I've been saying (somewhat facetiously) all season that Peyton Manning deserved consideration for the NFL MVP award this season. Evidently I'm not the only one. In the first issue of the new NFL Magazine, they make the case for Peyton to be named MVP for the fifth time. He's obviously not going to win. Aaron Rodgers is going to. But the "debate" about Peyton is an interesting one.
Now, if you've ever met me, you know that I'm a little biased about this subject. I have a pretty serious man crush on Peyton Manning. I'm very unapologetic about this fact. As a result, I've become a Colts fan. Needless to say, this season has been pretty painful.
Peyton's first 13 years in the NFL were nothing short of extraordinary. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 Draft, he never missed a start until this season. He turned the Colts, a former laughingstock, into one of the best teams in the NFL. They won at least 12 games for seven straight seasons (2003-09) and made the playoffs every year from 2002-10. Indy won Super Bowl XLI and went back to the Super Bowl three years later, losing to New Orleans. The future Hall of Famer playing quarterback was the main reason for this success. Everyone knows this.
But, believe it or not, his value has been on display more this year than ever before. With Peyton, the Colts would be the Colts, and they'd probably be challenging the Texans for the lead in the AFC South. Without him, they haven't won a game. In fact, they're a complete joke. They resemble the ridiculously bad teams that wore the same uniforms in the early 90s. The Colts have shuffled through three different quarterbacks, and each one looks more clueless than the last. The offense, which Peyton guides with such precision, is completely lost and ridiculously inept. And the bend-but-don't break defense that's designed to just make sure the other team doesn't score as many points as the Colts do is equally as horrible. Indianapolis entered the year dreaming of playing in a Super Bowl at home. Instead, they're three games away from becoming the second 0-16 team in NFL history.
There are a lot of reasons why everything has hit the fan all at once in Indianapolis this season. Just like there are a lot of people to blame. For starters, Peyton's not the only injured Colt. The lockout didn't help, either. Neither did the fact that the Colts had no backup plan until the lockout was settled, and only then had an "Oh crap!" moment and hastily signed the newly unretired Kerry Collins "just in case." Then there's the sheer inevitability that their incredible run had to end sometime. But this team shouldn't be this bad. Who knows? Maybe they're still only 5-8 under Peyton. But they're definitely not winless.
And that's exactly why the Peyton for MVP debate has some merit. Again, he's not going to win, and I don't think he should. That honor should be reserved for somebody who puts up tremendous numbers while helping his team on the field. But let's not forget what MVP stands for. Most Valuable Player. Nobody can argue that this season isn't one in which Peyton Manning's value to the Indianapolis Colts has been most evident.
The entire team is built around him. He calls the plays. He runs the offense. He makes things happen. He figures out ways to win when it seems like there aren't any there. Even if the Colts are down 14 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, you don't have any doubt Peyton will find some way to win. Last year when they looked completely out of it with a month left, the Colts managed to win the division again. Even the defense is built around him. Their job is to keep the offense off the field long enough to get some rest and make sure the other team doesn't score more than Peyton does. Without him on the field, everything has fallen apart. It's pretty clear to me that he's the most valuable player on that roster.
Of course, the Patriots still went 11-5 the year Tom Brady got hurt on the first play of the season. But that just proves my point even further. New England was still good without Brady. The Colts without Peyton Manning are an absolute disaster. There's no doubt in my mind that he comes back healthy next year and the Colts are the Colts again. Of course, there's no way of knowing that, so it can't be used as a criterion for judging someone this year. But if I'm right, it'll serve as further proof that Peyton's value to his team is unrivaled in the NFL.
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I've made the argument that an injured player deserves some consideration for MVP simply because of how bad his team is without him. I said the same thing about Barry Bonds in 2005. He only played in 13 games that season, as the Giants finished 75-87, seven games behind the first-place Padres. San Francisco went to the World Series in 2002, won the division in 2003 and finished 91-71 as Bonds won MVP honors in 2004. They were a one-man team at the time. It's pretty clear that they missed him pretty badly in 2005. The Giants weren't good in 2006 or 2007, either, but there was no way to foresee that at the time. That's part of my point.
A star player's worth isn't only judged in how much he contributes to his team's success. Perhaps even more so, his value is evident when they struggle because he physically CAN'T do anything about it. It's an interesting debate that's definitely worth at least talking about.
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