NFL MVP Power Rankings: Aaron Rodgers Running Away As Favorite To Win Award

Aaron Rodgers is playing the best football of his career, and that’s saying something.

Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers kept rolling against the lowly Atlanta Falcons, as Rodgers and the Green Bay offense carved up one of the NFL’s worst defenses.

It was a milestone night, of sorts, for Rodgers. He made his 100th career start. To put how good he’s been in his career, we present you with this.

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Insane.

Oh, also this.

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He didn’t do either of those things Monday night, and he remains at No. 1 on our NFL MVP rankings. Here’s the rest of the list.

1. Aaron Rodgers, Quarterback, Green Bay Packers (Last week: 1) — They’re playing for second place at this point.

Monday night’s performance might be the best way to sum up how good and how valuable Rodgers can be. The Packers’ defense looked again like a sieve, and they needed just about each and every one of the 43 points they scored. When the Packers needed a play, Rodgers was there. The 60-yard touchdown strike to Jordy Nelson all but iced the game. There also was his scrambling play on third-and-10 right before halftime in which he stepped around and through the rush before firing a laser to Nelson in the back of the end zone.

Rodgers made big plays at critical times all night Monday. That’s the definition of valuable.

Week 14 stats: 24-of-36 passing for 327 yards and three TDs with no INTs in 43-37 win over Falcons
Season stats: 10-3 record, 35 TD passes, three INTs, 8.8 yards per attempt, 66.3 percent completion percentage

2. J.J. Watt, Defensive end, Houston Texans (Last week: 2) — If there were no such thing as Aaron Rodgers, this award would be Watt’s. He just seems to do something game-changing every week. This week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was a menace in the backfield with three sacks. It’s insane that three sacks would become just a ho-hum, performance but it has for Watt. The Texans improbably are in the playoff race, and no one’s more responsible for that than Watt.

Week 14 stats: three sacks, four tackles
Season stats: 14.5 sacks, one INT (for TD), five fumble recoveries (one for TD), three receiving TDs

3. Tom Brady, Quarterback, New England Patriots (Last week: 3) — Don’t overlook what Brady and the Patriots did Sunday night in San Diego. They were playing the second of back-to-back road games with them staying in San Diego for the week in between. There wasn’t much of a letdown, though, as they got a big win over the Bolts. Brady was good — for the most part — especially on the two touchdowns. However, he did have one undeniably ugly interception at the end of the first half, and the New England offense sputtered for just about the entire third quarter.

Week 14 stats: 28-of-44 passing for 317 yards and two TDs with one INT in 23-14 win over Chargers
Season stats: 10-3 record, 30 TD passes, seven INTs, 7.2 yards per attempt, 64.7 percent completion percentage

4. DeMarco Murray, Running back, Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 5) — If a player has a monster game against the Bears on a Thursday night, does anybody hear it? Murray has had an incredible season, so it should say a lot that his 179 yards Thursday were a season-high. But for whatever reason, we can’t justify putting Murray any higher on the list. He’ll also fall a spot or two in the coming weeks if the Cowboys fall apart.

Week 14 stats: 32 carries for 179 yards and one TD in 41-28 win over Bears
Season stats: 320 carries for 1,606 yards (5.0 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns

5. Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Denver Broncos (Last week: 4) — Manning leads the league with 36 touchdown passes and the Broncos are 10-3. But, like, really it doesn’t feel like you’d stop and say “That’s the most valuable player in the league,” does it? He also takes a hit this week after a mediocre performance Sunday against the Bills. Sure, he completed 85 percent of his passes, but two of his three missed connections were interceptions. In Denver, they’re already talking about Father Time chasing down Manning.

Week 14 stats: 17-of-20 passing for 173 yards and no TDs and two INTs in 24-17 win over the Bills.
Season stats: 10-3 record, 36 TD passes, 11 INTs, 7.9 yards per attempt, 66.9 percent completion percentage

6. Rob Gronkowski, Tight end, New England Patriots (Last week: 6) — The highlight of this week in Gronk was his practice jersey, but it was yet another productive evening for the NFL’s biggest matchup nightmare.

Week 14 stats: eight receptions for 87 yards and one TD in 23-14 win over Chargers
Season stats: 73 receptions for 997 yards and 10 TD receptions