Handing out the Hardware: NFL Final Awards

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers

I’m going to include the postseason in my award considerations because it is the whole reason for the regular season, the whole reason the game is played, and it's where the most important performances take place.  So taking the playoffs into account, there's no other way to look than Rodgers.  Sure, Tom Brady had a ludicrous touchdown-to-interception ratio and Michael Vick was electrifying all year long, but what did they do when it mattered most?  Rodgers beat Vick’s Eagles with a tremendous performance, and then broke the awesome meter against the Falcons, bested the hated Bears, and won the Super Bowl MVP against the vaunted Steelers.  If he’s not the MVP then answer me this question: Would you rather have any other player in the league than Aaron Rodgers?  I didn’t think so.

Defensive Player of the Year: Clay Matthews

This really isn’t even biased on my part as Matthews finished second in the AP voting for this award anyway.  He finished behind Troy Polamalu who had a great year, but he missed a fair amount of time.  The Steelers' defense could survive without him.  Without Matthews, the Packers defense basically loses its entire pass rush element, plus its flying wild haired mad man chasing down Vick and making him fumble element.  He was the key to the Green Bay defense because in order to neutralize him, you have to commit to him two blockers.  Matthews is as talented as they come, but just as important to his success is limitless stamina and a relentless desire to reach the football.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford

Call it a chalk pick, but how can you argue?  The Rams had won six games in their last three seasons.  Combined!  Think about that.  That means they were essentially the worst or second worst team in football for three straight years.  Then with a ton of pressure on his shoulders–many thought Suh should have been the Rams' number one overall pick–Bradford shows up and does nothing but deliver.  Also consider Donnie Avery and Mark Clayton, the Rams' two best receivers by far, sustained season-ending injuries early in the year.  So with maybe even less offensive talent than the previous years, which as mentioned were awful seasons, Bradford still put up amazing numbers and nearly led his team to the playoffs.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ndamukong Suh

This is the most impressive defensive rookie I’ve ever seen.  Period.  In case the period at the end of my first sentence wasn’t emphatic enough.  Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham has said that he rated Suh higher than any prospect he’d ever scouted by far.  Coming from a guy that's been an NFL head coach or top-level coordinator for over fifteen years, that's high praise.  Cunningham also said that he’s never seen a man Suh’s size so incredibly athletic.  Suh had 10 sacks on the year, made the All Pro team, meaning that he was voted the best player, not just rookie, at his position, and helped make the Lions' defense respectable.

Most Improved Player: Brandon Lloyd

This award could go in a lot of different directions and could have many interpretations, but Lloyd was spectacular all year on a team without a great quarterback play or any talent elsewhere on the offense.  I saw this guy up close as 49er and I never saw him having this type of year.

Coach of the Year: Raheem Morris

Even after I ranted about the playoffs being the most important part of the season, it wasn’t Morris’ fault that the Bucs didn’t dance in the tournament.  The Buccaneers won ten games this year, and if not for some bad luck, easily could have made the playoffs.  After winning just four games in 2009, most people had them pegged for a similar season this year.  He single-handedly morphed this defense into a promising unit, got the most out of Josh Freeman, and stabilized an incredibly young team that sustained a brutal amount of injuries.

Worst Football Commentator: Tie between Phil Simms and Keyshawn Johnson

Is Phil Simms trying to destroy the English language or does he simply not know that a string of unrelated phrases does not constitute a sentence, much less a complete thought?  "The Patriots…turnovers…ball control…championship football."  The fact that he complements his bastardization of language with an "aw shucks" (read, idiotic) southern twang makes it all the more unbearable.

Johnson is annoying in the complete opposite way that Simms is.  If Simms is the  old school, country boy type, Johnson is the new school, look-at-me type.  Johnson constantly runs to the defense of today’s moronic players and their equally stupid hijinks.  He defends Chad Ochocinco, waves the flag for Brandon Marshall, and probably thinks Vick was innocent.  Today’s athlete can be a detestable figure, but Keyshawn doesn’t see it that way, and that’s what makes him so aggravating.

 

Also Keyshawn wins votes as most irritating commentator for constantly bringing attention to his career accomplishments, or even worse, talking about how good his game picks are.  When he picked Seattle over the Saints I thought ESPN was going to have to give him an hour-long special just so he could rehash what a brilliant analyst he is.

And one more thing, the reason Johnson gave this season for not having a better career was that he played with so many bad quarterbacks.  He said, and I’m paraphrasing slightly, "I played with fifteen quarterbacks and only four of them were smart."  What a teammate, what a guy.  Ladies and gentleman, Keyshawn Johnson.  Just give him the damn ball.

Best Football Commentator: Tom Jackson

Jackson gets double points for being a classy, no-nonsense analyst in the midst of clowns like Cris Carter and Keyshawn, attempting to keep the Chris Berman train on the tracks, and for providing good insight to the game.  He keeps things simple and doesn’t read much into the off-the-field minutia that so many get caught up in.  He had a long career with the Broncos, but he doesn’t tell you about it at every turn, or hardly ever.  And, unlike Johnson, he never tells you that the position he played is the most important on the field.  Damn, I never realized just how annoying Keyshawn is until I starting writing this piece.

Game of the Year: Seahawks vs. Saints – Wild Card Round

There really is no correct answer for this category, but I loved watching this game for a few reasons.  It was the start of playoff football, it was a David vs Goliath matchup (and David won), and Marshawn Lynch made maybe the best run I’ve ever seen in a live game.  Also, there were 77 points scored in front of a frenzied Seattle crowd.

Best Single Game Performance: Aaron Rodgers – Divisional Round at Atlanta

Huge stakes, on the road, 31-36 passing, 366 yards, 3 touchdowns, no picks, and some guys even dropped balls.   Vick’s Week 10 performance against the Redskins (20/28, 333 yards, 4 TD’s, no picks, 80 rushing yards, 2 rushing scores) comes close but it wasn’t in the playoffs or even against a good team so Rodgers gets the nod.

Best Celebration: BJ Raji Spoon-Feeding Himself

Rodgers' title belt and Matthews’ predator howl came close, but in the end, there’s something truly hysterical about a 340 pound man pretending to daintily spoon feed himself after ripping through an offensive line and spiking a quarterback to the ground.

Best Moment that Almost Happened: Phil Simms vs. Desmond Howard

Allegedly Simms threatened to punch Howard in the face because Howard called Simms’ son the worst quarterback in the SEC.  Can you imagine how badly Simms would have gotten his ass kicked?

Other Things I Liked This Year

1. The emergence of new stars like Bradford, Suh, Freeman, Arian Foster, Mike Wallace, Cameron Wake, Peyton Hillis, LeSean McCoy, Dez Bryant, Hakeem Nicks, Darren McFadden, Joe Haden, Earl Thomas, Eric Berry, and many more
2. The restructured NFL Draft schedule:  So it’s not really part of the season per se, but everybody loves the draft, and to stretch it over three days including the first round in prime time scratches me right where I itch.  I’m pathetic.  I know.
3. New blood in the postseason: The Chiefs, Seahawks, Bears, and Falcons all missed the party last year but made it this time around.  It’s always fun to have some turnover, and the NFL usually obliges.
4. Good championship games:  The AFC Championship, NFC Championship, and Super Bowl were decided by a combined eighteen points, nothing wrong with that.
5. Going to Lambeau Field: This has nothing to do with you, but it was great for me.  Any time I travel to the mecca of professional football, I get chills, literally and figuratively.
6. Favre crashing and burning: "You get what you deserve" has never had a more appropriate target than this year’s Brett Favre.  As a philandering, sexting, self-absorbed, turnover machine, whose Green Bay protégé is now on top of the NFL world is how we will remember Favre in 2010.

Other Things I Didn’t Like This Year

1. The resurgence of Vick and Ben Roethlisberger: I don’t buy any of this crap about these being reformed men.  They are jerks at best and felons at worst.  I don’t like seeing them being showered with compliments and contracts, which are sure to come.
2. The struggles of the Colts:  Call me boring, but I just kind of like it when Peyton Manning is a machine shredding through the rest of the league.  This year reminded me that he’s getting old and doesn’t have too many years left.   That’s sad for all of us because he is wonderful to watch.
3. Twitter:  Just because some athlete writes something on Twitter does not make it an actual news story.
4. The Bungles: Even though it was short-lived, it was nice to see Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis make the postseason last year.  This franchise needed to build on that success but simply could not.
5. Bad Super Bowl commercials:  Yes I was in the bathroom for many of them, and was perhaps too inebriated to understand them all, but from what I can remember, they sucked.
6. The 49ers: Seriously, when in the hell are we going to be good again?

Teams on the Rise

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: young quarterback, young defense, young coach
2. St. Louis Rams: Bradford can be great if management finds him someone to throw to.
3. Detroit Lions: Suh, Matthew Stafford, and Megatron are some nice young players to have.
4. Green Bay Packers: You can't really get any higher than winning the Super Bowl, but they will be back and even better next year.
5. Dallas Cowboys: I promise not to pick them to go to the Super Bowl again.

Teams on the Decline

1. Baltimore Ravens: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Anquan Boldin are all getting older.  Also I wonder if Joe Flacco hasn't leveled off in his progression.
2. New York Jets: Darrelle Revis had the best year of his career two years ago, they have tons of key free agents, and the defense is not as good as people think.  Kris Jenkins is always inured, Bart Scott and Jason Taylor are old, and LaDanian Tomlinson is on his last legs.
3. Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler is not a franchise quarterback, the coaching staff is perpetually on the hot seat, and they don’t have enough good young players.
4. New York Giants: I’m not sure if Eli Manning will ever have a great year.  Neither front line, offense or defense, can seem to recapture its Super Bowl-winning form.
5. Indianapolis Colts: This whole team is getting older and the depth of talent just isn’t what it used to be.  Peyton is still great and the Colts have pledged to spend more money, but this team’s window is closing.

So there you have it, a season full of great performances, terrible commentators, new superstars, and old stars fading into oblivion.  I can’t wait for next season, assuming that it actually happens.

--from Adam