Answer: Adrian Peterson, RB Minnesota Vikings
The 2012 NFL MVP debate isn't really even much of a debate. First off, hats off to the three rookie quarterbacks who lead their teams to the playoffs; Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson are all deserving of a little bit of MVP consideration. Let's also give Matt Ryan and Tom Brady the credit they deserve because both had terrific seasons and would be deserving of more MVP talk if the award did not have a clear winner. And lastly, Peyton Manning is certainly deserving of being in the thick of the MVP discussion. Manning has all the credentials to be the MVP of the league this year; he lead the Broncos to the 1 seed in the AFC and has them riding an 11 game win streak. Manning is first in the NFL in Total Quarterback Rating, signifying that he has all the stats to back up his 2012 resume. And yet, Manning is completely overshadowed by Adrian Peterson's 2012 season. Let's go to square one and look at Peterson's stats. 2,097 rushing yards, 9 short of the all time single season record set by Eric Dickerson. That's also close to 500 yards more than the second leading rusher in the NFL, Alfred Morris. Peterson had 27 rushes over 20 yards or more, 15 more than C.J. Spiller who was second in rushes of 20 yards or more. Peterson was not only far and away the best running back in 2012, but he arguably had the best season for a running back in the history of the game if you consider the growing influence of quarterbacks and the passing game as the main way to move the ball down the field. But more important than Peterson's gaudy statistics, Peterson put the Minnesota Vikings on his back and lead them to the playoffs. The Vikings were 3-13 in 2011 and though the Vikings improved on defense, they had the same quarterback, Christian Ponder, who is by no means a good quarterback or even an average quarterback. Without much of a passing game, Peterson lead the Vikings to a seven game win improvement and a playoff berth. I understand that Peyton Manning took an 8-8 playoff team and turned them into a 13-3 playoff team that is the number one seed in the AFC. But the key part there is that Manning took over a playoff team (albeit a really shitty one, sorry Tim Tebow fans). The Minnesota Vikings were 3-13 last year, playing in one of the hardest divisions in the NFL, the NFC North. The Vikings weren't supposed to be much of anything this year and yet Peterson put together one of the most impressive individual seasons in NFL history while leading his projected bottom feeder team to a playoff berth. The case is closed: Adrian Peterson is your 2012 NFL MVP.
P.S.- I did not mention Peterson's ACL injury nor Manning's neck injury. Those injuries are to be considered for the comeback player of the year, not the NFL MVP because they do not have anything to do with the sensational seasons those two players had this year.
