"All Day" All the Way

   ALL DAY ALL THE WAY

                The NFL season is nearing an end which means the talk for MVP starts up. The early favorites seem to be the consistent measure of perfection, Tom Brady, and the rejuvenated superstar, Peyton Manning. Manning has 30 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, and 3,812 passing yards though 13 games, while Brady has 25 touchdowns, only 4 interceptions, and 3,537 through 12 games. Both well deserving I might add but in my eyes the MVP should be Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Petersen. He is the lead candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year Award but I don't think that's good enough. He is the leagues leading rusher with 1,446 yards with 4 games left to play.

               A big factor in the Brady/Manning talk is not only their stats but they're on contending teams. While Minnesota has had nobody to rely on besides Adrian Petersen after the injury to All-Purpose stud Percy Harvin back in week 9. For those who make the valid argument about having the better record, i like to make the argument about better supporting cast which of the three Petersen falls short by a mile. Petersen is having an outstanding season posting 1,446 rushing yards, 8 touchdowns, 17 rushes of 20 yards or more, and 5 rushes of 40 yards or more. He has also posted career highs with 6.2 yards per carry and 120.5 yards per game. Posting these types of numbers is a milestone in itself but regarding the circumstances that Petersen dealt with it has been seen as a blessing. Petersen tore both his ACL and MCL last year on Christmas Eve. Most doctors did not think he would be available to suit up on opening day. But to no avail Petersen suited up and scored a touchdown in Minnesota's 26-23 win over Jacksonville.
 
            With 4 games remaining on their schedule Petersen has potential to break the 2000 yard mark which has only been done 6 times in the history of the NFL and hasn't been seen since 2009 when Titan's RB Chris Johnson did it. However, in the year when Chris Johnson broke the 2K yard mark he lost the MVP to Peyton Manning. In the next 4 games he will face 3 defenses which rank in the Top 15 in the NFL including the Packers who he just ran for over 200 yards against. If Petersen can manage to break 2000 yards I think he should be a shoo in to win the MVP award.  With the league transitioning from the era of ground and pound to the new era of pass heavy the chances we will see a rusher eclipse the 2000 yard mark will be more scarce then it has been in the past. In my opinion that is too big of an accomplishment to not be awarded with the MVP award.

      -ACE