NFL

2017 NFL MVP Race: The 5 Players People Should Be Discussing

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Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots

Despite one of the worst games of Tom Brady’s career on Monday night -- his 5.42 yards per attempt against the Miami Dolphins was the 32nd-lowest for a regular season game in his career that spans 250 regular season games -- the New England Patriots' quarterback still has some of the best numbers at the position and is the odds-on favorite to take home the award, according to OddShark.

However, the Monday night letdown dropped him from the top of the list in yards per attempt -- he’s now fourth among qualified passers at 8.0 -- but he still leads in Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (ANY/A), which accounts for touchdowns, interceptions, and sacks, at 7.78.

Brady is also the leader in both Passing NEP and Total NEP, which factors in rushing where he provides a negative value. He also leads in the efficiency categories, atop quarterbacks in Passing NEP per drop back and Total NEP per play. He’s also fourth in Success Rate, which measures the percentage of plays that positively impact NEP.

Early in the season Brady was single-handedly keeping the Patriots in games when the defense was among the league’s worst, such as his game-winning drive against the Houston Texans in Week 2. The defense has improved throughout the year, but Brady’s play and production have remained at a high level.

What’s working against Brady, at least narratively, is that he’s the old, default choice, and voters could be looking to move on to a new thing. That’s not the way awards should be voted on, but it does happen. He also just had his worst game of the season on a nationally televised game in Week 14 when people are starting to pay attention to awards.

If Brady had the same game at 1:00 p.m. in Week 3, it would barely be a blip on his resumé at this point in the MVP race, and now, his case could come down to his performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15.