NFL MVP 2014: JJ Watt, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo or Peyton Manning- Houston Texan Most Valuable? Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Says His QB Should Win Award

The 2014 NFL MVP race is down to JJ Watt, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Tony Romo as. Watt, the Houston Texans defensive linesman, is trying to become only the fourth defensive player in the history of the NFL to win the award (and the first since Lawrence Taylor in 1986). He's in a tight battle with the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks — all of whom made the NFL playoffs — so can Watt top the franchise QBs, even while missing the NFL post-season? Can a defensive player be more valuable than even non-MVP level quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson or Andrew Luck? Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says that Tony Romo should be MVP. 

In the annual Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback MVP rankings, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers came in ahead of Texans Defensive terror Watt, New England Patriot superstar Tom Brady and the Dallas Cowboy duo of Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray. Last year's MVP Peyton Manning didn't even touch the voting.

Interesting. We had 3 active player voters: Ryan Clark, Jason McCourty, Geoff Schwartz. All voted for Watt for MVP. https://t.co/1VhTLVRBso

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) December 30, 2014

Said Rich Eissen of the NFL Network: "I went with Rodgers over Watt merely because Rodgers played as flawlessly at his position over a 10-week stretch as I've ever seen."

Tom Pelissero of USA Today agreed, arguing that "the problem with voting for him [Watt] over Rodgers or, in my opinion, several other quarterbacks this season," comes down to the idea that the quarterback position "controls everything, and not even the best defensive player of a generation can supersede it." Thus, he added, "My vote is for Rodgers, who played the most important position at the highest level over the course of this season."

Grantland's Bill Barnwell argues that the race is now down to Watt and Rodgers, saying that "Watt has the better case" for a transcendent season. He adds that he believes voters will "end up going for Rodgers, although it's a closer vote than it might have seemed heading into Sunday morning," but that Watt would get his vote, saying that Watt is "simply more dominant over the competition at his position than Rodgers is at his."

As ESPN's Tania Ganguli reports, his teammate Andre Johnson is adamant Watt should win the award. "If he doesn't win the MVP, the NFL is out of their mind," the Texans receiver said.

In the ESPN story, Ganguli explains that the Texans defensive anchor ended his season with a ridiculous line of: "20.5 sacks, 50 quarterback hits/hurries, 29 tackles for loss, nine batted passes, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles, a blocked extra point, one pick-six, one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and three touchdown catches on nine offensive snaps."

Watt, Ganguli adds, is "the only player in NFL history to have a pick-six, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three touchdown catches in the same season."

Is that MVP worthy? Find out what Peter King believes below: