Peyton Manning

Colin Cowherd is an idiot.

I was just driving and listening to ESPN Radio, and it really makes me wonder why such a global entity could allow such a biased fan to have his own radio show.

Cowherd makes no attempt to mask the fact that he’s a Giants fan. Today, he was talking about how he felt Peyton Manning did not deserve the MVP. He started listing players he felt were more qualified for the award – aside from Chad Pennington, he named Eli Manning, Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck. Three Giants? Seriously?

But that’s not even the worst part of it. He went on to say that if you asked 100 people right now, all 100 would rather have Eli in a pressure situation than Peyton. Now, I’ve heard of fanboyism before, but this one takes the cake. Seriously, no one wants a three-time regular season MVP and perhaps the greatest quarterback I’ve ever seen? Really? No one? Who are we asking, 100 Giants fans? I think that’s the only person who’d truly want Eli over Peyton. I’m not saying Eli’s bad – I’ve given him a hard time the last few years because he just does so many goofy things (like forcing up a bad throw while being sacked that’s easily returned for a pick-six) – but Peyton’s just better.

As for Peyton Manning, I felt that he deserved the MVP. I don’t know if it was as clear-cut as the voting made it seem, but there’s no doubt in my mind that if the Colts didn’t have Peyton, they would struggle to get to six wins. In a year where his go-to wide receiver was aging every week and his offensive line was depleted and his starting running back missed time, Peyton was the rock that kept the Colts’ offense together.

I think Chad Pennington deserved to garner more than four votes. I’m not saying he’s the reason the team improved by ten wins – it also had a great deal to do with Joey Porter’s incredibly improved season as well as Bill Parcells’s improvements (most notably his hiring of Tony Sparano). However, if you take Pennington away from the Dolphins, there’s no way they’re even sniffing the playoffs. He’s as important to his team as Peyton, which is why I’d have been fine if he had been the MVP.

Even though I don’t have a say in the matter, I’d have voted like this:

1. Peyton Manning
2. Chad Pennington
3. Adrian Peterson