Tom Brady rises to Bovada’s third-best MVP odds

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Jake Fischer
Jake Fischer

Tom Brady returned from suspension in dramatic fashion in Week 5. The 17th-year quarterback completed 28-of-40 passes for 406 yards and 3 touchdowns in the New England Patriots’ 33-13 rout of the Cleveland Browns, a performance later deemed worthy of AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Las Vegas took notice.

Brady seems poised for another explosive performance in Week 6. The Cincinnati Bengals visit Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m., one week after allowing 28 points to the Dallas Cowboys and 227 yards and 1 touchdown on 18-of-24 passing from Dak Prescott.

Matt Ryan is rightly favored to claim the end-of-season hardware, having guided the Atlanta Falcons to an unexpected 4-1 start and a 2-game lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. Ryan leads all quarterbacks in yards (1,740), 40-plus-yard completions (40), 20-plus-yard completions (26), first downs (75) and average yards per completion (10.4).

Ben Roethlisberger has the Pittsburgh Steelers in pole position atop the AFC North at 4-1. The 13th-year quarterback has 15 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions through 5 games and 1,496 yards.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers is actually tied with Brady for the third-best odds. Rodgers has the Packers at 3-1 and 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North with 876 yards and 9 touchdowns through four appearances.

Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliot has Bovada’s highest odds of any non-quarterback to claim MVP, coming in at an 8/1 chance to earn the award. Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller is the only defensive player listed at 20/1 odds. Other notable favorites near the top are Falcons wideout Julio Jones (20/1) and Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (22/1).