Why Antonio Brown should win MVP despite late-season injury

No receiver has ever won the NFL MVP award. That streak should come to an end this year.

In a season in which Tom Brady was dominant yet unspectacular and Todd Gurley's career year was good enough for second in the league in rushing, Antonio Brown stood out above all others with his year-long dominance.

The Pittsburgh Steelers receiver was the only unanimous first-team All-Pro selection after posting 101 receptions and 1,533 receiving yards while averaging 15.2 yards per catch.

He missed the majority of the final three games of the season with an injury, but had he continued at his weekly rate, Brown was on pace to put up 1,857 yards. That total would have ranked as the third-most receiving yards in a single season.

Brown entered Week 15 of the season playing at his best and ready to take hold of the MVP race. He had just recorded 11 catches and 213 yards in a come-from-behind win over the bitter rival Baltimore Ravens and was expected to be the focal point in a matchup of the AFC's best with the New England Patriots.

He hauled in two passes before suffering a torn calf muscle while attempting to make a touchdown catch. The injury sidelined Brown for the rest of the season and resulted in him being crossed off of MVP ballots everywhere. But he shouldn't have been.

Missing two games should not eliminate a player from contention. Brown was unable to make an impact against the Patriots, or in the week that followed, but he likely would have been held out of a meaningless season finale against the Browns anyways.

In spite of his injury, he still closed the campaign as the league leader in receiving yards. And in the weeks following Brown's injury, other MVP candidates failed to make open-and-shut cases in their quests for the award.

Brady led the league in passing yards and attempts, but one could argue his season doesn't stand up to his MVP campaigns in 2007 and 2010. In those seasons, he finished with a passer rating of 117.2 and 111. His rating was 102.8 in 2017. His QB rating was a career-best 88.2 in '07 and 81.3 in '10. It stood at 70.2 this year.

Gurley led the league in all-purpose yards, but did he dominate games like Brown did? AB had six games of 10-plus catches and 100-plus yards. He's the first player to ever have multiple seasons with at least five such games.

For the Steelers, Brown was often the difference between winning and losing. And he had the highlight reel to boot.

There was his helmet-catch touchdown against the Titans in Week 11:

And in a tied game with the Packers in Week 12, he left no room for error with a sideline catch and toe drag with 17 seconds left on the clock:

It led to a game-winning field goal.

Then, trailing by two in the final minute of a Week 14 game against the Ravens, his 34-yard haul put the Steelers in position for another game-winning kick:

In the playoffs, he dominated his head-to-head with Pro Bowl corner A.J. Bouye:

Calvin Johnson broke the single-season receiving-yard record in 2012, but he was overshadowed in the MVP race by Adrian Peterson's 2,097 yards and Peyton Manning's return from a neck injury.

In 2017, Brown had no such competition.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)