Now over the last few weeks you have likely heard about a few being handed out, but the Big Dogs are going to be handed out Saturday night. I'm talking about the MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Coach of the Year--all that stuff.
Those are the ones that most folks know about, but there are actually quite a few. Here's the rundown:
AP Most Valuable Player
AP Coach of the Year
AP Offensive Player of the Year
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year
Pepsi Max Rookie of the Year
NFL.com Fantasy Player of the Year
Don Shula NFL HS Coach of the Year Award
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
AP Comeback Player of the Year
GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Year
FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Year
Greatness on the Road
Play of the Year
Salute To Service Award
AP Defensive Player of the Year
There are a lot of great awards in here and some that I think the NFL pimped out for advertising dollars and really don't deserve a lot of attention. It's not to say that the never say never moment of the year wasn't great or that the Pepsi Max ROY of the year is better or worse than the AP's, but it's commercialism gone bad (just like when the Sugar Bowl became the Nokia Sugar Bowl).
Anyway...my intention was to do a few posts where I would wax poetic over the candidates for the big awards, but due to sleep deprivation courtesy of my kids, my son throwing mac n'cheese at my laptop, and my daughter taking off her diaper and throwing it down the slide time is of the essence.
So lets just jump right into it.
Coach of the Year: there are a handful of guys that did a great job this year, but if Bruce Arians of the Indianapolis Colts does not win it a great injustice will be done. You can say that Chuck Pagano laid the groundwork, but at the time he left the team the Colts still looked like crap. It was Arians that completed the process, led the Colts to a 9-3 record, and made them into a playoff caliber team one season after being one of the worst the NFL has ever seen.
Offensive Player of the Year: Again, lots of good candidates, but I think the winner here is also clear. How can you not give it to Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. Coming within nine yards of setting the single season rushing record and making a forgettable team a playoff contender was something else to watch this year.So lets just jump right into it.
Coach of the Year: there are a handful of guys that did a great job this year, but if Bruce Arians of the Indianapolis Colts does not win it a great injustice will be done. You can say that Chuck Pagano laid the groundwork, but at the time he left the team the Colts still looked like crap. It was Arians that completed the process, led the Colts to a 9-3 record, and made them into a playoff caliber team one season after being one of the worst the NFL has ever seen.
Defensive Player of the Year: I have to go with J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans. This is a tough one to choose because teams will always game plan to take out the best players making it pretty hard for them to stand out each and every week. As a result there are some weeks where he wasn't a force, but there were many more that he was. It's hard to deny the sacks and the number of balls this guys swatted down too.
I really can't think of any other defender that offenses feared as much as this guy this season (with the exception of his lone competitor Aldon Smith)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Robert Griffin III will probably win it, but I would give it to Russell Wilson. RG3, in my opinion, had more to work with and at times I thought his success was almost as much a product of Mike Shanahan''s system as his awesomeness. It didn't hurt that he had another ROY candidate in the backfield with him in running back Alfred Morris.
What will probably lose it for Wilson is the time that it took for him to grow into the position once the season started. As good as he looked in the preseason, he looked bad enough the first few weeks there were plenty of calls for him to get benched. I''ll bet fans are glad Pete Carroll didn't listen, but that growth time--when RG3 was busy rockin' it--will make him the first loser.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: I'm stuck between two guys--cornerback Janoris Jenkins for the St. Louis Rams or linebacker Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers. Returning three of his four interceptions is the highlight for Janoris, but Luke led the NFL in tackles with 165. I'm leaning towards Luke, but it would not shock me if Janoris wins it.
Comeback Player of the Year: There are only two guys that should even be in the conversation--Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson. Both had nasty injuries; both came back and had phenomenal seasons. I have to go with Peyton here since his injury should have been a career ending injury. AP's was pretty harsh, but there was never doubt that he would play again.
MVP: This one is tough. Adrian Peterson is a popular candidate after his near-record breaking season, but I disagree. Part of his success was due to necessity since the team was not very good at passing most of the time. Had they run away with the division instead of needing a win at the end of the season to get into the playoffs I might think differently.
Peyton Manning is another popular name. His play was integral to the Broncos going from sneaking into the playoffs to charging in with a 13-3 record. Yes, at times the Broncos looked more confused than a virgin on prom night with the 'friendliest' girl in school, but that's too be expected when you have a new QB who happened to sit out all of last season.
My only problem with giving it to him was I still felt like I was watching the scene from 16 Candles when Anthony Michael Hall was presenting the panties to the bathroom full of nerds at the end of the season. They never seemed to completely get it together, but after a full and healthy off-season I'll be the first to name them Super Bowl favorites next season.
I think Tom Brady deserves it. I hate to say it, but no player has done as much with less help than him. The team could have lined William "the Refrigerator" Perry at wide receiver and he would have looked like an all-pro. Injuries never phased him. No matter what personnel he worked with he was efficient and effective.
New England's 12-4 record and status as the best offense in football is proof of that.
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