Which Patriots Player Not Named Tom Brady Could Be Named MVP Of Super Bowl LII?
BOSTON (CBS) -- America is getting tired of the Patriots always getting to the Super Bowl. Might the national football writers get tired of voting for Tom Brady as MVP?
Of course, to talk about such a matter is to presume two things: First, that the Patriots end up winning Super Bowl LII against the Eagles, and secondly, that someone else on the Patriots performs so well that voters will have no choice but to bestow the MVP honors upon that player.
(A panel of 16 media members votes on the award, accounting for 80 percent of the decision. An online fan vote accounts for 20 percent of the decision.)
So, if the Patriots do end up winning, which player might take home those MVP honors?
"It's very hard for a defensive player to win the MVP, so I'm going to stay on the offensive side of the ball," said WBZ-TV's Steve Burton. "Danny Amendola is coming off a huge game. [Rob Gronkowski] is another big weapon. It could be the running backs, though -- it could be Dion Lewis, it could be James White. These are guys that find ways to get into the end zone.
"If I had to pick one, I'm going to go with Amendola."
CBSBoston.com's Michael Hurley brought up James White. Last year in the Super Bowl, White caught 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, ran for 29 yards and two touchdowns (including the game-winning score in overtime), and ran for a successful two-point conversion. Perhaps if White can even come close to replicating that performance, voters will be swayed away from Brady.
"James White, maybe there's some residual effect from last year and this year," Hurley said. "If he does it again, they'll give it to him for the total body of work."
Of course, this is all assuming that the Patriots win the game. Earning that victory will not be easy, as the Eagles boasted a top-five scoring offense and a top-five scoring defense this season.
"They are a dangerous team and the Patriots certainly realize that they are a dangerous team," Burton said. "They are not overlooking the Philadelphia Eagles by any stretch."
And after really taking to heart the fact that they were considered underdogs despite being the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Eagles also have something that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
"Once Nick Foles went in for Carston Wentz, a lot of people forgot that the Eagles were the best team in the NFL all year long," Hurley said. "That's a really good football team, and they have that underdog edge. They have that 2001 Patriots, 'Nobody believes in us' thing. So you can't really account for that."
