TGS weekly NFL MVP tracker

With five weeks remaining in the 2014 NFL regular season, here’s how we view the five most valuable players in football at this very moment…

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers

For the second time this year, Rodgers did the bare minimum in a victory over the Vikings. I’m not holding that against him, because he still threw two touchdown passes and didn’t make any mistakes despite failing to light up the scoreboard, but he certainly didn’t gain any separation from the pack in Week 12. But he’s still been on fire and leads the league with an 8.6 yards-per-attempt average as well as a 119.2 passer rating. Green Bay has won seven of eight and Rodgers has an unreal touchdown-to-interception ratio of 30-to-3.

2. Tony Romo, Cowboys

He’s hampered by a bad back, but Romo continues to carry the Cowboys. The 34-year-old is playing the best football of his career and is now 8-1 this year in games in which he has started and finished without interruption. He’s been the league’s best quarterback in the second half of one-score games and he has orchestrated more game-winning drives and fourth-quarter comebacks than any other pivot on this list. With a higher completion percentage, yards-per-attempt average and passer rating than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, Romo has become the clear runner-up as we close out November.

3. Peyton Manning, Broncos

Manning’s Broncos almost lost Sunday for the third time in four games. They survived, and Manning deserves love for completing 80 percent of his 35 touchdowns while tossing four touchdown strikes and no picks, but he and that high-powered offense haven’t been right lately. With some tough defenses on deck, I’m beginning to wonder if this isn’t Manning’s year for MVP No. 6.

4. Tom Brady, Patriots

That 7.2 yards-per-attempt average hurts him badly, as does a pedestrian 65.0 completion percentage. And Brady has also thrown more interceptions (four) in his last three games than Rodgers has all season (three). But the Patriots have won seven straight, including three in a row against probable playoff teams from Denver, Indianapolis and Detroit. If Brady can have a big day and slay Rodgers and the Packers at Lambeau in Week 13, all bets are off.

5. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

Big Ben ranks in the top five in almost every major category and has been helping carry a flawed Steelers team, which is why he remains in the race. Still, considering some of the dog games he’s had this season, it would take an incredible final five games for the 32-year-old to jump ahead of each of the four guys leading this list.

No longer in contention: DeMarco Murray has fallen too far off of record pace and is being out-shined by Romo…J.J. Watt hasn’t been dominant enough to become the first defensive player in nearly three decades to win the award, at least not with this many quarterbacks putting up epic numbers…Andrew Luck and Philip Rivers can’t catch up to those five quarterbacks now.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

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