The Blitz Read: Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Derek Carr top list of early MVP candidates

Ron Clements

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The Blitz Read: Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Derek Carr top list of early MVP candidates image

Who will be the 2016 NFL MVP? With one game remaining on the Week 8 schedule, a handful of quarterbacks have emerged as front-runners.

New England's Tom Brady, Oakland's Derek Carr and Atlanta's Matt Ryan top the list that should also include Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and New Orleans' Drew Brees.

Brady may have missed the first four games of the season, but he helped his team avenge its only loss of the season. The Buffalo Bills shut out the Brady-less Patriots in a 16-0 victory in Week 4, but Sunday was a different story. Brady was 22 of 33 for 315 yards and four touchdowns in New England's convincing 41-25 win over the Bills in Orchard Park. 

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The Patriots are 7-1 and Brady has been on fire since his return from a four-game suspension. He's completed over 73 percent of his passes for 1,319 yards with 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

The Raiders defense was expected to lead them to success this year, but that hasn't happened. Oakland ranks 31st in total defense, but is 6-2 thanks to Carr, who threw for a franchise-record 513 yards on Sunday in Oakland' 30-24 overtime win over at Tampa Bay. Carr's 41-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 1:45 remaining in overtime was the game-winner. 

Carr has 2,321 passing yards with 17 touchdowns and just three interceptions this season. He's having a career year with a passer rating of 100.9 and is the main reason the Raiders lead the AFC West. Carr is the third quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 500 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in a single game, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger.

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Ryan outueled Rodgers on Sunday, leading a late touchdown drive in a 33-32 victory. Ryan had just seven incompletions while throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns in the win and leads the NFL with 2,636 yards and 19 touchdowns with four interceptions.

Rodgers has had to carry the Packers offense as injuries have resulted in a dearth of offensive weapons on the Packers roster. Rodgers had a game-high 60 rushing yards on Sunday and threw for four touchdowns to raise his season total to 17 on the season with four picks. 

Brees is another quarterback carrying his team, offensively. His 2,366 passing yards are third behind Ryan and Washington's Kirk Cousins. Brees threw for 265 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score in the Saints' 25-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks. The win helped the Saints stay just a game back of the Falcons in the NFC South. 

Not to be overlooked is Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford, who stepped in late because of an injury to Teddy Bridgewater and has played the best football of his career. Bradford and the Vikings will look to improve to 6-1 Monday night against Chicago. 

Injury report

Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was carted off the field after San Diego Chargers running back Melvin Gordon collided with him on the sideline in the second quarter of Denver's 27-19 victory. Phillips was taken to a Denver-area hospital, but later released after all tests "checked out OK."

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith left Sunday's 30-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts to be evaluated for a concussion. He later returned, but was ruled out after a second hit to the head and placed into concussion protocol. 

New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was also evaluated for a concussion, but returned to rally the Jets for a 31-28 win over the Cleveland Browns. 

Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu did not return to Sunday's 30-20 loss to the Panthers after suffering a shoulder injury. 

Injured for the Panthers were center Ryan Kalil (shoulder) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (knee). 

Buccaneers running back Jacquizz Rodgers injured his foot in the fourth quarter against the Raiders and did not return. 

Houston Texans wide receiver Jaelen Strong (ankle), safety Lonnie Ballentine (groin), nose tackle Vince Wilfork (groin)  and wide receiver Will Fuller (leg) all exited the 20-13 win over the Detroit Lions early. 

By the numbers

Sunday's slate began in London with a 27-27 tie between the Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals. It was the first time in the 10 years the NFL has played games in London that a game ended in a tie. After last week's 6-6 tie between the Seahawks and Cardinals, it's the first time there have been two ties in a season since 1997, which was also the last time the NFL had a tie in consecutive weeks. Since the NFL implemented overtime in 1974, 20 of 22 overtime ties included a missed field goal in the extra period.

The Raiders won their overtime game despite an NFL-record 23 penalties for 200 yards. The previous record of 22 penalties had been held by the 1944 Brooklyn Tigers, 1944 Chicago Bears and the 1998 San Francisco 49ers. 

Highlights

Travis Kelce finished Sunday's win over the Colts with seven catches for 101 yards, but what should have been his seventh catch on the day was overturned after a replay review. Kelce made an amazing over-the-shoulder catch and took three steps before falling at the Colts 1-yard line. Colts safety Clayton Geathers jarred the ball loose and it rolled out of bounds. The play was intially ruled a catch and fumble out of bounds, but deemed an incomplete pass following a review. Instead of having first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Chiefs quarterback Nick Foles was sacked on the next play and the Chiefs punted. 

Things started out great for the Seahawks, who used a 34-yard fumble return by Earl Thomas to grab an early lead on the Saints.

Catching one of Carr's touchdowns Sunday was offensive tackle Donald Penn, who now has four career touchdowns.

Oakland's Michael Crabtree refused to be tackled in overtime.

The Chargers didn't beat the Broncos, but Travis Benjamin had the best catch of the game. Maybe best of the year.

Mohamed Sanu's game-winner to beat the Packers came on a perfectly thrown pass from Ryan.

Dak Prescott engineered a pair of game-saving drives in the Dallas Cowboys' 29-23 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. In overtime, he completed all five of his passes on the winning driving, including a 5-yard strike to a wide-open tight end Jason Witten.

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Quotables

Washington's Josh Norman and Carolina's Cam Newton both voiced their frustrations over officiating on Sunday. 

"Who is the official 88? He sucked," Norman said of field judge Brad Freeman. "I'm just going to be honest with you. I'm going to be straight forward. He was terrible. I feel like he should be reprimanded. I feel like some of the plays going on out there, it was terrible.

"I just feel like they really need to sit down and look at that, because the plays out there that was going on, I never in my life had seven like flash on me ever, and I feel as if I probably had more than that if you really want to be honest with it. Every time he threw the ball, I feel like it was going to be a flag. OK, here you go. Let me not touch the guy. Let the guy push off on me, but let me not touch him.

"It needs to be watched and reprimanded. They reprimand us, so what's the recommended for them? It's crazy."

Newton wasn't pleased he's not getting receiving the protection from officials that other NFL quarterbacks receive.

"I don't know what I have to do," Newton said. "I don't think there's a person who can go through what I go through and still keep their head. Hits to the head, that's one thing, but when you're not protected in the pocket, that's another thing.

"It's not fun. It's taken the fun out of the game, honestly. At times, I don't even feel safe. Enough is enough.

"As players in this league, we do something stupid, we get fined. If you do something derogatory to someone else, you get fined. I just can't keep accepting, 'Oh we missed that one' or 'I apologize for doing that,' or 'I didn't see it.' That's horsecrap."

MORE: Josh Norman blows up

Thursday's game

Titans 36, Jaguars 22

Sunday's games

Redskins 27, Bengals 27, OT
Patriots 41, Bills 25
Panthers 30, Cardinals 20
Jets 31, Browns 28
Texans 20, Lions 13
Chiefs 30, Colts 14
Saints 25, Seahawks 20
Raiders 30, Buccaneers 24, OT
Broncos 27, Chargers 19
Falcons 33, Packers 32
Cowboys 29, Eagles 23 OT

MORE: NFL Week 8 scoreboard — complete stats, highlights

Monday's game

Vikings at Bears, 8:30 p.m. ET

Bye weeks

Ravens, Rams, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers, 49ers

Ron Clements