First off, I almost rushed this column to get it in prior to the Buffalo/Jets game.  Then I realized I was altering my schedule because the Bills were playing the Jets.  If you want my rationale for picking the Bills below, I figured when two bad teams play each other in Canada and one of them is favored, take the team getting points.  Sure, the Jets may be slightly better but who knows when the Sanchize is going to throw 5 picks.  I took the points.  So sue me.  On to more pressing matters.

I've read, watched, and listened to a lot of debate on the NFL's MVP for this season and what bothers me more than anything is that there is actually a debate.  I'm not going to make this suspenseful for you.  How on Earth is anybody more valuable than Peyton Manning?  Brett Favre is a nice story and made an incredible comeback.  He's quarterbacking a team with one of the top two offensive lines in the league, the league's best running back, and the league's most formidable defensive line.  There's Chris Johnson.  He's a freak of nature and the most exciting running back in the game, but how can an MVP lead his team to an 0-6 start, forcing a change at QB?  I like Drew Brees best for second place.  He's the heart and soul of an undefeated team but isn't Gregg Williams every bit as valuable to the Saints as Drew Brees?  Didn't the Saints put up a gazillion points last year and finish closer to the middle of the pack than the Super Bowl?  Brees is a great QB and his offense has yet to be really stopped but the Saints aren't where they are without that defense.

This is an award for the most valuable player.  While statistics matter, it is not a statistical award.  If it was, why even have a vote?  Just devise some sort of formula and call it a day.  You have to ask yourself, who is the most valuable player.  You're asking yourself, who's the first player picked in a league wide draft?  If you took Player X away from his team, how worse off would they be?  If you take Favre away from the Vikings, sure, they don't win the Super Bowl, but they haven't won the Super Bowl yet anyway.  This team was in a playoff game led by Tarvaris Jackson last year.  Heck, even Eli Manning won a Super Bowl with a similar defense and running game.  Favre has clearly made a difference, but MVP?  Come on.  If you put half of the QB's in the league on Minnesota, that's still a 8-3 team or better.  If Sage Rosenfels starts and manages games they're still 8-3.  I'm not buying Favre.  I'm not wasting time on Chris Johnson as much as I like him.  His injury killed the Titans Super Bowl hopes last year but they started 0-6 with him in the lineup.  Game over.  And Brees?  He's the MVP of the second place contestants, but again, look at his weapons.  He has a tremendous receiving corps.  He plays a game directed by a tremendous coaching staff and yes, he's putting up insane numbers.  If you take Brees away they're probably a mediocre team.

Now take Peyton Manning away from the Colts and put his brother in for him.  They're 4-7 or 5-6 at best.  The Colts have no running game.  I know what you're thinking, that it's because they pass so often.  But if you passed that often, wouldn't you think you'd open up the running game the few times you ran the ball?  Not for the Colts.  3.9 yards a carry for the team, which is good for 26th in the league.  Okay, well, they have to have a great defense right?  They're 11-0.  Wrong.  Solid defense, yes.  Great defense, no.  15th in the league in yards allowed.  Okay, so what about the coach?  Tony Dungy's one of the best in the business.  Wait, he's not there anymore?  They have a statue who doesn't move at any point during the game in his place?  So how are they 11-0? 

Answer:  Peyton Manning.

He's their offense.  Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark are nice, but who are and Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie?  Are they the new chef at some restaurant in Beverly Hills and his pet dog?  Peyton Manning is the offense, the coach, the team.  They should be called the Indianapolis Peyton Manning feat. the Colts.  I had a discussion with a friend last night about which teams could beat the Lakers and stop a back to back Championship run.  We eliminated everybody but the Celtics.  We talked about how the Celtics' bigs and match up with the Lakers up front.  Rondo will destroy Fish a la Aaron Brooks.  Artest helps, but they still have Ray Allen.  And then we said, "yeah, but we have Kobe."  Conversation over.  There is no ceiling for what that means.  You can not measure Kobe's impact.  How could you?  He's unstoppable.  Peyton Manning is the Kobe of the NFL.  Maybe better.  If you're talking about how a team matches up with the Colts, what's your counterargument for, "yeah, but they have Peyton Manning"?  There isn't another player in the league for whom that argument resonates.  And if you think it does, you're kidding yourself.  Peyton Manning is this season's MVP and I don't think there's a close second.

WEEK 13 PICKS

Buffalo +3 vs. New York Jets (in Toronto)
Kansas City +5.5 vs. Denver
Oakland +14.5 at Pittsburgh
Houston -1 at Jacksonville
Miami +4.5 vs. New England
Carolina -5 vs. Tampa Bay
St. Louis +9.5 at Chicago
Indianapolis -6.5 vs. Tennessee
Cincinnati -13 vs. Detroit
Washington +9.5 vs. New Orleans
Atlanta +5.5 vs. Philadelphia
Cleveland +13.5 vs. San Diego
San Francisco -1 at Seattle
Dallas -2.5 at New York Giants
Minnesota -3.5 at Arizona
Green Bay -3 vs. Baltimore  

LAST WEEK:  8-7-1
SEASON:        101-73-2