The race for Most Valuable Player in the NFL is boiling down to two old warhorses. Peyton Manning will lure support for his usual fine statistics, for wedging the Denver Broncos into the Super Bowl fight and for his remarkable bounce-back from multiple neck surgeries that would have driven most others into an alternate career.
For Tom Brady, it is more same old, same old: eye-popping numbers on his own behalf, his New England Patriots team in hot pursuit of another championship.
Even with his sustained excellence since becoming a starter in 2001, Brady's last five weeks have been something to behold.
Fourteen touchdown passes. Zero interceptions.
Is it physically possible for a 35 year old to be improving?
"I hope so," he told a Boston radio station. "I hope I'm getting better ... You should learn from your mistakes."
Mistakes? What does Brady know about mistakes?
"He's a machine," said Rex Ryan, the New York Jets coach, who does not stop there. "Yet he's [also] a passionate and fiery leader. You wish Tom Brady was just a machine, but his competitive side elevates his team."
The case can be made for Brady being the greatest player investment in NFL annals. The Patriots fished him out of the next-to-last round in the 2000 draft, the 199th selection.
Most athletes would convert the perceived slight into I'll-show-them motivation, but such incentive usually runs dry after a few seasons.
Brady has never forgotten - or forgiven. He still strives to show what few personnel directors still at their posts a dozen years later how they misevaluated him.
As a stat-stuffer alone, Brady has carved out space in the Hall of Fame, having compiled the second highest passer rating (behind Aaron Rodgers) among quarterbacks still in commission. But most boggling is his 16-6 post season record, worth three Super Bowl rings.
Another ring - from Brady's wedding to model Gisele Bundchen - signals a substantial shift in his personal life. Yet, he remains as hungry as ever.
Whoever inscribes the name of the recipient on the MVP trophy could do Manning's or Brady's in his sleep. The pair have accepted six of the past 10.
A spread-the-wealth wave among voters could bring another candidate - Adrian Peterson of Minnesota? - into the picture.
But, given that quarterbacks earn bonus points for team success, the two gunslingers have separated themselves from the pack. Assuming the Broncos and Patriots continue apace, while Manning will draw backing for sentimental reasons, Brady could be the pick.
Especially if he never throws another "pick."
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