Is Tom Brady really MVP material? (Part 1)
With the 2010 season drawing to a close, there is only one thing on everyone’s mind besides the playoffs and the Super Bowl; who will be the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP)?
Currently topping the list is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Statistically, Brady is the best. He has attempted 492 passes this season, 324 of which were completed. That gives him a completion percentage of 65.9 percent. He has exactly 3,900
passing yards with an average of 232.8 yards per game. His longest touchdown pass was for 79 yards. 7.3 percent of Brady’s pass attempts turn into touchdowns, while he has been intercepted four times this season and sacked 25 times. He has a 2010 season quarterback
rating of 111.0.
Now lets analyse the stats. How did Brady get to the top of the MVP list? First, let’s take a look at his offensive line. Overall, his centre, guards, and offensive tackles do a great job of protecting Brady. Thus, he gets more time to scan the field, analyse
who is open and who isn’t, and finally make the pass. If any other quarterback had that much time to pass, they would most likely meet or surpass Brady’s stats.
There is another fact about Brady’s attempt to completion ratio. About 70% of Brady’s passes are for 10 yards or less. That means that he takes fewer risks and spends less time, which is why he can win games, but not get the number of touchdowns that he
should with his high number of passing attempts. Take a look at other quarterbacks.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger has a touchdown percentage of 4.4. Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning has 4.9 percent, Philadelphia Eagles’ Michael Vick has 5.6 percent and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers has 5.9 percent. So although Brady has 7.3
percent, it may be a result of the team as a whole rather than Brady himself.
To understand this, let’s go back to the 2008 season. Brady went down with a knee injury in the first game of the season. Matt Cassel, now of the Kansas City Chiefs, replaced Brady. He played in every game through the remainder of the season and the Pats
had an 11-5 record. That is pretty impressive considering that they were without Brady. This year, they are 14-2 with Brady and were 10-6 with him last year. So it is not really Brady that is the factor. It’s the hard work of the players on the offensive line
as a whole.
He also set an NFL record with 335 successive passes without an interception. Ok, so maybe Brady is the best candidate for MVP. However, there are also a couple of players who did not feature in every game, who have performed almost as well as Brady.
First is Roethlisberger. He did not play in the first four games of the season because of suspension. He has 3,200 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. That makes an average of 266.7 yards per game and 1.42 touchdowns per game. Now if he had played in all 16
games this season he would have 4,267.2 passing yards and 22 touchdowns. Again, Brady has 3,900 passing yards and 36 touchdowns. Before any smart remarks are made about 22 touchdowns compared to 36, remember this; the Steelers work hard to make their defence
strong so that they don’t have to make a lot of touchdowns to win.
The Pats have made 19 rushing touchdowns this season, while their opponents have made 10; roughly twice as many as their opponents. The Steelers have made 15 touchdowns and their opponents have made five, which is three times as many. The Pats’ opponents
have made 25 touchdowns, about 68 percent less than the Pats. The Steelers’ opponents have also made 15 touchdowns, which is also about 68 percent less.
The article will be continued in part 2.
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