NFL MVP: Brees or LT?

The debate has been simmering for a couple weeks now, since Week 14 when LaDainian Tomlinson set the single-season touchdown record and Drew Brees orchestrated a thorough and ruthless demolition of the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national audience. The debate is fierce, and whichever of the two former Charger teammates wins (and this is only a two-horse race) will be well-deserving of NFL MVP. But who is more deserving?

The case for Tomlinson:
- He has always been an elite runner, but he has taken his game to an other-worldly level this year. After averaging 3.9 and 4.3 yds/carry in the last two seasons respectively, Tomlinson has bumped the figure up to a hefty 5.3 yds/carry this season. And of course the touchdowns - there was a reason he was in every fantasy draft's top 3 this year, but even the most knowing experts wouldn't have expected 31 touchdowns, a league record by 3, with a game still to play.

- Tomlinson has gotten better as the year has gone along. After starting the season well, he became downright dominant in November, when the Chargers took control of the AFC West after the struggles of the Broncos. His yards per carry average and touchdown tally spiked in that month, at 6.2 yds/carry and 12 TDs respectively.

- His imposing presence has helped to ease the burden on first-time starter at QB, Philip Rivers, who blossomed into a Pro Bowl selection. The loss of Brees to free agency didn't hurt as much as it might have because there remained a consistent source of offense in Tomlinson.

- LT will be productive anytime and anywhere. He is a model of high-level consistency, the likes of which the NFL has rarely seen. He can get his yards anywhere, behind the left side, right side, or middle of the offensive line, making it difficult for defenses to overplay to any one area. (Not to mention his superior receiving skills for which you have to account.) He gets his touchdowns in equal doses at home and on the road, with a remarkable 14 rushing TDs apiece. And most importantly, you know he's going to get the ball in the red zone and defenses still can't stop him. That is domination.

The case for Brees:
- The leadership qualities he brings to a team that was perhaps in more need of them than any other franchise after last season's Katrina-driven nightmare. Fellow players and coaches are unanimous in saying that he brought an identity and a confidence that were sorely lacking before he arrived. The Saints would follow him anywhere, and that can't be underestimated in the team's rise this season.

- He played big in crucial games. In three wins that looking back, were integral to the Saints getting to this point, against Atlanta (the first Superdome game since Katrina), and Philadelphia and Dallas (wins that gave them the tiebreak advantage they parlayed into a first-round playoff bye) he has a combined 850 yds, 8 TDs, and 71% completion percentage.

- In a league in which a steady hand at quarterback has been hard to come by, Brees has been the rare exception - a free agent acquisition who has not only met, but exceeded expectations. Compared against a lot of uneven play at the quarterback position this year, his play has stood out even more than it would have already.

Who gets the vote?
Tomlinson is commonly referred to as the best player in the game today, but that's selling him short. This season he's also the most valuable. He is the surest thing there is the NFL, and his play has made a good Chargers team great in the regular season - a step up that is arguably harder to achieve that going from bad to good, as the Saints have done.

Brees has been terrific this year, but you can argue that coach Sean Payton has actually been the team's most valuable addition. When you factor in the addition of super-rookies Reggie Bush and Marques Colston, a healthy Deuce McAllister, and a true slate of home games, the Saints improved in a lot of areas from last season to this. The Chargers' main personnel upgrade has been the Pro Bowl-caliber play of OT Marcus McNeill, which is not to be diminished, but the franchise hasn't had the overall upheaval that the Saints have experienced. Tomlinson is the main difference in turning the Chargers into the Super Bowl favorite, and for that he deserves MVP.

LaDainian Tomlinson: King among Men

What's been a considered a formality for the last few weeks has officially become reality. LaDainian Tomlinson, the dominant tailback of his era, has broken the record for touchdowns in a single season with 29. And that's in just 13 games! If he were playing back in 1972 with 14 game seasons, that would have held up. Now with a 16 game season, that means he has 3 more games to add to his record and put it out of reach maybe for all time. Currently, he's averaging a little more than 2 TDs per game; if he just stays on the track he's on, he'll have 35 touchdowns by the end of the year, an improbable figure when you consider that just 6 years ago, Marshall Faulk broke the record with his 26 TDs.

The question now is, how much will he be allowed to play with the Chargers rolling toward the top spot in the AFC playoffs? Well, he'll likely get at least 2 weeks of normal action, as San Diego is only a game up on the Colts and Ravens in the race for home field advantage. If he can get it up to 35 or above, it seems like a record that's out of reach for a long time. The only person who might be able to break it is the indomitable Tomlinson himself.

Best of all, Tomlinson is a great athlete that fans and especially children can look up to. Great article here by SI.com's Arash Markazi highlighting LT's good deeds, selflessness, and joy for the game. Here's hoping he'll be able to keep it up in the playoffs and showcase himself as a player and person to the nation.

The Charmed Life of the San Diego Chargers

Maybe it's just good karma going their way after the Ryan Leaf draft pick in 1998 went so horribly wrong and shackled them for several years. More likely, it's shrewd and forward-thinking decision-makers. Whatever it is, the San Diego Chargers are at 9-2 after today's win against the Raiders, and hardly has there been a week when it has been more evident the genius of their general manager A.J. Smith and his predecssor, the late John Butler, in putting this formidable team together.

The story starts in 2001, when Smith, then the assistant to Butler, and the Chargers had the top pick in the draft in hand. They seemed to be poised to take Michael Vick, the once-in-a-lifetime, make you do a double-take quarterback out of Virginia Tech. He was supposed to be the quarterback who would usher in a new era of NFL offense, changing the way the game was played. He was a slam-dunk choice, kind of like Reggie Bush was supposed to be in the 2006 draft. Of course, the Chargers defied convential wisdom and passed on Vick, trading the pick to the Falcons, and gaining the opportunity to draft TCU RB LaDainian Tomlinson at #4 overall and Purdue QB Drew Brees with the first pick in the second round. While everyone agreed that they got a couple of good players, the Chargers were lambasted for passing on a chance that they would never have again. At the time, people labeled it an overly-cautious move by the Chargers, who were still smarting from the Leaf debacle just a few years earlier.

Turns out Butler and Smith knew what they were doing. Fast forward 5 years later, and Drew Brees gave the Chargers two Pro Bowl caliber seasons before moving on to New Orleans, where he now leads the NFL in passing yards and is on the short list of MVP candidates. And wouldn't you know it, the leading MVP candidate in the league this year is that other 2001 Chargers draft pick, LaDainian Tomlinson. LT is on pace to break the single-season touchdown record this year, and with a couple more good years, can legitimately be considered among the greatest running backs in NFL history.

Vick on the other hand, who had success earlier in his career, leading the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game two years ago, has fallen on tough times. His raw athletic talent is still very much there and something to behold. However, he constantly faces questions about his quarterbacking ability in the pocket, and seems to be playing in an offensive system ill-suited to his talents. Today, his Falcons were beaten handily by Brees' Saints, a game that was capped off by Vick giving some Atlanta fans the finger as he stomped into the locker room.

Part 2 of the assemblage of the Chargers happened in 2004, when again, the Chargers had the top pick in the draft. When Eli Manning made it clear that he would not suit up for San Diego, the Chargers were able to swap Manning to the Giants for NC State QB Philip Rivers, in addition to the 2005 draft pick that would materialize as DE Shawne Merriman. Who's laughing now? Rivers, who has had to endure questions about his ability as an NFL QB because of his awkward throwing motion, has thrived in his first year as starter, while Manning is looking shakier by the week as the Giants continued their recent slide with a shocking 24-21 come-from-behind loss to the Titans, a loss that was due in no small part to Manning's critical interception late in the game with the score tied. Meanwhile, Merriman is in the midst of a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy, but before he was busted, he was looking like a prime candidate for league Defensive Player of the Year.

And wouldn't it be ironic and quite a jab to the Manning family if San Diego was able to overtake Indianapolis and their QB, Peyton Manning, and reach the Super Bowl this year? Who would have thought that the team that drafted Ryan Leaf might reach a Super Bowl before a Peyton Manning-led team did? Very interesting indeed....

Recapping a Busy Football Weekend

Now, things are starting to get interesting. If you're a football fan, of both the college and pro game, this is when you can really start discussing the battle for postseason positioning in earnest. With the college football season approaching its final couple of weeks and the NFL season rounding the bend into its final stages, there's hardly a more interesting time to speculate about who'll get in to the desired postseason spots and who'll be left out. With that said, here are some of the biggest stories of the weekend:

- We don't have to speculate about one thing. Ohio State will be playing in the national championship game in January. And boy, good luck stopping that offense. Michigan came into the game riding its reputation as one of the staunchest defensive teams in the country, with a unit full of potential future pros. Whole lot of good that did them on Saturday, when Troy Smith and his arsenal of weapons carved up the Wolverine defense to the tune of 42 points. The offense is so explosive and so varied in its attack, and they have the ideal quarterback in Smith acting as maestro. Another reason why you have to like the Buckeyes' chances regardless of who they play: Ohio State is 4-1 in bowl games under Jim Tressel. He will have his team prepared to play under the brightest of lights.

- The BCS rankings that were released today have Michigan still at #2 over USC, a bit of a surprise. However, don't go thinking that a rematch is certainly in the works. The Wolverines hold a slim .075 margin over USC for the #2 spot, and while Michigan's season is complete, the Trojans still have games against Notre Dame and UCLA. If they win both, they'll likely leapfrog Michigan for #2 and earn the chance to play Ohio State in the title game.

And in the NFL.....

- The Colts were bound to lose some time, and better for them to lose on the road to an NFC opponent, than to a team in their own conference. And while they still have the inside track on homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, they need to figure out a way to improve their rush defense between now and the playoffs, because if they don't, they will be toast, Peyton Manning or not. Looking down the road, they need to hope that they don't face the Chargers in the playoffs because LaDainian Tomlinson could make short work of the Colts defense the way he's playing now.

- Speaking of Tomlinson, there is no doubt that he is the front runner for league MVP at this point in the season. He has 20 touchdowns already, only 10 games into the season, on pace for 32, which would easily surpass the record of 28 TDs set by Shaun Alexander of the Seahawks just last year. The amazing thing is that everyone knows he's going to get the ball in the red zone and he still scores 3 or 4 touchdowns per game. Amazing how 6 years ago, everyone blasted the Chargers for trading the top overall draft pick and the chance to take Michael Vick. Well, all they ended up with was a Hall of Fame-to-be running back in Tomlinson, while Vick is now scrutinized ad nauseum for his quarterbacking style.

- While he won't win the award, it might be time to include San Francisco running back Frank Gore in discussions for league MVP. In the biggest game of the year for the 49ers, he came up huge with 212 yards in a 20-14 upset of the Seahawks. Don't look now, but the young Niners are only a game out of first place and can be considered serious contenders for a playoff spot in the NFC. Gore is leading a talented offensive nucleus that is getting better by the week. He is already over 1,000 yards for the season and is impressively averaging over 5 yards per carry.

And it only gets better from here - 3 games on Thanksgiving and more big-time rivalry games in college football this weekend in addition to the normal NFL action on Sundays.