Eleven weeks into the 2014 NFL regular season, here’s how we view the eight most valuable players in football at this very moment…
1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers — Rodgers leapfrogs Tom Brady and Peyton Manning after another dominant performance in a victory over the Eagles. With a 120.1 passer rating, he now leads the NFL by a margin of nearly 13 points. And dating back to Week 4, he’s got 23 touchdowns, two picks and a rating of 132.2.
2. Tom Brady, Patriots — He threw a pair of interceptions but the Patriots still manhandled a division leader in a victory over Indianapolis. Following a four-game hot streak that rivaled any given month-long stretch of his career, he’s come back to earth a tad. But that 24-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio is still tough to deny.
3. Peyton Manning, Broncos — Manning has six interceptions in his last three games. He had just six in his previous 12 before this rut, and the Broncos have lost twice in the process, beating only the winless Raiders. He still leads the league with 30 touchdown passes and has a higher rating and completion percentage than Brady, but he’s slipping. Right now, it’s Rodgers, and then it’s Brady and Manning.
4. Tony Romo, Cowboys — But you can’t count Romo out. He’s actually got a better passer rating and a higher completion percentage and yards-per-attempt average than both Brady and Manning, and the Cowboys are in first place coming off the bye.
5. J.J. Watt, Texans — Watt stays ahead of Murray in the battle for positioning between our two token non-quarterbacks, thanks to another wicked performance in which he had a sack, a forced fumble, six pressures, three tackles and four stops in a victory over the Browns.
6. DeMarco Murray, Cowboys — Jumps Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger during the bye week. He still leads the league in rushing by nearly 300 yards and is on pace for 1,972, which would be the eighth-highest mark in NFL history.
7. Andrew Luck, Colts — A so-so performance in a loss to the Patriots (his second big conference loss in three weeks) has Luck off the pace to break the single-season passing yardage record. With a completion percentage of “just” 63.2 and a rating south of 100, he’s about to fall out of contention.
8. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers — Stays alive with a victorious performance in prime time, but that was still too close for comfort against a bad Titans team. With just two touchdowns, three interceptions and a rating of 81.5 the last two weeks, he’d need a miracle to get back into the MVP conversation now.
