I watched Monday Night Football last night with Ali and her Dad. It was perhaps the first time in history that Ali has watched an entire MNF game. Why? because the Saints needed a win to clinch the division, and Drew Brees was going for Dan Marino's 27 year-old all-time season passing yardage record. Along with 76,000 Superdome fans, Brees has my vote for MVP.I turned on the radio briefly at lunch today and caught the Colin Cowherd fill-ins on ESPN, Mike Hill and Michael Smith (it takes two hosts to fill Cowherds big shoes). They were in the middle of a discussion on the MVP, and I was interested to hear their take on Aaron Rodgers vs. Brees. Low and behold, I was shocked to hear Mike Hill claiming that (wait for it) Cam Newton was the MVP!!!!!!
Are you f-ing kidding me? Is this some strange extension of the Rooney Rule? Look, Newton is a good QB, and he has exceeded ALL expectations this year. However, not only is he NOT an MVP candidate - he isn't even rookie of the year. Newton plays for a crappy Panthers team that is 6-9. He has no other weapons and every play goes like this: shotgun, read #1 receiver, read #2 receiver, nobody open, tuck and run. The Panthers are always behind, and he is always passing. So his stats to me are meaningless.
As Coach Willingham said it so famously, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! While I love Brees, I have no problem giving MVP to Rodgers. The Pack is 14-1 and they beat the Saints. However, if Newton wins rookie of the year over Andy Dalton, I will shit a football helmet. They have comparable passing stats, with Newton having an extra category with his rushing. The difference:
- Dalton has four 4th quarter comeback wins!
- Very few late mistakes, closing out other victories. (Damn Pittsburgh)
- Dalton has led the Bengals to a 9-6 record, one win away from a playoff spot.
Is there any other debate? There's fantasy football and reality football. Cam Newton may be rookie of the year in fantasy football, but Dalton is the ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.
2 comments:
Sorry Ted, I just can't agree with you. While Dalton has had a great year and could very well put his team in the playoffs, a lot of that credit goes to the defense.
I think you dismiss Cam Newton's rushing stats too quickly. The guy has almost 700 rushing yards and 14 rushing TDs. That makes him the 26th best RB in the NFL this year, and he has more rushing TDs than any RB not named LeSean McCoy. He also has almost 4,000 passing yards, and while he always has the ball in his hands, he's still thrown only 16 INTs this year.
I'm a Dalton fan, and he's had great success, but I just can't see any rookie, including Dalton, beating Newton for rookie of the year. However, I laugh at the thought of league MVP - that's got to be Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees.
Kev, you're too far into fantasy football! We'll have to agree to disagree.
Bottom line, when the game was on the line in the 4Q, Dalton repeatedly came back and held on for wins. When the games was on the line for Newton, he found a way to screw it up.
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