Patriots Blog: MVP Race Over
FOXBORO (CBS) - The race for MVP of the NFL this season has ended.
The polls have closed and Tom Brady is going to be the winner.
Tom sort of sealed the deal on Tuesday night and he didn't even play.
His only real competition was Michael Vick and the Eagles quarterback took a beating in his team's loss to the Vikings. Brady will become a 2-time winner.
He will join Joe Montana and Steve Young as 2-time winners. Peyton Manning has won the award 4 times. Brett Favre, Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown are 3-time winners.
If you are keeping track at home, quarterbacks have won the award 35 times in 55 chances.
Running backs have won 17 times. Alan Page (defensive lineman), Lawrence Taylor (linebacker) and Mark Moseley (kicker) are the only players from other positions to win the award.
Here's my list of this year's top ten MVP candidates:
WALK THROUGH WEDNESDAY
Bill Belichick held his usual Wednesday press conference and he was in a more relaxed mood.
He did say the team was behind in preparation for the Miami Dolphins but the panic that usually surrounds some of his thoughts was not there.
The Pats are in a good position right now and you just get the feeling that he feels the same way. Here are some of the items that he touched on:
LIGHT WALK THROUGH
Unlike the normal Wednesday schedule, when they would be outside and working at a medium to full-speed pace, the Patriots will only hold a walk through practice inside the Dana Farber Field House. Belichick described it as a longer-than-normal walk through, which is a result of getting back to town a bit late on Monday because of weather.
THOUGHTS ON MIAMI
Although the Patriots have locked up the No. 1 seed heading into Sunday's game against the visiting Dolphins, Belichick still approached his news conference the way he always does, breaking down the strengths of the opposition.
"Miami looks like they usually do -- tough on defense, tough team to run against, they are right at the top of the league in everything statistically on defense. The usual complement of players on offense -- good running backs, good tight end, good receivers, a big, strong offensive line. You have to be able to stop the run against these guys. They're playing well in the punt return game with [Davone] Bess, as usual, and [Nolan] Carroll on kickoffs. They're dangerous there. We've had some real good battles with these guys over the last couple of years. It will be tough, and we have to get ready to get it turned around here and get ready for a division game. We haven't played them for a while now, so we have to re-familiarize ourselves with the Dolphins."
BILL LOVES LOGAN
WELCOME BACK BUDDY
The Pats have made a roster move. Andover, Mass. native and former Brown wide receiver Buddy Farnham, has been signed to the practice squad. Buddy was with the team in training camp. He fills the spot created by the Pats when they moved Tony Carter to the active roster on Dec. 18.
Here is the ever-changing practice squad:
OL Thomas Austin
TE Carson Butler
QB Jonathan Crompton
WR Buddy Farnham
OT Steve Maneri
CB Thad Turner
S Ross Ventrone
DL Lorenzo Washington
MAYO'S TACKLES
Patriots Pro Bowl linebacker Jerod Mayo is approaching big number as far as tackles go. He is the first Patriot to record 3 consecutive 100 tackling seasons since Lawyer Milloy did so in the late 1990's.
Right now he has 186 tackles and if he gets 14 more on Sunday against the Dolphins, he will be the third Patriot player to reach that 200 tackle mark. Steve Nelson (207 in 1984) and Clayton Weishuhn (229 1983).
Mayo leads the league in tackles and he has 98 more tackles than anybody else on this team. Patrick Chung is closest with 88.
