Obviously we don't know this yet, but if you really sit yourself down and think about it, there isn't really that great of a reason as to why this won't happen. Peyton Manning will be MVP for the fifth time in his NFL career.
But hold on, some of you might say. Adrian Peterson just rushed for 2,000 yards, how on earth can you possibly vote against a guy who rushed for 2,000 yards? Well, that is a very interesting question. Let's take a look at all of this.
Adrian Peterson is now the seventh running back in the history of the NFL to break the 2,000 yard mark. He joins O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis and Chris Johnson. One might think that, since this is such an exclusive group that doing this would almost be a shoe-in for the MVP. Strangely enough, that isn't the case.
Of these gentlemen, only O.J. Simpson and Terrell Davis have won the MVP outright when rushing for 2,000 yards. Barry Sanders shared an MVP with Brett Favre during his 2,000-yard campaign. Neither Jamal Lewis nor Chris Johnson were MVPs, and Eric Dickerson, who holds the NFL record for most rushing yards in a single season, didn't even get a share of the MVP. He was beaten out by Dan Marino.
So, there goes that argument. Now, that isn't to say that Peterson shouldn't be considered for MVP because he absolutely should. He's had a remarkable season and he should be recognized for that, but he is not a shoe in.
Now let's bring Peyton Manning in here. Manning is the most prolific NFL MVP in the history of the game, winning the award four separate times. Manning won MVPs in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009. For the sake of perspective, let's put up his numbers in each of those years.
2003: 379 completions, 579 attempts, 67.0% completion %, 4,267 yards, 29 TDs, 10 INTs, 99.0 rating (this was before the new QBR numbers)
2004: 336 completions, 497 attempts, 67.6% completion %, 4,557 yards, 49 TDs, 10 INTs, 121.1 rating.
2008: 371 completions, 555 attempts, 66.8% completion %, 4,002 yards, 27 TDs, 12 INTs, 79.8 QBR, 95.0 rating.
2009: 393 completions, 571 attempts, 68.8% completions %, 4,500 yards, 33 TDs, 16 INTs, 82.9 QBR, 99.9 rating.
2012: 400 completions, 583 attempts, 68.6% completion %, 4,659 yards, 37 TDs, 11 INTs, 84.1 QBR, 105.8 rating.
By his numbers, Manning has widely outperformed not only what most people expected of him, but some of his best performances in his entire career. Now that doesn't necessarily make him a shoe-in, but these numbers are certainly MVP-worthy.
Then let's look where these two players have taken their respective teams. It's been well publicized that both of these guys have recovered from major injuries to have amazing seasons. Still, only one of these players were actually playing last season as well.
Peterson has always been one of the best players on the Vikings, but even while putting up decent numbers the Vikings have struggled. A lot of things went right for the Vikings this year, and Peterson was a huge part of that, but we have seen that Peterson's success doesn't always equal Vikings' success.
Yes, a 3-13 record going to a record of 10-6 is impressive, but Peterson only missed four games last season.
The Denver Broncos were a mediocre team in a bad division a season ago. Wallowing underneath the horrifying phenomenon that was Tebow-mania. Yes, the Broncos were division winners last season, but they were in one of the weakest divisions in football at the meager record of 8-8. Enter Peyton Manning. The Broncos are now 13-3 and the top seed in the AFC playoffs with one of the top offenses in the whole NFL.
The Manning effect has had a much greater effect in Denver than Peterson's has in Minnesota, and that is something that the voters will have to acknowledge.
Now, there is a remote possibility that the two could share the award. It wouldn't be unprecedented, though it isn't exactly a regular occurrence. It has happened, but only twice. Of course, one of those time was a 2,000 yard rusher sharing the award with a quarterback that had a brilliant year.
Either way, Peyton Manning certainly is deserving and will win his fifth MVP.
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