Should Antonio Brown be in the MVP race?

Antonio Brown torched the Tennessee Titans on Thursday, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 40-17 victory on the strength of his 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

This isn't altogether surprising, but we're also amid a 24-hour news cycle that makes any dominant performance a rote footnote on the internet. By making the absurd seem routine, we've collectively underrated Brown, and he absolutely should be a top contender in the most divided MVP race in recent memory.

Brown leads the NFL with 1,026 receiving yards, but pedants and exhausted fantasy football opponents will argue he's played 10 games as opposed to the majority of the league's nine. That's hardly a consideration. Brown also leads the league in receptions (70), targets (114), 20-yard plus catches (16), receiving yards per game (102.6), receiving first downs (46) to say nothing of the advanced metrics that likely support his candidacy as the league's best receiver.

At the start of the year, there was a three-pronged argument over who was the NFL's best receiver: Brown, Julio Jones, or Odell Beckham Jr. While Jones has the best physical profile of any wideout, he hasn't consistently been his all-world self under a new offensive coordinator, and Beckham's candidacy was submarined before it began in earnest. It may not have mattered anyway. With a body of evidence growing mountainous as each game passes, Brown may be the best NFL player relative to their position.

The passage of time is undefeated, and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn't exempt to this rule. Roethlisberger has a 61.8 completion percentage - his lowest since 2010 - while throwing 16 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. The 14th-year pro ruminated about retiring after an abysmal Oct. 8 performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then coldly dismissed any such notion when pressed by reporters.

All too often, Roethlisberger looks like a shell of his former self, only to have Brown bail him out. One would be remiss to overlook Le'Veon Bell's all-around contributions, but it's Brown who answers the bell most often, catching a series of intermediate-to-long-range passes - which would've been otherwise intercepted - and turning them into scoring opportunities. That may be the rarest gift of all.

If the MVP is judged to be the player who's most valuable to their team, Brown may be out of the running; Tom Brady, Carson Wentz, and Russell Wilson pose stronger arguments there, while Bell complicates Brown's candidacy. However, if the award is presented to the player with the most impact on the shape of the 2017 season, Brown should be skyrocketing to the top of the list.

Brown is once again dominating the NFL and perhaps we're taking his brilliance for granted. He's on pace for the third-best season of his career which may also work as a deterrent against his chances of becoming the first wide receiver to win NFL MVP. When the portrait of the 2017 season is completed, it will be Brown at the forefront, snagging sublime catches with routine excellence as the Steelers sail away in the AFC North.