It's a tough decision, but give Saints quarterback Drew Brees the nod as NFL MVP

Peyton Manning or Drew Brees? Drew Brees or Peyton Manning?

Manning had one of his best seasons, which is saying something, considering he has three MVP awards. He won every game he started and finished, while passing for 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Brees had the highest passer rating (109.6) and broke Ken Anderson's record for completion percentage in a season (70.6). The Saints wouldn't be the top seed in the NFC without him.

It's hard to go wrong either way. Both are worthy.

MVP: Drew Brees, QB, Saints. Brees had one more TD and five fewer interceptions than Manning.

Offensive Player: Chris Johnson, RB, Titans. Set the NFL record for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and became the sixth in NFL history with 2,000 rushing yards in a season.

Defensive Player: Charles Woodson, CB, Packers. It came down to Woodson and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, and both were deserving. But Woodson had nine interceptions, one shy of the team record, returning three for TDs, and he forced four fumbles.

Offensive Rookie: Percy Harvin, WR, Vikings. Tied for the rookie lead with 790 receiving yards on 60 catches with six TDs. He also had two return TDs.

Defensive Rookie: Brian Cushing, LB, Texans. Brian Orakpo, Clay Matthews and Jairus Byrd also were candidates, but Cushing never came off the field. He had 134 tackles, tying him for the AFC lead, with four interceptions, five sacks and 10 pass breakups.

Comeback Player: Cadillac Williams, RB, Bucs. Tom Brady and Anthony Hargrove were possibilities. But Williams had his second major knee injury in 15 months when he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in the 2008 regular-season finale. He returned to rush for 821 yards, with a 3.9-yard average.

Coach: Marvin Lewis, Bengals. No team went through more than the Bengals, and yet, a team no one picked to do anything won one of football's toughest divisions.

All-Pro team

Staff writer Charean Williams is one of 50 voters for the NFL's All-Pro team:

Offense

WR Andre Johnson, Texans. Led the league in receiving yards for the second consecutive year, with 1,569 on 101 catches.

WR Wes Welker, Patriots. Nearly set the NFL record for catches with 123, 74 for first downs.

TE Dallas Clark, Colts. There are better blocking tight ends, but no tight end is more important to his team's passing game than Clark, who had 100 catches for 1,106 yards and 10 TDs.

T Michael Roos, Titans. Had no holding penalties and allowed five sacks for the second-best rushing team.

T Jake Long, Dolphins. Had one holding penalty and allowed five sacks for the fourth-best rushing team.

G Jahri Evans, Saints. Had three holding penalties and allowed two sacks for the third-ranked passing offense.