The one guy that voted Tom Brady as league MVP explains why
So, why did the man who had the greatest statistical season by a quarterback not deserve the award in Miller's eyes?
ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss caught up with Miller to discuss it.
"It’s no different in how I viewed Adrian Peterson a year ago and how he willed the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs with how he performed," Miller said. "Again, I have the highest respect for Peyton and I say it all the time on Sirius – he’s elevated the quarterback position like no other player. Gaudy numbers are great, and they are historical numbers [this year], which is why I voted him offensive player of the year. But I think Tom Brady and his play was truly spectacular this year."
Certainly, there is a very strong case for Tom Brady as MVP. I think Miller makes a good point when saying perhaps Manning's offensive numbers are more suited for the "Offensive Player of the Year". Too often it seems that the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards go hand in hand.
Peyton Manning was given a super team to start the year. A trio of pro bowl caliber receivers in Demayrius Thomas, Eric Decker and Wes Welker. On top of that, he had the skilled Julius Thomas emerge as a dangerous weapon at the tight end position and a fully healthy Knowshon Moreno for once.
It was the greatest offense of all time. Yet, they won just one more game than Tom Brady's Patriots. And what did he have on offense?
With Rob Gronkowski on the sideline for most of the year and Aaron Hernandez in jail, the only receiver he had returning from the year before was Julian Edelman, who was primarily a punt returner. Edelman ended up catching 105 passes on the season, his previous high was 21. Meanwhile, Danny Amendola, the prized free-agent acquisition struggled to stay on the field early and eventually saw his role reduced with the emergence of Edelman.
He also had two rookies, Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins, who struggled with drops and understanding of the offense. So many times we saw miscommunication between Brady and his target. At one point in the season, three of the Patriots receivers were in the top 6 in the league in dropped passes.
Couple that with a tumultuous running back group that either had Shane Vereen sitting out the first 10 weeks or so with a wrist injury, Stevan Ridley constantly fumbling the ball, or LeGarrette Blount being mostly useless until late in the season, Brady didn't have a lot to work with.
That's not even mentioning the fact that he spent most of the season without his All-Pro Right Tackle, Sebastian Vollmer. At one point, the offensive line was missing starters at left tackle, right tackle and left guard with Mankins moving over to LT to replace a concussed Nate Solder.
*exhale*
So, yeah, Brady didn't have a whole lot to work with on offense. And his defense was missing four starters by the end of the year.
Despite all that, the quarterback's team was able to still ride their armada of short white slot receivers to the AFC Championship game, where they were obviously over-matched in ideal temperatures. Despite all of the adversity, the injuries and the severe lack of talent or anything really resembling a receiving core, Brady's team won only one less game than Manning, and they were also in the Conference Championship game.
This is a team that, mind you, ESPN picked to go 9-7 before the season, and 1-7 on the road and out of the playoffs. Many joked in preseason that if the Pats made the AFC Championship Game or were one of the top seeds in the league with the offense they had, then Brady would be the obvious MVP.
All of that happened, and Brady wasn't.
Whether Brady deserved to be MVP over Manning this year can be debated as fervently as the Brady vs Manning legacy debates that have been beaten over our heads the past couple weeks. Manning received every other vote other than Miller's, so ultimately the debate is moot.
I am glad that Brady did get one vote though, because otherwise one of his most impressive seasons received little to no accolades.
