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The 2017 NFL MVP race has essentially narrowed itself down to two candidates, and one of them is clearly ahead of the other. 

The leader in the clubhouse is Tom Brady, who is 40 damn years old and still somehow Doing This. Brady leads the NFL in completions, attempts, passing yards, and yards per attempt this season, and has thrown 30 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. He's got the Patriots set up to once again secure home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, and he's done it without the services of his No. 1 receiver for the entire season, with injuries to multiple offensive contributors, and with a defense that spent half the season getting lit on fire. The man is incredible and would be a totally deserving winner. 

Nipping at Brady's heels, however, is Rams running back Todd Gurley. Gurley has absolutely exploded over the last couple weeks, and he's not got himself some nice, round numbers to prop up his candidacy. Gurley's monster Week 16 performance (22 carries for 118 yards, 10 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns) pushed him over 2,000 total yards for the season, and his 19 total touchdowns lead the league. He's been the engine driving a Rams offense that has emerged from the NFL basement to lead the league in scoring. Considering where Gurley was last season, it's an incredible leap forward, and he, too, would be a deserving winner if he somehow managed to overtake Brady in the season's final week. 

Those two players received the first (Brady) and second (Gurley) place votes on every single one of our writers' ballots this week. It was in spots three through five where things got differentiated. Rob Gronkowski appeared on three ballots, as did Aaron Donald. Drew Brees, Le'Veon Bell, and Calais Campbell got two votes each, while Antonio Brown, Alvin Kamara, and Jimmy Garoppolo (YES, REALLY) each secured a fifth-place vote. 

Without further ado. 

2017 MVP vote heading into Week 17

1. Tom Brady - 25 points
2. Todd Gurley - 20 points
T-3. Rob Gronkowski - 7 points
T-3. Aaron Donald - 7 points
5. Le'Veon Bell - 5 points
T-6. Drew Brees - 4 points
T-6. Calais Campbell - 4 points
T-8. Antonio Brown - 1 points
T-8. Alvin Kamara - 1 point
T-8. Jimmy Garoppolo - 1 point

Will Brinson's top five

  1. Tom Brady
  2. Todd Gurley
  3. Le'Veon Bell
  4. Rob Gronkowski
  5. Drew Brees

It's fascinating how we're trying to make this a two-horse race in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Patriots are going to be the top seed in the AFC with a 40-year-old quarterback despite having a defense that wasn't very good for much of the season and after losing Julian Edelman before the season. Having Gronk (four on this list because I have to have five names) is a big plus, but Brady is the best. Gurley should win Offensive Player of the Year and is a worthwhile candidate after becoming just the third player in NFL history with 2,000 scrimmage yards, 10 rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns (along with O.J. Simpson in 1975 and Marshall Faulk in 2000 and 2001). It's just too late in the game for a running back to catch the GOAT in this race.

Sean Wagner-McGough's top five

  1. Tom Brady
  2. Todd Gurley
  3. Rob Gronkowski
  4. Aaron Donald
  5. Calais Campbell

Ignore spots 3-5, because it was incredibly difficult to find three MVP candidates to list there. All that matters is that the MVP will either go to Tom Brady or Todd Gurley. Both are deserving. But I'm still going with Brady -- for now, at least.

It sure seems like many people are ready to give the award to Gurley after his 276-yard, two-touchdown outing, but I'm not there yet. Brady threw an ugly pick against the Bills, but he also threw two touchdowns and finished with a 106.8 passer rating. He's still the best quarterback in football by a long shot and he plays for the Super Bowl favorite. I'm not ready to knock him from the top spot just because he's thrown at least one interception in five straight games. The Patriots are still 4-1 in those games. Quarterback is still the most important position in football. So Brady naturally gets the edge over Gurley. That might not be fair to Gurley and his dominant year, but it's just a reality. 

But it's close. Closer than I thought it'd be. I don't think it's impossible for Gurley to overtake Brady. But he needs another out-of-this-world outing in Week 17. If that happens, I think Gurley can overtake Brady. As my colleague Will Brinson wrote on Twitter, "Gurley is the third NFL player in history with 2,000 scrimmage yards, 10 rushing touchdowns and 5 touchdown receptions." The other two players won MVP.

It can happen. But it'll all come down to Week 17.

Jared Dubin's top five

  1. Tom Brady
  2. Todd Gurley
  3. Calais Campbell
  4. Aaron Donald
  5. Alvin Kamara

Nothing has changed since last week, so [engage cut/paste function] spots 2 through 5 are honestly irrelevant. Brady is winning this award barring something weird happening over the final [one] week of the season. Everything else is just window dressing. 

John Breech's top five

  1. Tom Brady
  2. Todd Gurley
  3. Drew Brees
  4. Le'Veon Bell
  5. Jimmy Garoppolo

Although I kind of wanted to put Todd Gurley in the top spot on my ballot, I decided that wouldn't be fair to Tom Brady, and trust me, I have no idea why I'm worried about what would be fair to Tom Brady. The big thing here is that I had Brady listed at the top last week and I don't think it makes sense to move him down after a game where he completed 75 percent of his passes and threw two touchdowns. That being said, Gurley is definitely the 1-A on my ballot and if he has another big game in Week 17, then I might just have to move him to the top spot. The one newcomer on my ballot is Jimmy Garoppolo and that's only because if this is truly an MVP award, the Jimmy GQ fits the bill. The 49ers were 1-10 before he was named starting quarterback and they've gone 4-0 since then. It doesn't get much more valuable than that. 

Ryan Wilson's top five

  1. Tom Brady  
  2. Todd Gurley
  3. Aaron Donald 
  4. Rob Gronkowski
  5. Antonio Brown

Brady is your 2017 NFL MVP. That was the case last week, that will be the case next week. He was an efficient 21 of 28 for 224 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in Sunday's 37-16 win over the Bills, which basically guaranteed the Patriots home-field advantage (a win over Jets in Week 17 seals it) throughout the playoffs. Even at 40, Brady remains the league's best player and it's not really that close. 

Gurley has been white hot the last three weeks, scoring eight times (five on the ground, three through the air) with 362 rushing yards and 225 receiving yards. In the five weeks prior, Gurley never rushed for more than 74 yards and he scored just three times.  Against the Titans on Sunday, Gurley had a whopping 10 catches for 158 yards, including an 80-yard screen pass he took to the house. 

We'll repeat what we said last week: There's no way a defensive tackle wins this award, even if he deserves legitimate consideration. And Donald certainly qualifies. A week ago, he dominated the Seahawks' offensive line and sacked Russell Wilson three times. He followed that up on  Sunday against the Titans with a sack, three hurries and a forced fumble</a>.

Brady is literally New England's most valuable player. You can make a convincing case that Gronkowski is No. 2 on that list. He can beat single-coverage in his sleep, and he's quite capable of beating double teams too. He had just five catches for 67 yards against the Bills, but his one-handed touchdown grab is the type of play only he can make. Gronkowski is also coming off a dominating performance against the Steelers in Week 15, where he had nine grabs for 168 yards, including the game-deciding two-point conversion with less than a minute to go.

Brown is sidelined for the rest of the regular season with a calf injury but he was a serious contender in the MVP chase till last week. Through 13 and a half games, Brown hauled in 101 passes for 1,533 yards and 9 touchdowns. He averaged 15.2 yards per catch , his best mark since 2011. On the mend for the next few weeks, Brown's now aiming for postseason MVP honors.