2Takez: NFL MVP
Your primary secondary source for the hot-topics and happenings in sports.
In this '2Takez,' staff writers Robert and Nick debate who is the leading candidate for NFL MVP. Coincidentally, both are also frontrunners for comeback player of the year. On to it...
Point, The Case for Adrian Peterson:
Nobody is in the same SOLAR
system as Adrian Peterson when it comes to MVP comeback performance. After
suffering a torn ACL in week 16 of last season, he returned valiantly and went
to work immediately for the beginning of this year. Peterson started and played
in all 10 games for the Vikings, leading Vikings to a 6-4 record, their best start
since 2009. Even though he consistently takes hits and leads shoulder first
into defenders snap after snap, Peterson is playing his best football thus far.
Right now AP is the league’s leading rusher (1,128) at 5.8 yards per carry,
112.8 yards per game, as well as leading the league in yards after contact. He
also leads the league with 13 rushes of 20 yards or more. All stats aside, AP’s
first playoff appearance in 2009 was led by the notorious Brett Favre and a
12-4 red-hot Vikings team, but now, Peterson has taken on the veteran leadership
role and is keeping playoff hopes alive in Minnesota. The Vikings are still in
the playoff hunt above Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Dallas.
You cannot count out Adrian Peterson
in any talks about MVP or the greatest comeback player in the 2012 NFL season.
He has come above all obstacles and risen above a possible career-ending injury
to lead the league in every notable rushing category. He is still the same
physical back we knew back in his Sooners’ days.
-Robert O.
@robertellem
Adrian Peterson is an animal,
there’s no debating that. His
quick recovery and return to his physical, slashing running style has been
nothing short of amazing to this point.
However, the MVP, and the Comeback Player of the year, is not Peterson.
Although he goes by “AD,” or All-Day, Adrian Peterson’s nickname should be All-Over-the-Place, as in you never know what you’re going to get with him. Although he leads the league with rushes of over 20 yards, he is also notorious for his rushes of negative or no gain. His 5.8 YPC average is grossly inflated by his biggest runs and is hardly a useful tool to predict what will happen when AD gets the ball. Taking out just his longest rush from each game, Peterson’s YPC falls to 4. On a team with questionable quarterback play and limited weapons on the outside (Harvin excluded), these strikes from ‘swinging for the fences’ far too often leave the Vikings’ offense behind the down and distance, causing drives to stall. The Vikings 3rd Down Conversion percentage is a lowly 33.9 percent, good (mediocre) for 20th in the league. Don’t get me wrong, Peterson is the most talented (and arguably the most entertaining) rusher in the league, however, the knocks on AP continue when looking at his other limitations. Peterson can’t pass protect, so when the drives get to third and long, he has to come off the field. With all the holes on the Vikings on both sides of the ball, an MVP should be extending drives, not causing them to sputter.
You want to talk about solar
system? Fine. As repeated ad nauseum by pundits
everywhere, the NFL is a passing league.
Naturally, MVP talk would revolve around
the biggest star of them all, the Son
(Sun) of Archie, number 18, Peyton
Manning. Manning’s 3 4th
Quarter comebacks this year are second only to his comback from 4 neck
surgeries in the offseason.
Manning has tossed 21 TDs to just 6 interceptions (initially causing all
of Denver to ask if that’s even possible after suffering a year with He Who
Shall Not Be Named), and is completing 69.7 percent of his passes (second to
only Alex Smith’s 70 percent).
Manning also leads the league in Quarterback Rating and Total QBR,
leading the latter by almost 5 points.
Peyton is playing at an otherworldly level and is improving those around
him. The sporting world has been
forced to swiftly learn how to spell Demaryius Thomas’s first name due to his
breakout year with Manning, Eric Decker has rapidly improved as the number 2
option, and 18’s former teammate Brandon Stokely, is having a career
resurgence. Manning’s presence
extends beyond his receivers, as he has the Broncos revitalized on both sides
of the ball. They sit atop the AFC
West at 6-3, and are in prime position to make a deep playoff push. No disrespect to Adrian Peterson, but
for my money, Manning is the MVP and the Comeback Player of the Year.
-Nicholas M.
@NMidboe
No comments:
Post a Comment