The Facts: For the second straight year, a previously maligned NFC South quarterback has earned the MVP trophy. Ryan just hopes his Super Bowl Sunday goes better than it did for Cam Newton last season. The Associated Press chose the Falcons quarterback as the league's MVP Saturday night at NFL Honors, capping an incredible season stuffed with big plays and bigger statistics.
Diehards Line:Ryan, who was also named NFL Offensive Player of the Year, earned the honor over Tom Brady, Ryan's adversary in the Super Bowl, presumably because Brady had 12 games of excellence instead of Ryan's incredible full season. Ryan received 25 votes for MVP while Brady finished second with 10. Atlanta's offense ranks statistically among the greatest in NFL history. A big performance by Ryan on Super Bowl Sunday would put him in rarefied air of all-time quarterback seasons. Not since Kurt Warner in the 1999 season has a quarterback won MVP and the Super Bowl in the same season. Ryan has thrown 18 touchdowns with zero interceptions over his last six games, the Falcons averaging 39 points-per-game in that span. Often criticized in his career for untimely interceptions, even by Falcons fans, Ryan forever changed how his career will be viewed with this MVP season. Win one more game on Sunday night, and he'll go from afterthought to all-time legend in one calendar year.