Year End Awards

It's that time of the year again! The time when I don't shut up for the entire offseason!

Plenty of crazy stuff happened this year, and my Packers are 15-1 and comfortably had the #1 seed locked up a couple weeks ago. First time since the 90s the Packers were this good! I'm not here to talk about the Packers, though...well....okay...maybe a little. Today we're going to look at all of the end of the year awards. I'm going to include all of the normal ones PLUS I'm going to make a ton of new ones up.

MVP: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

I'm sure everyone guessed I would pick A-Rod. Let me convince you why I picked him. Let's take a look at his stat line, first normal and then more in depth.

343/502 68.3% 4,643 yards 45 TDs 9.0% TD% 6 INTs 1.2% INT% 9.2 YPA 122.5 QB Rating.

These stats are good enough to win the MVP, but some may argue Brees had a better year. Not really. It's actually not even close. Rodgers sat 9 quarters total during the season when the Packers were ahead. He has just 98 attempts in the 4th quarter, about 4.6 a game. Brees stayed in for the majority of all games. Brees' stats were volume. Let's look at Brees' stat line in depth.

468/657 71.2% 5,476 yards 46 TDs 7.0% TD% 14 INT 2.1% INT% 8.2 YPA 110.6 QB Rating.

On the surface, it looks better than Rodgers' season. If you look closely though, you'll see the mark of volume stats and excessive throwing. First, Brees completes a higher percentage of passes, and 125 more total, yet throws 1 more TD. He would have been below that number substantially had he not stayed in VS Carolina despite them being up by a wide margin. They also had him stay in vs Atlanta and throw another TD pass despite being up by a lot in order to secure the passing yardage record in week 15. Despite earning the record, Brees played almost the entire game the next week.

The biggest mark of a good QB is how efficient they are. Rodgers can score at will. Brees can to, to an extent, but Rodgers is better at it. 9% of Rodgers' passes ended up as a TD while only 7% of Brees' did. A full 2% difference. Brees out gained Rodgers through the air by 833 yards. Rodgers had almost a full yard more per attempt though, 9.2 to 8.3. Rodgers would need 596 attempts to beat Brees' total, a full 61 attempts less than Brees. Rodgers was also markedly safer with the ball tossing just 6 INTs compared to Brees' 14. 2.1% of Brees' throws were intercepted while only 1.2% of Rodgers' were picked off. Rodgers also broke the record for best QB rating ever in a season. Rodgers is the definition of efficient.

If you're not convinced, Rodgers is also a threat on his feet. He out gained Brees on the ground 267 yards to 86 and scored 3 TDs to Brees' 1.

It's pretty obvious who the clearcut winner should be. I won't even get into how superior Brees' running game and offensive line are.

Offensive Player of the Year: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

As much bashing as I just did, Brees deserves a ton of credit for what he accomplished. He did break a record that's almost 30 years old. What diminishes this accomplishment is that Brady also broke Marino's record and is now second behind Brees. People can clearly see that Brees unnecessarily racked up yardage. Matthew Stafford also racked up over 5,000 yards on the season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jared Allen, DE, Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings don't have much to be happy about. The Donovan McNabb experiment didn't work out (though honestly, nobody though it would). Adrian Peterson blew out his knee and it will be questionable whether or not he is able to be ready for the opener next September. Percy Harvin continues to battle injuries. The secondary is swiss cheese. The offensive line is horrid. Pretty much the only thing the Vikings have going for them is DE Jared Allen. Allen played his heart out all year racking up 66 tackles, 22 sacks, 4 fumbles forced, 4 fumbles recovered, 3 passes defended and 1 INT. Mind you these sacks came on a team that was ALWAYS trailing this year. That to me makes his accomplishment even bigger.

I understand he probably won't win it. Who will win it is Terrell Suggs just because he's Terrell Suggs and he's on a winning team. If you want to hear me bitch about how being on a winning team shouldn't automatically qualify you for an award and being on a losing team shouldn't automatically disqualify you, look back in the archives, I did an angry post about it. Jared Allen was one of the few good defenders in a season where defense was almost absent. 5 teams scored over 500 points.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers

Surprising the league in his first 2 games, Cam Newton threw for over 800 yards. He quickly quieted doubters, like myself, with his play. While his hand cooled down a bit, his performance never did. Take a look at his passing numbers.

310/517 60% 4,051 yards 21 TD 4.1 TD% 17 INT 3.3 INT% 7.8 YPA 84.5 QB Rating.

Andy Dalton had slightly better QB numbers and his team won more than Carolina, so many must be wondering why I chose Newton over Dalton. Newton's rushing ability crushes Dalton's chance at the award. Newton rushed for 706 yards and 14 TDs with a 5.6 YPC. Unreal for a rookie.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Von Miller, LB, Denver Broncos

Von Miller is just a pure animal. In his first season as a pro, he started 15 games, missing one with injury, and performed at an All-Pro level. Miller racked up 51 tackles and 11.5 sacks. He also defended 4 passes and forced 3 fumbles. Miller will be a force for years to come and he's already established himself as one of the better players in the NFL.

Comeback Player of the Year: Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions

I know some may feel that the comeback player of the year should be an established player who was injured and then came back. While Stafford wasn't "established," he certainly showed at ton of potential in his prior two years starting. If you don't believe me, go back to the Cleveland-Detroit game from 2009 and watched the Sound FX clip of Stafford hurting his shoulder. He's on the ground in pain, screaming. He comes off for one play, goes back in the next, throws the game winning TD. The kid has heart and potential. Stafford came back in a huge way this year, let's see his numbers:

421/663 5,038 yards 63.5% 41 TDs 6.2 TD% 16 INT 2.4 INT% 7.6 YPA 97.2 QB Rating.

He's quickly established himself as a top 5-10 QB after being out for the last 2 seasons with an injury. To me that's a bigger comeback than most we've seen.

Coach of the Year: Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers

I'd love to say McCarthy, but he already had an awesome team from last year. Harbaugh came in on his first season as a head coach and turned the 49ers into a dominant team. No question on this one. Harbaugh deserves it.

Now, for some fun awards:

The NASA Astronaut Award: Jerome Simpson, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

That leap vs Arizona was unreal.

The Ron Jeremy Giant Package Award: James Harrison, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

No questioning his manhood after that hit he put on Colt McCoy.

The Payton Hillis White Guy Excelling at a Skill Position Award: Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers

Wes Welker is the man, but Jordy Nelson scoring 15 TDs is unreal.

The Ryan Leaf Meltdown Award: The Entire New York Jets Franchise

Unreal how nuclear that locker room can get.

The Ryan Leaf Overhyped Draft Prospect Award: Blaine Gabbert, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

He turns his back to the freaking pass rush!

The Chicago Cubs Unlucky Franchise Award: The Houston Texans

They win their first division title and advance to the playoffs only to lose their starting QB.

The Tim Couch Awful QB Award: Caleb Hanie, QB, Chicago Bears

He was just terrible this year.

The Brett Favre Hype and Slight Delivery Only To Regress Back to Being Mediocre Award: Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Buffalo Bills

He played so well so early. Losing Fred Jackson couldn't have helped, but he was playing miserable at some points.

The John Elway Overrated Award: Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

He's not awful. He's not great. He's a serviceable starter. Every postseason, without fail, he's given the nickname "Matty Ice." He doesn't deserve to get a nickname predicated upon him being "cool" under pressure. A good nickname for him is "Matt."