Why Tom Brady is the 2016 NFL MVP

Despite missing the first four games of the season after accepting Roger Goodell's punishment, Tom Brady is showing why he is the "Greatest Of All Time." Since he returned from his suspension he's carried the Patriots to their 14th AFC East Division Title, ninth first round post-season bye and, potentially, locking up home field advantage for the sixth time.

The Patriots are 10-1 since Brady returned from serving his time with the lone loss coming against the NFC's Seattle Seahawks in mid-November. And that loss can be chalked up to a "distraction" loss which Belichick hates more than press conferences. Regardless, of that game, Brady has been putting up some serious MVP-caliber numbers - throwing 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions while nearly averaging a first down per completion (8.2 yards). He has posted an outstanding 110.7 quarterback rating - second to only Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan's 115.5, who is also in contention for the MVP.

However, the national football media and fans outside of the six states of New England, are reluctant to name Brady as the MVP especially Brady- and Patriot-hater, Max Kellerman. Did Brady kill Max's dog or steal his high school girlfriend? The hatred Kellerman has for Brady is off the charts and so wildly off-based that he should be locked up in an institution for the clinically insane. Stephen A. Smith, who never appeared as an ESPN personality to support the Patriots, thwarted Kellerman's re-marks in the video to the left with these little things called facts. It's amazing how facts can change the perception of a conversation. Mindblowing!

Now some of the reasons from the ESPN pundits are valid. The most coming reason for not awarding Brady the MVP is, simply, he only played a quarter of the season and they want to be fair to those players who played in all 16 games. That's a fair statement. No argument here.

Another valid reason is the Patriots went 3-1 in Brady's absence. They didn't go 0-4 - heck they didn't even go 2-2 which is what many people outside New England expected them to do. They went 3-1 with their back-up quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo (aka #MyJimmy, for you Julie) and back-up to the back-up, rookie Jacoby Brissett. And their only loss was to the Buffalo Bills where they started the rookie QB from NC State, who was informed he was started only HOURS before game-time.

But wait a minute. Pump the breaks. Let's go back to those first four weeks of the season Remember everything that was really going on. It simply wasn't the Patriots going 3-1 without Tom Brady.

Hop in the time machine and turn the dial to September 12th - the day after Patriots defeated the Arizona Cardinals, on the road, 23-21 behind Garoppolo. At the beginning of the season the Cardinals were thought to be contenders this season so the Patriots, going in without Brady were underdogs. No one thought they would win so it was as shock. Times were good in Patriot Place. But it wouldn't last.

The following week, even though the Pats beat the Dolphins to improve to 2-0, But back the truck up, Garoppolo also left the game at the end of the first half after falling on his throwing shoulder and thrust-ed the third-string Brissett into his first pro game. For the first time in 16 years the Patriots had a quarterback issue. Garoppolo was not going to be healthy enough to play in the Patriots Thursday night game against the Texans so Brissett got the nod. But the story is far from over.

In his first pro-start, Brissett injured his thumb against the Texans. What? The third-string quarterback is now injured. These type of things that happen to the Browns and Rams but not to the Patriots. Remember folks, people were really talking about bringing in another quarterback and even starting Julian Edelman - who hasn't played quarterback since his days at Kent State eight years ago.

These things truly don't happen to the Patriots and fans outside of New England were smiling. Finally, New England is dealing with the problems we all have - quarterbacks getting hurt and not staying healthy. Aside from the 2008 season, Brady's been lucky to have avoided an injury that would've kept him off the playing field for an extended period of time unlike some of his contemporaries . (Must be that avocado ice cream from his personal chef Allen Campbell.)

But unlike other teams that deal with problems at the quarterback position, the Patriots were going to get their guy back. Brady was going to come back. And that meant more to the team than going 3-1 in his absence.

Brady is a smart quarterback. He doesn't make bad decisions by trying to throw to receivers in tight coverage. He throws the ball where only his receiver can catch it and if they don't catch it's incomplete or out-of-bounds. Additionally, in a time where more quarterbacks are mobile and are using their legs to get out of jams, Brady isn't afraid to take a sack instead of making a dumb decision, risking an interception by throwing downfield when no receiver is open. On the extremely rare occasion, he does scramble out of the pocket, he knows how to fall so he doesn't injure his throwing shoulder. So Brady being slower than molasses in January, works out well for the Patriots.

It's not just the numbers he puts up it's his ability to stay on the field week-in and week-out. It's his reliability that the Patriots can depend on him every day in practice and every Sunday that makes him the MVP. It's not the numbers. It's the fact that he is there.

That's why Tom Brady is your 2016 NFL MVP. Sorry, Roger!