derek Carr, has done a fantastic job getting his team victories and coming out clutch in the end of games. Ironically both of these quarterbacks have injuries with their fingers. Matthew Stafford's stats are good, but they do not come anywhere close to MVP level stats. Unless they continue to win out and Stafford lights it up big time these next few games, I find it almost impossible for him to win it.
Dak Prescott's MVP chances took a hit after this week. With a loss to the giants and with a pretty awful day throwing the ball (sub 50 passer rating), he will really need a good finish to the season to forget about this past week (like Derek Carr). He's done a good job managing the game and making critical plays when needed, but like Carr, his numbers are not at all spectacular. But like Carr, his team has a fantastic record.
Ezekiel Elliot had a solid day. He didn't have a touchdown, but he did rush for 107 yards. He still leads the league in rushing. But I just do not think his stats are that spectacular, but due to weak competition in terms of MVP candidates this year, he has a legitimate shot to win it if the Cowboys finish strong and he continues to lead the league in rushing yards. But like I mentioned earlier in another post, he would be one of the more underwhelming running backs to ever win an MVP in recent memory.
Aaron Rodgers is the new man on the block at the moment. His team is over 500 and they are starting to gain some momentum. He has looked good recently and his stats might not be on Brady or Ryan's level at the moment, but they are still more impressive that Carr's or Prescott's. If the Packers can finish strong and make the playoffs, I think Aaron Rodgers might actually come out and steal this thing. Now with the Falcons having an easy remaining schedule, the bucs looking hot right now, and the giants winning against the cowboys, I think it will be incredibly difficult for them to sneak their way into a playoff spot. Unless Detroit has an epic collapse.
Matt Ryan has the numbers to win MVP, in comparison to the field at least. And he is leading the league in quarterback rating and is neck and neck with Tom Brady. Eric Berry made him look pretty bad last week, but he bounced back this week and threw for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions despite not having Julio Jones or Mohammad Sanu on the field. The Falcons have the number one offense in the NFL and are 8-5 (should be 9-4 *seattle no call) despite having one of the leagues youngest and worst defenses. The rest of the candidates throwing stinkers today allowed him to hop back in it. At the end of the day he's still Matt Ryan, and he will probably not win it because he doesn't have any unique appeal. But he's having his best year ever.
Tom Brady has almost the same exact passer rating as Matt Ryan, and he has been playing well in normal Tom Brady fashion. But it all comes down to whether you want to award the MVP to someone who missed 4 games for cheating. Not to mention his team went 3-1 without him. Previously, Brady's passer rating was at an incredible mark at 130, but obviously that has dipped down a bit. Unless Brady has truly had an incredibly season with incredible stats, I just don't see why he should leap frog a player that played in 16 games. Keep in mind the Patriots have had an incredibly easy to this point, and during the one challenging opponent Brady has played all year (Seahawks), he had a stinker and they lost the game. After scrimmaging the 49ers, Jets, and Rams these past few weeks, he finally plays challenging opponent #2 tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.
Not to mention opposing defenses devoting gameplans to stop a rookie RB has allowed the rookie QB to play beyond his experience level (and above Matt Hasselback), and account for a bit of that gap in TD's. Bottom line two rookies accounting for so much of a 1 loss team's success has to impress some voters with functioning brains.
