By that measurement, crowning an MVP is less about individual performance than the gap between a player’s performance and that of their backups.
In 2009, for example, Stewart Bradley’s injury proved how much better he was in the middle of the field than his various replacements. Meanwhile, Kevin Kolb’s great games against New Orleans and Kansas City showed that the dropoff to him from Donovan McNabb was not as steep as some people thought.
Here’s my (completely subjective) list of the Eagles’ five most valuable players going into 2010: