Manning, McNair TIE for NFL MVP!

ESPN online ^ | 1/2/04

[TheBigB]

Star quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Steve McNair reached the individual pinnacle of the NFL on Friday when they shared The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award.

In just the third tie since the award began in 1957, the premier passers each received 16 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL.

[Lost Highway]

Jamal Lewis got shafted. No more valuable player to his team exists.

[smiley]

Great news for Peyton!....now on to the playoffs!!

[Johnny_Cipher]

Look for Dat Nguyen of the Dallas Cowboys to get serious consideration for this award next year. Although I'm a Patriots fan, the guy is a beast on defense.

[Akira]

QBs will always be favored in an MVP award (even To mBrady finished ahead of Lewis). Lewis won offensive player of the year, I guess that's his consolation prize.

We'll see if Lewis or McNair is more valuable tomorrow when it really counts.

[LetsRok]

The Ravens are a mediocre team with or without Jamal Lewis. His success is because of his offensive line. The Steelers were bad this year because they had no running game due to an injured offensive line.

[Dog Gone]

Good for them. They are both great quarterbacks.

[Lost Highway]

We'll see if Lewis or McNair is more valuable tomorrow when it really counts.

I'm a Titans fan so I'll be rooting for Steve but if Steve goes out the Titans still can win. If Jamal Lewis goes down the Ravens are done.

[TheBigB]

Jamal had a teriffic year and he should've finished ahead of Brady. That said, as a homer, I'll take Air McNair. :)

Tennessee should be proud today...of both Peyton AND Steve!

[Blue Screen of Death]

Look for Dat Nguyen of the Dallas Cowboys to get serious consideration for this award next year. Although I'm a Patriots fan, the guy is a beast on defense.

His family runs a great restaurant down along the gulf coast of Texas near Rockport. It is called the "Hu Dat" and they specialize in Cajun-Vietnameese food.

[smith288]

McNabb didnt win?!?!

[looscnnn]

What no McNabb? I frosted a few a$$es over a discussion that McNabb was over rated on a thread about Limbaugh doing commentary on the Super Bowl.

[Lost Highway]

Cajun-Vietnameese food

Wow, you learn something new every day.

[Johnny_Cipher]

"Hu Dat" - ROFL! I didn't know that - I'll have to look them up next time I'm down that way.

[Teacher317]

It is the NFL's MVP, not the Baltimore Ravens MVP. Who was most valuable for the entire league? This is probably the best end result. Peyton's methodical nature and McNair's toughness, both topping the NFL in passer rating, both on 12-4 teams, both worthy of the award.

[Lost Highway]

It is the NFL's MVP, not the Baltimore Ravens MVP.

Sure but to what is each player valuable? The entire league? Maybe but only in selling tickets. They are valuable to their individual teams in terms of their playing ability. In my observation Jamal Lewis is more valuable to his team than any other player is to their respective teams in the entire league.

[paul in cape]

Tom Brady was robbed! Peyton is a great stats QB, much like Bledsoe, but chokes in big games. Great coaching can gameplan against great players. As good as he is, Manning, currently 0-4 in playoffs, will be 0-5 after this weekend.

McNair is a very good QB, but if you keep him in the box, becomes average.

Tom Brady, however, with no running game, no star recievers, is the second coming of Joe Montana (sorry, Chad P., I knew Joe Montana, and you're no Joe Montana.)...cool under pressure, 7-0 in overtime, 14-2 this year. The Pats would be nowhere without him, and their great defense.

This year, no contest.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Who do you think will get coach of the year? My money is on either Parcells (if the Cowboys can win a playoff game or two, then it's a guaranteed win for Parcells) or Marvin Lewis in Cincy.

[TheBigB]

I'd bet on Parcells. Marvin Lewis did a great job, but the Cowboys making the playoffs should weigh for BP.

[SamAdams76]

I basically agree. There is only one stat that matters to Tom Brady, he even says it himself, and that is his team's win/loss record.

Tom Brady has the best win/loss record of all current QBs currently. I believe it is 34-17 at this point (including playoffs) for a winning percentage of .667. That's a pretty incredible winning percentage for the NFL and you'd be hard pressed to find a QB that comes close. And consider that Brady compiled this record coming off the bench (after Bledsoe was hurt). Brady wasn't drafted to be a starting QB, he was drafted by the Patriots to be Bledsoe's backup. If Bledsoe was never hurt that day, he'd still be sitting on the bench (and the Patriots season would surely be over).

Brady doesn't put up big numbers because he doesn't need to. His team wins so often that he is often in a position of protecting the ball and running out the clock - not a situation conducive to posting big stats. But when it comes time to sling the ball around, Brady can sling it with the best of them.

[ThinkingMan]

"Great news for Peyton!....now on to the playoffs!!"


And decemation by the Broncos!

[danneskjold]

Oh, the travesty...co-winners...how unfair...we need a playoff system...

[SamAdams76]

I stand corrected. Brady's win/loss record (including playoffs) is actually 36-13 for a phenomenal winning percentage of .735.

In 2001, he took over in game three of the season and let the Pats to a 10-4 record over the rest of the season. They then won three straight in the playoffs including the Super Bowl. So here is how it breaks down:

2001 - 13-4 (including 3-0 playoffs)
2002 - 9-7 (missed playoffs)
2003 - 14-2 (playoffs yet to come)

If the Pats are able to win the Super Bowl again this year, Brady's win/loss record will stand at 39-13 (.750), which may well be the best winning percentage over three seasons in quite a while. I don't even know if Joe Montana had a three-year period that good.

[Skooz]

Which of them scored 27 rushing touchdowns, breaking the all-time NFL records for
a) rushing touchdowns; and
b)total touchdowns, in a season?

Priest Holmes is, without question, the most valuable player in the NFL. It ain't even close.

[StatesEnemy]

Peyton will once again, crash and burn - maybe even in the 1st round against Denver.

[TheBigB]

You're right. It wasn't close at all. Holmes only got 3 votes. Deal with it.

[TheBigB]

The NFL's top rated passer is in no way "average" in the box.

[StatesEnemy]

Which 1st round team has the best chance of going to Gillette stadium and not leaving scalped?

None of 'em, that's who.

They might lose the Superbowl... but folks, the Pats are taking the AFC crown.

[Skooz]

Romonowski eating Priest's dust.

[secret garden]

They ignore Jeff Fisher every year.

[Skooz]

Care to name any single season NFL records broken (or even approached) by either of them this year?

Don't bother. They didn't.

Like I said: Not even close.

[TheBigB]

Hell, Romanowski was probably doped-up during the game. ;)

In all seriousness, Holmes might have been the favorite if the vote had been taken when the Chiefs were 9-0. Losing 3 of the last 7 games probably hurt him.

[TheBigB]

[Manning] has thrown 25 or more TD passes in each of the past six seasons -- the only player to accomplish the feat.

Not even close. Three votes. 1-2-3. Only three more than me, and I'm not even in the NFL.

[Skooz]

Dozens of QBs have thrown for 25 TDs. Happens every year. MVP doesn't count for previous years' accomplishments, as gawdy as they may be. Priest has run for 61 TDs the last three years. No one has ever done that before. It didn't help him get votes this year.

But, you may have a point. Without Holmes, the Chiefs are still a pretty good team. Without Manning, Indy is mediocre and without McNair, Tennessee is a 7-9 team.

[TheBigB]

Well, maybe. There were only two games this year where McNair didn't play at all, and TN won both of them. So go figure. :)

[Recovering_Democrat]

aw, damn. You mean McNabb didn't get it?

[Skooz]

I'm surprised Ahman Green didn't get more consideration. Look at these numbers:

1883 Yards Rushing
5.3 Yards per carry
15 TDs

A banner for any running back.

[Skooz]

Green also caught 50 passes and scored 5 receiving TDs.

[tdadams]

if Steve [McNair] goes out the Titans still can win. If Jamal Lewis goes down the Ravens are done.

Very well said.

[KC_Conspirator]

As a fellow Chiefs fan, I still think that without Priest that team is an average team, although we have seen this season that our backups are improving and can even make big plays and put points on the board. Last year it was clear Mike Cloud couldnt do that, even with a Pro Bowl o-line.

However, McNair is very valuable to the Titans and he has very average recievers, who look like All Pros with him as QB. He also plays hurt every week.

[tdadams]

Manning and McNair make it three straight years a quarterback has been selected most valuable player. Oakland's Rich Gannon won last year and Kurt Warner was the 2001 MVP.

Hmm, that's not so encouraging. Let's hope this isn't the "Kiss of Death" award.

[lepton]

I'd bet on Parcells. Marvin Lewis did a great job, but the Cowboys making the playoffs should weigh for BP.

The Bengals dying at the end of the season hurts his chances - especially with a loss to a mediocre team.

[lepton]

I don't even know if Joe Montana had a three-year period that good.

It seems to me that this season had an abnormally large number of teams with more than 11 wins - though I do recall one year that Seattle had a 12-4 season and missed the playoffs.

[Akira]

I'm a Titans fan so I'll be rooting for Steve but if Steve goes out the Titans still can win. If Jamal Lewis goes down the Ravens are done.

I'm a Titans fan also, a holdover from growing up in Houston and rooting for the Oilers. Fisher, McNair and George are just too likable not to follow, despite Bud Adams.

Having lived in Dallas for 10 years now, I cannot believe what the Ravens are doing with Anthony Wright at QB. I know he doesn't have to do much with Lewis at RB, but damn. However, the Ravens D is still good enough to win without much of an offense.

Go Titans.