Surveying team execs for their takes on award voting, surprises and trends, underrated players and the impact of COVID-19.

Over an 18-year period, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning combined to appear in 18 AFC title games and 13 Super Bowls, winning eight titles. And yet, when all was said and done, the two won only eight (really, it was more like seven and a half) regular season MVP awards.

That’s not a small number, to be sure. But were there 10 years in that timeframe when one of those two was not the most valuable player in the game? I would contend that there were not. Which is evidence that we tend to overcomplicate these things and pick awards based on storylines, and who might be due to win, rather than the best guys for the trophies.

Sometimes, the best answer is the easy one.

And that’s really what I thought of