FOXBORO — The Gillette Stadium faithful started the “MVP” chants for Tom Brady in the second half of yesterday’s Christmas Eve slaughter of the Jets, and with good reason.

In the second-to-last regular-season game, Brady went out and reinforced his case to win the award. He should be the man. Even with his four-game Deflategate suspension to start the season, he’s proven the most valuable and most worthy of the honor.

Sure, Matt Ryan has put up some gaudy statistics while leading the Falcons this season. And rookie Ezekiel Elliott has ignited the Cowboys offense for the NFC’s top team.

Both of those players have put together fine years and are certainly in the MVP conversation. But Brady should still win. He’s been picking apart defenses almost at will this season, yesterday shredding the Jets with completions to eight different receivers — none named Rob Gronkowski.

The thinking was, the Patriots offense would suffer dire consequences without Gronk, only Brady continues to lead, to put up numbers and to put up wins. He torched the AFC East rivals for three touchdown passes, playing in just three quarters during the 41-3 thrashing of the hapless Jets, the Pats’ sixth straight victory.

Brady has 25 TD passes on the season versus two interceptions. No other quarterback has that kind of accuracy or effectiveness. No one is playing that well, especially for a team that’s 13-3. And while Ryan has lost Julio Jones for a few games, it’s not a season-ending loss like Brady has with Gronk.

After the game, LeGarrette Blount was quick to endorse No. 12’s candidacy.

“Without a doubt, he should be in the race. To me, I think he is the MVP,” said Blount, who ran for a pair of touchdowns in the rout. “That’s just my personal opinion. I think he is. That’s my quarterback, and I’m playing with the greatest quarterback of all time. Even though he missed games or whatever, he is the best quarterback in the league, easily, hands down.”

The reason the MVP chants started and reverberated throughout the stands in the third quarter?

On a third-and-16 from the Patriots 21-yard line, Brady somehow escaped the clutches of the Jets pass rush, scrambling and circling back around, coming out on the other side before hitting Julian Edelman for a 28-yard gain that set up a touchdown.

It was a microcosm of so many other plays he’s made to get the offense going.

“It was a good play. I thought everyone stayed alive,” Brady said. “It was good protection. It bought me some time, and then I kind of doubled back and then found Jules (Edelman) and we ended up scoring on the drive, so that was a good play.”

It was a great play, with Brady using his legs, as he has so often done this season, to avoid a loss, buy some time, then having the presence to strike for a back-breaking completion.

“Watching him play this game is fun,” said Chris Hogan, who had a 22-yard reception. “He’s been doing it so long at such a high level. You go back and watch film, it’s fun seeing him find all those open guys, and put them in positions to make big plays.”

Brady even gave Matt Lengel the thrill of a lifetime, with his first NFL catch being a touchdown. And the reason Lengel was targeted by Brady for the 18-yard reception was simple enough: He was the open guy.

That’s been a Brady trademark when he’s on a roll. And, in this instance, Lengel wasn’t the first option.

“A lot of guys made plays today, so it was nice,” said Brady. “Matt got his first touchdown pass. That was pretty cool. I would say he really wasn’t the first option on the play, but he sprung free and it ended up being a big play in the game. Between the guys like that and then the usual suspects, we made some plays down the field.”

But it all starts with the trigger man. Before handing off to backup Jimmy Garoppolo, Brady converted 10-of-14 third-down chances, with a 124.6 quarterback rating.

Ryan has some impressive numbers (34 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 4,613 yards) but his team doesn’t have 13 wins (Atlanta is 10-5). Elliott leads the league in rushing, and might be the stiffest competition from the NFC-East leading Cowboys.

Sure, the Pats went 3-1 to start the season without Brady, but it’s a different ballgame when he’s under center. Just his presence makes anything possible. Take him away, and that kind of feeling, that kind of security and sense of invincibility is gone.

That’s why the fans were chanting “MVP” in the third quarter before he left the game. That’s why his teammates believe he’s the MVP. And ultimately, that’s why he should be the MVP.