QBREES9

Saints News

So far, it has been a dream season for Archie Manning. His New Orleans Saints are 4-0. His son's New York Giants are 5-0 after crushing Oakland 44-7 yesterday. Of course, one of those teams will depart with a loss this coming weekend after the Saints and Giants square off in the Superdome at noon Sunday in the league's premier game.

His son's Indianapolis Colts are 5-0 after routing Tennessee 31-9 last night. Peyton Manning was brilliant once again, hitting of 36 of 44 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. New Orleanian Reggie Wayne, who caught six passes for 60 yards and a score, dropped an easy second touchdown catch. Former LSU star Joseph Addai rushed for a score.

Manning now has five consecutive 300-yard games passing for the first time in his career and he joins Kurt Warner (2000) and Steve Young (1998) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to start a season with five consecutive 300-yard games.

With all due respect to Drew Brees, Peyton has been the NFL's Most Valuable Player, to this stage of the season. He has completed 133 of 181 passes (73.5%) for 1,645 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions for a quarterback rating of 114.1. His team is 5-0. Brees has led the Saints to a 4-0 record, completing 87 of 129 passes (67.4%) for 1,031 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 108.4.

While Peyton Manning and Brees would seem to be the top two in the Most Valuable Player chase early in the season, the next two candidates would appear to be Eli Manning and Brett Favre. Eli has led the Giants to a 5-0 record, completing 87 of 135 passes (64.4%) for 1,212 yards with 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 111.7. With a chance to pad his statistics against a woeful Raiders' team, Eli sat and rested his sore foot in the second half Sunday to remain healthy for the showdown in New Orleans this coming Sunday.

Favre has led the Minnesota Vikings to a 5-0 record, completing 103 of 149 passes (69.1%) for 1,069 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 104.1.

Denver's Kyle Orton merits mention for leading the surprising Denver Broncos to a 5-0 record, completing 104 of 165 passes (63.0%) for 1,236 yards and seven touchdowns with just one interception for a quarterback rating of 97.4. Atlanta's Matt Ryan has led the Falcons to a 3-1 start, connecting on 82 of 123 passes (66.7%) for 977 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 102.9. In the absence of a consistent running game, Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger has completed 127 of 172 passes (73.8%) for 1,470 yards and eight touchdowns with five interceptions for a quarterback rating of 102.6.

Among NFL rushers, Cedric Benson of the Bengals is in the MVP conversation, leading the NFL with 487 yards rushing on 111 carries with three touchdowns. That's right--487 yards in five games leads the NFL. Do you see a trend here? Passing is in vogue, rushing yardage is down, unless, of course, you are the New Orleans Saints. Minnesota's Adrian Peterson gives the Vikings the best balance in the league with 481 rushing yards on 99 carries with seven touchdowns.

Among receivers, Steve Smith of the Giants leads the NFL with 481 yards receiving on 37 catches with four touchdowns while Reggie Wayne of John Ehret High School is second with 459 yards on 32 receptions with four scores.

If you are looking for possible defensive candidates for the league MVP, start with Darren Sharper of your New Orleans Saints, who has dazzled with five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns in just four games played. Sharper has 15 tackles and has half-a-sack to his credit for a 4-0 team. He has also record 10 passes defended. Denver pass rush specialist Elvis Dumervil has eight sacks and a forced fumble for the 5-0 Broncos. Philadelphia corner Sheldon Brown has 22 tackles, three interceptions and eight passes defended and the Eagles are 3-1.

Cincinnati defensive end Antwan Odom has eight sacks among his 19 tackles for the 4-1 Bengals. Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen has 20 tackles, including six-and-a-half sacks and has forced three fumbles for the 5-0 Vikings. Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison has 29 tackles, including six sacks with four forced fumbles for the 3-2 Steelers.

In the final analysis, through five weeks of the season, the top four quarterbacks in the league are the top four contenders for league MVP honors thus far. Two are from New Orleans (Peyton and Eli Manning), one plays for and lives in New Orleans (Drew Brees) and the other is a Gulf Coast native (Brett Favre) from Kiln, Mississippi. Obviously, there is a good chance that the 2009 NFL Most Valuable Player will emerge from this group and this sector of the country.

www.sportsshooter.com/johnjcoleman

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CantonLegend

right now i would give the MVP edge to peyton manning.....the past 2 games just dropped drew off the radar even tho he is capable of taking over any game at any time.......drew will get his numbers and i cant wait to see the arguments they are making in favor of peyton manning when we are 16-0 at the end of the season

C17-BING

16-0? Man ... I love love love the SAINTS, but I doubt that very much. The truth is that Peyton Manning definitely has been the MVP up to this point .. Brees has been good, but I don't think he would tell you that he has been GREAT! I hope those weeks are ahead, but even more importantly is that we are winning with him only having average weeks ... That speaks to the depth on this team.

Personally, I'd give the MVP to anyone else in the league if it meant we stayed healthy and made a deep run ... And I know all of you would as well. Right now, I don't care about individual awards ... I just want this team to WIN WIN WIN!!!

boonedocksaint

peyton manning is the obvious choice right now and my choice as well, but, since canton and c17-bing already said that, i'm gonna throw another name into the ring. just to be different and for arguments sake im gonna say...

ready? dont laugh...

carson palmer. before throw hot garbage on me, think about how well he's played for them. 4 (should've been five) fourth quarter comebacks out of 5 games! his numbers aren't gaudy, he's only got a rating of 76.9, but, his team probably loses every single one of those games w/o him.

TXGSP

Not to be ARGUMENTATIVE....BUT...

MVP..., MVP...

I don't really care who wins the MVP.......

The MVP wil be decided on more that 4-5 games that have taken place so far this year.....

I would like rather focus on the following things in order for the SAINTS - but this is my list every year.

NFC SOUTH CHAMPIONS
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE (Would give this away to get the next two)
NFC CHAMPIONS
SB CHAMPIONS

I know #2 on my list could get partially decided this coming weekend - if the Saints, Giants, & Vikings wind up division winners and have the same records - the winning team will get a bit of a edge.

We do not face the Vikings this year but the Giants do... not sure what advantage it would give the Saints. If we beat the Giants and they beat the Vikings though, but doesn't common opponests play into playoff seeds.

There is A LOT of football left this year. Hopefully the Saints can stay healthy, so I can put some check marks down next to items on my list.

There is just too much of the season left for me to care too much about the MVP at this point of the season.

I do agree that Peyton has a bit of an edge right now, but it would be a NICE addition to my list for Brees and the SAINTS though.

An Optimist sees the big picture and views obstacles as temporary hurdles

QBREES9

Were talking about the MVP five games into the season ????? Ok then Payton Manning. Check back at the end of the year for the winner ... Drew Brees.