Peter King Omits Tom Brady From MVP 'Three-Headed' Coin Flip

NFL insider Peter King has covered the National Football League since 1984.

The Football Morning in America scribe pens a weekly column for NBC Sports, written five books, named National Sportswriter of the Year on multiple occasions, and has developed a following of over 1.7 million followers on social media.

So when he mentioned his three top candidates for MVP on Monday morning, and failed to include the Vegas favorite at WynnBET in Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, a few heads turned in the process.

MVP? Flip a three-sided coin: Rodgers, Cooper Kupp, Jonathan Taylor.

The cases for Brady and Rodgers remain compelling, but it's hard to not consider Brady in the mix unless the shutout at home against the Saints defines the argument. Sure, Brady lost Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette in the same game, but the following week, he was efficient and didn't turn the ball over as the Bucs routed the Panthers on the road in a division game.

The 44-year old still leads the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, while his team remains in the thick of the race for the top seed in the NFC.

As for Rodgers, he trails Brady by almost 1,000 passing yards, but has an impressive 33:4 TD:INT ratio on the season and the league's highest passer rating at 110.8. The Packers also have the league's best record at 12-3 through Week 16.

I wouldn't fault Peter King for Rodgers being his guy, but it's certainly a head-scratcher to not have Brady in the mix especially with Kupp and Taylor.

Do Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor Deserve More Consideration for NFL MVP?

Entering Week 16, Brady and Packers QB Rodgers were quite close in their MVP odds over at WynnBET Sportsbook. After opening at +1000, Brady found himself at +145, following by Rodgers at +190. After that, Matthew Stafford of the Rams and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes were tied for third at +1000, along with Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. The move to +1000 became Taylor's shortest odds of the 2021-22 NFL season.

Last week, I wrote about the two non-quarterbacks' chances to make a case for MVP. For Taylor, the case is reflective in him being the most "valuable" player for his team's rate of success. With his 108 rushing yards in Saturday's 22-16 road win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Colts are now 15-1 straight up over the last two years when Taylor runs for over 80 yards or more.

The issue for Taylor is the production. Taylor is on pace to have 1,842.8 rushing yards for the year, well short of the 2,000-plus from Titans running. back Derrick Henry a season ago; and Henry didn't receive one first place vote.

As for Kupp, he remains on pace to break Calvin Johnson's all-time receiving record for most receiving yards in a season by 1.2 yards (Johnson finished with 1,964). As remarkable of an achievement that is, Johnson also did it in 16 games compared to Kupp who would pass it in most likely his 17th and final game of the year.