Darrelle Revis(notes) is the best cornerback in the NFL. Hes the leader of the vaunted New York Jets defense. Monday night his Jets had been smoked for 45 points by the New England Patriots. It was total domination/humiliation. From start to finish the Patriots had scored at will.

Postgame, Revis stood in front of his locker wearing a sharp suit, a bow tie and the look of eternal frustration. What had happened, he said, could be summed up easily. Tom Brady had happened.

The guy is one of the best in the league, Revis said. Its him or Peyton.

We know the kind of season Peyton Manning(notes) is having. We also know the kind Tom Brady is having, too, and three quarters of the way through the NFL season the weight of it all is too much for any contender to stand in the way of Brady being named MVP. The Resurrection of Michael Vick included.

Bradys thrown 27 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He hasnt had a pick in a record seven consecutive starts. He had four TD passes against the Jets, and three against the Steelers, two of the leagues stingiest defenses. His passer rating is 109.5 and climbing, almost approaching the cartoon like 117.2 he put up in 2007.

New England is an NFL best 10-2 (along with Atlanta) and this has come in a season when they had to shift the offensive focuses on the fly. Brady lost his deep threat and best pure receiver when Randy Moss(notes) was traded in early October.

Outside of ever reliable Wes Welker(notes), Bradys top receivers are now a pair of rookie tight ends (Aaron Hernandez(notes), Rob Gronkowski(notes)), ninth-year veteran Deion Branch(notes), whos averaged 3.6 touchdowns a season for his career, 5-foot-8 utility player Danny Woodhead(notes), whom the Jets cut in September, and wideout Brandon Tate(notes), who entered the season without a career reception. The running game is anchored by BenJarvus Green-Ellis(notes), who gained a grand total of 114 rushing yards last season.
Tom Brady hasn't thrown an INT since Week 6.
(Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Seriously, those are the weapons surrounding Tom Brady.

Almost no one thought the Patriots offense would improve without Moss but here we are. Theyve scored 30 or more points four consecutive weeks. Theyve tried to put Branch in the role of Moss whose ability to extend the secondary was almost unmatched but who is kidding whom? [Branch] is not really a vertical guy, Revis noted.

The other players are clearly better than anyone thought, but when half a dozen different guys are having surprising breakout seasons, the quarterback deserves some, if not most, of the credit. It cant be a coincidence.

Which is why Revis directed the praise toward Brady.

We couldnt stop him, he said.

No one really has.

There are fans who wont support Michael Vick because of what he did to all those dogs back in Virginia. Ever. Thats their right. There are others who see a guy who paid his debt to society and is trying to make the future unlike the past. Theyre supporting Vick if not because of what happened with the dogs, then at least what happened since then. Thats their right, too.

Either way, his candidacy is an emotional one pro and con.

Bradys isnt. Hes won the award before. Hes won three Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVP trophies. He already has all the trappings of success money, supermodel wife, public obsession with his hair. He may deserve being named MVP, but he sure doesnt need it. This is just another great season in a Hall of Fame career full of them.
Michael Vick (7) is the toast of Philadelphia and has the Eagles leading the race for the NFC East title.
(Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

So the debate, for some, comes down to heart v. head, even if backstories arent supposed to be voting criteria. But what Brady is doing overwhelms Vicks potential Hollywood ending.

Vicks been great throwing 15 touchdown passes against just two picks. Hes rushed for six more (Brady has one on the ground). His passer rating is a strong 105.7. He, like Brady, is the focal point of defensive game plans. The Eagles are 8-4 and pushing toward the playoffs, although Vick has played in just nine of those 12 games (six of them victories).

Its been a great year. In a lot of seasons, it would be enough. Not this time though.

There are still four games to play, but at this point, Vick is the story of the year in the NFL. As someone who watched him chew gum in the face of a federal sentencing judge, thats an impressive, and unexpected, accomplishment.

Its just Tom Brady is the leagues Most Valuable Player. And it isnt even close.