MVP Watch (1 Viewer)

[Bob Sacamano]

San Diego is the #1 scoring offense in the league with 32.1 points per game. The next best is Dallas at 28.1 points per game.

San Diego has scored 43 TDs (24 rushing, 17 receiving, and 2 fumble recoveries). Tomlinson has scored or thrown for 26 of the 43.

To put that into perspective, Tomlinson alone has scored more TDs than 21 teams. 15 teams have 21 or fewer total TDs. Tomlinson has 21 rushing TDs.

To put it further into perspective, Shaun Alexander recently set the NFL record with 28 total TDs. Tomlinson should break next week. Tomlinson is currently on pace for 36 TDs. And if he kept up his torrid pace of the last few weeks (about 3.5 TDs per week), he'd be at 43 and third on the all time list behind just Marino and Peyton Manning who recently set a record with 49 passing TDs.

If he stopped right now, and didn't score another TD, he'd be tied with Marshall Faulk for third on the season TDs record. Faulk received the MVP in 2000, as did Alexander in 2005. Only Priest Holmes failed to receive the MVP award for scoring 26 or more TDs.

Break that down in to "percentage of team's offensive plays" and, IIRC, LT leads the league by a mile - he has the second most targets and receptions on the team, almost all the team's rushing numbers, and - as I recall - his receiving/rushing/passing TDs account for more of his team's TDs than any other player in the league, QBs included.

If by "almost all" you mean slightly more than 70%, you are correct.

 

[bostonfred]

Edgerrin is on pace for more receptions than he had with Indy last year,

Cards pass almost all of the second half, he should have even more than what he's got now. It's quite different than Indy IMO.

The original comment was that his decline in Arizona showed that he wasn't as good as he was in Indy. The point is, he's doing as well in the passing game as he was in Indy, maybe even a little better. It's running the ball that's giving him trouble, which is another reason to think that the Colts offensive line - of course as well as the threat of Manning - is a lot better than the Cards. Shocking, I'm sure, but the reason we're talking about this is that the Colts have a stud offensive line anchored by a pro bowl, HOF WR1, pro bowl WR2, a 1st rounder at TE in Clark and had Pollard as well during his best year, and either Edge or now another first round RB who can run, catch and block. A couple people tried to say that Edge, Pollard or Wayne aren't all that special, but the point is that he's surrounded by so much talent that it's hard to say who is truly special out of the bunch. And that's why I can't put Manning up over Brady, who has done so much - even in terms of regular season statistics - with so much less.

Not that it really matters in this MVP discussion (talk about a hijack), but in his early years, Edge played behind CRAP at OL. To say Manning made Edge is a COMPLETE misrepresentation of his talent - 4 opr 5 years ago, Edge woul dbe running like a madman behind even the Cards' OL - his older and beaten body, OTOH, just can't do it without a decent OL in front of him.

That's true, although I'm pretty sure Glenn got there just before Edge, and he wasn't crap - just inconsistent early in his career. The Cards don't even have someone that good. But we can also agree that pre-ACL Edge was much better than post-ACL Edge. Post-ACL Edge put up 3000 yards and 23 TDs per year the last two years with Manning, Wayne, Harrison, Clark, and that offensive line. This year we're seeing how much of a dropoff there is to Leinart, Boldin, Fitz, and the Cards O line. I think the biggest differences are Leinart and the line, and it's the line that's effecting him most.

 

[Bri]

Edgerrin is on pace for more receptions than he had with Indy last year,

Cards pass almost all of the second half, he should have even more than what he's got now. It's quite different than Indy IMO.

The original comment was that his decline in Arizona showed that he wasn't as good as he was in Indy. The point is, he's doing as well in the passing game as he was in Indy, maybe even a little better. It's running the ball that's giving him trouble, which is another reason to think that the Colts offensive line - of course as well as the threat of Manning - is a lot better than the Cards. Shocking, I'm sure, but the reason we're talking about this is that the Colts have a stud offensive line anchored by a pro bowl, HOF WR1, pro bowl WR2, a 1st rounder at TE in Clark and had Pollard as well during his best year, and either Edge or now another first round RB who can run, catch and block. A couple people tried to say that Edge, Pollard or Wayne aren't all that special, but the point is that he's surrounded by so much talent that it's hard to say who is truly special out of the bunch. And that's why I can't put Manning up over Brady, who has done so much - even in terms of regular season statistics - with so much less.

That's a fair point.

 

[Marc Levin]

although I'm pretty sure Glenn got there just before Edge, and he wasn't crap - just inconsistent early in his career. The Cards don't even have someone that good.

Agreed - but the Colts OL in general was really poor the firts two-three years of Manning/Edge/

But we can also agree that pre-ACL Edge was much better than post-ACL Edge. Post-ACL Edge put up 3000 yards and 23 TDs per year the last two years with Manning, Wayne, Harrison, Clark, and that offensive line. This year we're seeing how much of a dropoff there is to Leinart, Boldin, Fitz, and the Cards O line. I think the biggest differences are Leinart and the line, and it's the line that's effecting him most.

Yup. But, it is also unfair to say 2006 Edge is proof that 2004-5 Edge was "made" by the Colts' OL or by Manning. Certainly, 2004-5 Edge needed a decent OL to succeed, but he went from one of the best OLs to one of the league's worst - how he would have performed behind a middle of the road OL is a question we can't answer.

 

[Brother Mouzone]

Colts without Manning 6-10Saints without Brees 6-10Pats without Brady 7-9Bears without Urlacher 9-7Chargers without L.T. 10-6

how did you come up with these numbers??is that just your opinion as to what they would be like without those players?LT is nothing less than the mvp - i dont see how you could disagreeyou can get as much hype as LT and still be underated....

 

[cormanman]

Romo for MVP? I love football fans.

P. Manning, D. Brees, and T. Romo are the three best QBs in the league over the past month. Peyton has been at it the longest and Brees has 2.5 solid years under his belt. Admittedly Romo is fresh meat, but as far as an MVP discussion limited to THIS season these three QBs are each propelling their teams to the playoffs and possibly deep in the playoffs. Take each away and the remaining team likely does NOT make the playoffs. They are each legitimate horses in the race. I personally would take P. Manning if starting a team from scratch, but only because QBs can play into their mid 30s and capable QBs are much more difficult to come by than capable RBs. Still, no debating that LT is a special player. He's a lock as top 5 all time and could finish as #1 on that list. I think that for THIS season LT is the MVP. BTW, for all those pimping Rivers, while I do think he is good I also think he's waaay overrated at ths point. Any QB playing with LT will have it twice as easy as the next guy. I'd like to see how good he is with out LT.

 

[Ralley Monkeys]

LT & Brees lead the pack.

While Brees is playing really well and it's great that he's revitalized the Saints, this one still isn't close. LT should win easily barring injury. Quite simply he's a dominating RB in every aspect of the game this year.

 

[UCLAGIE]

The MMQB with his picks post week 13

"LaDainian Tomlinson is making my selection process pretty darned impossible. With four weeks left in the season, here's the way I'd vote the top five for the award:

1. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans. I still side with the miracle man of the Gulf, because the Saints are 8-4, and no one ever thought in a million years they'd be this good for this long. And Brees is the trigger man.

2. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego. How can a back be better? Rushing yards: 1,324, first in the NFL. Yards per carry: 5.2. Receiving yards: 470. Touchdowns: 26. Touchdown passes: two. Quarterback rating: 125.0. Not sure, but there's a chance he is a Gil Thorp comic strip. Perfect in all ways.

3. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. Sorry, big fella. I don't mean to slight you. But you can't argue with the two men north of you.

4. Larry Johnson, RB, Kansas City. Only 12 rushing yards behind the great Tomlinson.

5. Brian Urlacher, LB, Chicago. The Bears are surviving because of one thing and that's the Urlacher-led defense.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...mmqb/index.html

 

[Colin Dowling]

Brees / LT2

Manning

Romo

Everyone else.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

1. Tomlinson - he's having the best year (so far) of a surefire hall of fame career, and the Chargers are having a banner year despite some up and down play from Rivers. I think he's the easy choice.

2. Brees - The easy choice when there's no one putting up one of the best seasons in NFL history. He and the RB combo have that offense clicking, and disguising a so-so defense and talent elsewhere.

3. Romo - Is there any question how much his presence has turned the season around? His throw to Witten yesterday was a thing of beauty. The whole team has a spring in their step now.

4. LJohnson - The reason that the Chiefs are still in playoff contention. I believe Huard's numbers were due to Ds keying on LJ as much it was his play. This guy takes a licking week in week out and keeps on ticking.

5. PManning - Kind of a down year for Peyton, but he's still the difference between them being 10-2 and them being about 7-5 or 6-6. He also opens up the lanes for the running game because defenses are obsessed with stopping him.

Hon Mention: Vince Young. No single player has had as big an effect on his team's approach to the game. The titans looks like an entirely different team since he has taken over. If they don't choke the Ravens game and pull out a win instead of the 14-13 loss at Indy, the Titans are playoff contenders right now. The TITANS.

 

[pizzatyme]

I don't think it really matters what a team's record would be without them. I think it comes down to who is having the best season.

LT is by far having the best season in the NFL. Although I think there is a lot of stat stuffing, you cannot dismiss his triple threat attack.

After LT, I think any of the following 4 could be a distant second on the balloting:

Manning

Brees

Romo

Urlacher

 

[T Man]

1. LT - Not much to say. He has been awesome

2. Brees - Not just what he's done on the field, but his presence as well

3. P. Manning - He will be in the mix every year because of his numbers

4. L. Johnson - He has performed well

5. S. Jackson - He won't get it, but he has been the Rams Offense. 72 Receptions and over 1000 yards.

 

[ffwebster]

Conversation begins and ends with LaDainian Tomlinson.. no question

 

[gman8343]

two man race at this point IMO.

LT and Brees. LT will probably get it, and certainly deserves it, but I can't think of a more valuable player to his team than Brees.

LT goes down and Turner MAY be able to put up solid numbers and get them to the playoffs. Obviously nothing like LT, but he'd probably be good. Take Brees off NO and they're a 5 and 11 team IMO. The guy is an absolute stud and makes everyone around him better.