Tom Brady should win the NFL MVP award and there should be no debate about it. The 40-year-old quarterback put up great numbers this year and led his team to a 13-3 record on the season. He led the league in passing with 4,577 yards and threw for 32 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions. No quarterback over the age of 40 has ever thrown over 30 touchdowns and more than 4,000 yards in a season and Brady did both. After losing Julian Edelman to a torn ACL in the preseason, many expected Brady’s number to decrease but Brady tore it up in the first 8 weeks of the season and he looked like he was playing the best football of his career. Then he continued to excel down the stretch of the season and lead his team to a first round bye in the playoffs and home field advantage throughout.

Over in Philadelphia, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was having just as good a season, if not better. But Wentz tore his ACL in week 14 and couldn’t continue his very successful second year in the league. He threw 33 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions with 3,296 yards and he played three fewer games than Brady. You can argue that Wentz could be the MVP, but he didn’t finish the season. If Wentz had continued to play the rest of the season, he probably would have won the MVP. But since he didn’t, I don’t think he will win.

The only other MVP candidate in my opinion is Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley. In his third season, he put up monster numbers out of the backfield for an explosive Rams offense. He had 13 rushing touchdowns along with 6 receiving, and he ran for over 1,300 yards and 788 receiving yards. These are crazy numbers out of a running back and Gurley deserves to be in the discussion for MVP. He led the Rams to a winning record for the first time since 2003. Gurley will be in the conversation for MVP, but ultimately it’s really hard for a running back to win the award. Since 2000, only five running backs have won the award and the others were all quarterbacks.

After looking at all three candidates, Brady’s numbers and his impact on his team make him first in line for MVP. The award stands for Most Valuable Player and Brady is just that. Although Brady doesn’t need the award,  I’m sure he will gladly add it to his collection. More important to him, though, is the Lombardi Trophy given out on February 4th in Minnesota.