CLEVELAND — No NFL player was better or more valuable Sunday than Tom Brady. In his return to the New England Patriots following his four-game Deflategate suspension, the four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns. The New England offense looked versatile and imposing, and the Patriots overpowered the Cleveland Browns.

The immediate question becomes: Can Brady actually end up being the NFL’s most valuable player this season while playing only 12 games?

He sure could.

Yes, the Patriots went 3-1 without Brady. And that led to some talk about Coach Bill Belichick being more indispensable to the Patriots than Brady is.

But while the Patriots were good with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback and managed to win a game with rookie Jacoby Brissett as the starter, they were nowhere near as crisp and as smooth and as dominant as they were Sunday with Brady. The Browns might be winless, but they’d been competitive just about every week until facing the Patriots with Brady.

“It’s super great,” tight end Rob Gronkowski said after the 33-13 triumph. “He’s our leader. He’s our guy. He came out here on fire.”

The Patriots, with Brady, could be next to unstoppable on offense if the offensive line holds up better than it did last season. They can run the ball with LeGarrette Blount. They can create major matchup problems for opposing defenses with their two excellent tight ends, Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett. They can stretch secondaries with wide receivers Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan.

Former Patriots fullback Heath Evans predicted in a phone interview last week that Gronkowski and Hogan would be the biggest beneficiaries of Brady’s return. Evans was on target: Hogan had 114 receiving yards Sunday and Gronkowski had 109. But there were others: Bennett had three touchdown catches.

Two other quarterbacks, Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, probably have established themselves as the early-season MVP front-runners. Sam Bradford has helped the Minnesota Vikings to the league’s only perfect record. Rookies Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz have been terrific. Among non-quarterbacks, Denver pass rusher Von Miller remains the centerpiece of the Broncos’ magnificent defense.

But there is no single, clear-cut MVP favorite so far. So there is time for Brady to catch up.

Brady, for his part, was participating in no Deflategate reflection following Sunday’ game. He was given his chance to characterize his on-field exploits Sunday as the beginning of his revenge tour or as a redemptive moment following his long ordeal. He declined to do so.

“I was just thinking about today and what I had to do,” Brady said. “I just tried to focus on what my job is.”

He also was asked at his postgame news conference about the idea that the scandal tarnished his career.

“I’ve just moved on, man,” Brady said. “I’m just trying to play a good game today.”

GRONK BEING GRONK

Gronkowski invented a word Sunday when speaking about the energy that Brady brings to the team: amp-ness.

“Everyone was intense today,” Gronkowski said. “Everyone was amped up. Tom always brings the amp-ness to the table. So we were just excited to get back out there, get back on track and get a win.”

As Gronkowki left his postgame news conference, a reporter told him that he’d made an addition to the English language.

“I don’t know,” Gronkowski said. “I just say it.”

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