Peyton Wins MVP; DeAngelo Gets Nothing
In what is a predictable and fair choice, Peyton Manning wins his third MVP and joins Brett Favre as the only three time winners of the award. As far as Manning’s numbers go, it was an average year compared to the rest of his seasons -- his yards (4,002), TDs (27) and passer rating (95) all rank in the middle-to-lower end of his 11 year career. The Colts did win their last nine in a row, however, and with the second worst rushing attack in the NFL, Manning had to carry more of the load than usual.↵↵We like to focus on the negative though, which brings us to the most glaring snub of the voting process: Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams. He is the best player on arguably the best team in the NFC, yet Williams received zero of the 50 available votes. Those who did: Chad Pennington (4 votes), Michael Turner (4), James Harrison (3), Adrian Peterson (3), Philip Rivers (2), Chris Johnson (1), Kurt Warner (1).↵
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↵Obviously, it’s no surprise that Williams didn’t win the award -- or even come close -- but I’m not sure how Turner, Peterson and Johnson all garner recognition by the voters, yet DeAngelo was left with nothing. Williams averaged 5.5 yards per carry, the other three backs were all under five yards per. He led all four in TDs with 18 and fumbled zero times in his 273 carries. DeAngelo notched about 200 yards less than Peterson and Turner, but did so while carrying the ball about 100 fewer times. He had nearly 300 yards more than Johnson on just 22 more touches.↵
↵↵The problem here, one would assume, is that the award is Most Valuable Player, not Most Outstanding Player, as MJD expounded earlier in the week. In the voters’ eyes, if DeAngelo goes down, the Panthers still have an outstanding back in Jonathan Stewart. If Peterson, Johnson or Turner are removed from their respective rosters, their teams are left a sub-par every down back. Regardless of that, without Williams, it’s hard to believe Carolina would be a 12-win, second-seeded team.↵
↵↵But then again, if the award was simply for the best player in football (as I believe it should be), Drew Brees and his 5,000+ passing yards would likely win it with ease. He, of course, received zero votes because his team didn’t make the playoffs, another flaw in the current MVP process.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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