With Week 4 of the NFL season now in the books, 2014 is officially 25 percent over. Unless of course, your favorite team was on a bye last week, then their season is only 18.75 percent of the way over, but I like round numbers, so lets stick with 25. 

At the quarter-mark of the season, Philip Rivers is atop the MVP Projection list. Somehow, Rivers is managing to have a better season this year than he had last year, which is impressive because Rivers had one of the best seasons of his career in 2013.

The most impressive part of 2014 isn't the fact that Rivers is on pace to put up career numbers, it's who he's putting up those numbers against. The Chargers have played four games and two of those came against the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked defenses in the NFL in Arizona and Seattle.

If Rivers does end up winning the MVP award this year, he'll have earned it. Six of San Diego's final 12 games are against teams currently ranked in the top-9 in total defense.

So who else is on the projection list with Rivers this week? Lets find out.    

MVP Projection

The 2014 season has been almost all smiles for Philip Rivers. (USATSI)
The 2014 season has been almost all smiles for Philip Rivers. (USATSI)

1. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers: Jets coach Rex Ryan doesn't get a vote in the MVP race, which is probably a good thing because he'd probably give the award to Geno Smith. Actually, Ryan wouldn't vote for Smith, he'd vote for Philip Rivers. How do I know that? Because Ryan said it on Wednesday.

"He's probably the league MVP if you took that vote right now," Ryan said. 

Rivers is completing almost all of of his passes and he's not turning the ball over -- and he's doing all of this despite the fact that the Chargers don't have anything close to resembling a running game. 

Although Rivers is completing a career-high 70.1 percent of his passes and he's only thrown one pick on the season, his numbers are considerably worse against Rex Ryan defenses. 

If Rivers can beat Ryan, that alone should keep him as the frontrunner in the MVP race. That would mean Rivers is putting up ridiculous numbers even though he's played three of the top-7 defenses in the NFL (Jets, Seahawks, Cardinals). Weeks on projection list for Rivers: 3/4.

2. Texans defensive end J.J. Watt: Watt isn't just a candidate for NFL MVP, he's also a candidate for MVP son -- because that's what happens when you buy your mom a car for her birthday. Buying your mom a car won't win you the NFL MVP though, ridiculous numbers will and Watt's taking care of that. 

Thanks to his 80-yard pick-six against Buffalo, Watt is now the third-leading scorer on the team (12 points). Only DeAndre Hopkins (18) and the kicker (33) have scored more points this season for Houston.  

Forget scoring though, because that's not exactly what Watt's paid to do, he's paid to maim quarterbacks and he's good at his job. 

If Watt were to somehow win the award, he'd become only the second defensive lineman and third defensive player ever to take home MVP honors. Weeks on projection list for Watt: 4/4.

3. Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning: If a player on the projection list was on a bye, like Peyton Manning last week, then we don't talk about football, we talk about what that player did during the bye. Manning spent his bye week in Knoxville watching Tennessee play Georgia, which gives me an excuse to show you this picture. 

On a non-Tennessee note, Manning is one touchdown pass away from joining Brett Favre in the 500 club. Once Manning hits 500, Favre and Peyton will be the only two members of the club -- and they'll probably be the only two members of the club for the rest of time. Drew Brees (370) and Tom Brady (363) are getting old and no other active quarterback in the NFL is even halfway to 500. Weeks on projection list for Manning: 4/4.

4. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck: When you do something that's never been done before in NFL history, then you get to be on the MVP Projection list and over the past two weeks, Andrew Luck has done something that's never been done before in NFL history. 

The most impressive thing about Luck, besides the fact that he still uses a flip phone, is probably his 13 touchdown passes. Before Luck, no quarterback in Colts history had ever thrown 13 touchdown passes through four games -- and yes, that list includes Peyton Manning who topped out at 11. Weeks on projection list for Luck: 1/4.

5. Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray: Here's how good Murray has been this season: The Cowboys running back leads the NFL with 534 rushing yards -- no other back has 400. As a matter of fact, Murray has more yards than the NFL's seventh and eighth leading rushers combined (Chris Ivory and Matt Forte have totaled 532 yards). 

Even more ridiculous is the fact that if Murray ran for zero yards in the Cowboys next game, he'd still pretty much be on pace to break Emmitt Smith's franchise rushing record of 1,773 yards. 

Speaking of being on pace for a crazy record, Murray's currently on track for 2,136 yards, which would break Eric Dickerson's all-time rushing record of 2,105 yards set in 1984.

Do you want one more fun fact? Lets do one more fun fact. Murray is only the fourth player in NFL history to rush for at least 100 yards and one touchdown in the first four games of a season. The other three to do it? Smith, Jim Brown and O.J. Simpson. Weeks on projection list for Murray: 1/4.

6. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson: If there was an MVP award handed out for most hospitals visited by an NFL quarterback in one week, Wilson would win that award unanimously. During the Seahawks' bye, Wilson spent his week visiting sick children at local hospitals. He also danced with a puppy. You never see Colin Kaepernick dance with puppies. Weeks on projection list for Wilson: 2/4.

On the list last week, but didn't make the cut this week: Bengals QB Andy Dalton, Eagles QB Nick Foles.