National Football League

Tom Brady over Aaron Rodgers for MVP, Bruce Arians says

Published Jan. 11, 2022 7:25 p.m. ET

Bruce Arians isn't your typical NFL head coach.

His focus isn't solely on Tampa Bay's Sunday playoff tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, he had another topic to discuss on Monday: NFL MVP.

"I think if [Tom Brady] doesn't get [MVP], it's a travesty," the Buccaneers head coach said in a press conference. "Most completions ever, 5,000 yards, touchdowns — the whole nine yards. To me, it's not even a close race."

Brady's case, per usual, is certainly reputable.

During his historic regular season, TB12 threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns at a 67.4% completion rate. He led the league in all categories while setting an all-time high in completions (breaking Drew Brees' previous record of 471). He also became the third player since 1991 to lead the NFL in completions, pass attempts, yards and TDs, joining Brees (2008 AP Offensive Player of the Year) and Peyton Manning (2013 MVP).

The showing has been nothing short of spectacular for the timeless wonder, who is bound to rake in a few extra votes on the strength of his age (44) alone.

But Brady has had some worthy contenders step into the ring, with one cheesehead favorite — Mr. Aaron Rodgers — leading the charge.

The Packers' QB followed up his MVP campaign of 2020 by throwing for 4,115 yards and 37 TDs to just four interceptions, and doing it all at a 68.9% completion clip. He led the NFL in both passer rating (111.9) and TD-INT ratio (9.25) for the second straight season, and has 20 TDs and no picks since Week 10.

And though he might never surpass Brady in lore, Rodgers' own injury-riddled season has been noteworthy as well.

He has dealt with a nagging toe ailment that caused him to miss Week 9. He has also missed out on a fully-equipped receiving corps through most of the season.

For those reasons, he sits atop Shannon Sharpe's list heading into the postseason.

"I would be shocked if he doesn't win," Sharpe said Tuesday morning on "Undisputed."

"Tom has had an incredible season. Somebody has to win the award, and because someone has to win, that doesn't mean that the others didn't play well. I believe that what Aaron Rodgers has done with less than what Tom Brady has had [should win him MVP.] I believe Brady's offensive line is better, his receiving corps as a whole is better. I don't believe he has one receiver that's better than Davante Adams, but add up the totality."

Still, Skip Bayless maintained that the race was Brady's to lose, and refused to be convinced otherwise.

"This race shouldn't even be close," Bayless said.

"Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. did more with less than Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers. … Brady lifted a lot of mediocrity and a lot of missed games. Antonio Brown was gone for 10 games. Gronk was gone for five. Obviously, Godwin missed the last three. Scotty Miller, who was Brady's secret weapon last year, missed basically the whole year. He's made so many clutch throws."

The one thing that's certain is that Brady and Rodgers are the front-runners to walk away with the hardware, while Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor, Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes II and Cincinnati's Joe Burrow are bound to garner votes as well.

The winner will be announced Thursday, Feb. 10 during NFL Honors, three days before Super Bowl LVI.