“Weak and out of control.” That’s how the President of the United States of America described the NFL in 2017. Many people agree with him. How else to define a league that, almost a century on from its foundation, only seems to get more confused about what constitutes a catch?
Of course, that wasn’t actually what Donald Trump was ranting about. This was a year not so much dominated by protest in the NFL as by the hyperbolic reaction to it. What began in 2016 as a lone player’s attempt to raise awareness of unequal treatment of minorities in America has instead been contorted into a toxic discourse on patriotism and free speech.
No team found space for Colin Kaepernick, even though several employed less talented quarterbacks – one of whom took his team to within a whisper of the Super Bowl. It has been a weird year.
An entertaining one, too, though, and not only for the return of end zone celebrations. The 2017 season brought us the Minnesota Miracle, Sacksonville and the Wentz Wagon. We got to see a glimpse of the future from Deshaun Watson in Houston, Jimmy Garoppolo bringing fresh hope to San Francisco and Tony Romo critiquing the running form of a kitten.
Some things, though, stay unchanged. The New England Patriots in a Super Bowl, an Andy Reid team imploding in the playoffs, and the Cleveland Browns plumbing deeper depths than their fans ever thought possible. And, hey, this league must still carry some influence. After all, Papa John seems to think that it’s bringing down his business single-handed.
As we start Super Bowl week, let’s get into our annual awards.
Most Valuable Player
By process of elimination, Tom Brady. OK, I’m being (more than) a little unfair. Brady is an extremely worthy winner of our MVP award, and will surely pick up the real thing, too, after steering the Patriots to yet another No1 seed in the AFC. He led the NFL with 4,577 passing yards despite losing his favourite target from last season, Julian Edelman, to injury.
He extended his ludicrous sequence of fourth-quarter comebacks, rallying New England past Houston in week three, Pittsburgh in week 15 and Jacksonville in the AFC title game – the latter despite losing Rob Gronkowski. Just because voters in the official (AP) awards have to submit their nominations at the end of the regular season does not oblige the rest of us to ignore what has happened since.
So yes, perhaps Carson Wentz would have beaten Brady to it if he had stayed healthy. The Eagles QB was phenomenal, and finished the regular season with one more touchdown than his Patriots counterpart despite blowing out his knee in week 14. Then again, you might also make a case against Wentz being the ‘most valuable’ from the fact that his team have won four out of five to reach the Super Bowl since.
Offensive Player of the Year
You could also make a case for Todd Gurley as MVP. Not only did he lead the league in both yards from scrimmage (2,093) and combined rushing/receiving touchdowns (19), but in doing so he also obliged opponents to bring extra men down to the line of scrimmage: opening up opportunities for quarterback Jared Goff – who consequently made huge strides in his second year.
Would the Rams have suffered more without Gurley than the Patriots without Brady? That might depend whether you are talking before or after the Garoppolo trade. But, look, we know how this works. Quarterbacks get the MVP, and running backs or receivers the OPOY. Gurley is the obvious choice here, aided by the late-season injury which reduced Antonio Brown’s playing time.
Defensive Player of the Year
Definitely one of the toughest categories to call. DeMarcus Lawrence began the season brilliantly, but faded. Chandler Jones was the most productive pass rusher – finishing with 2.5 more sacks than his closest competition – but is it enough just to do one thing well on an 8-8 team?
Harrison Smith offered a more constant contribution, as effective against the run as he was against the pass in Minnesota. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just 6.1 yards per completion into his coverage – the lowest such figure for any player in the league – but perhaps even more crucially missed only four tackles in coverage all season. Such simple fundamentals make all the difference between a brilliant play and a busted one.
Right now, though, I’m having a hard time forgetting the way that Zach Ertz dominated Smith in the NFC Championship Game. So you can blame recency bias all you like, but my award will go to Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell.
He set a franchise record with 14.5 sacks, though that is hardly the sum of what he brought to his new team. Versatile enough to be deployed all along the line of scrimmage, and disruptive anywhere, he offered leadership to a young group that needed it. If the likes of Yannick Ngakoue, Dante Fowler and Malik Jackson also enjoyed their most productive seasons yet, each would tell you that he too had something to do with it.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
A once crowded field has been whittled down to a pair of third-round picks. Dalvin Cook and Deshaun Watson were lost to injury, while Leonard Fournette missed three games and appeared to struggle through others despite pounding his way past the 1,000-yard mark. That left Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara as the two men still standing.
Hunt led the league with 1,327 yards rushing, no small feat when you consider that there were four games in which he ran the ball fewer than 10 times. Yet you could certainly make a case that his contribution was less than that of Kamara, whose 1,901 all-purpose yards included a 106 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in week 17.
The New Orleans player averaged 6.1 yards per carry and 10.2 per reception – both better figures than his rival. But I am still inclined to give the award to Hunt, for the simple fact that he was shouldering a greater burden in the Kansas City backfield. Outside of quarterback Alex Smith, no other Chief rushed for more than 72 yards in a game. The pressure was all on him to deliver, where Kamara got to share the load with Mark Ingram in New Orleans.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Marshon Lattimore. Yes, he missed three games, but he played at an elite level when he was on the field, reeling in five interceptions and becoming just one of six qualifying corners not to allow a touchdown all season, according to Pro Football Focus. Tre’Davious White was good, too, but not on this level.
Best Use of a Butt
Let’s not forget, by the way, that Lattimore caught one of those interceptions with his hiney.
Coach of the Year
As usual, Bill Belichick would be a deserving winner. But that is an annual proposition, and we gave him our award last year, so I’m inclined to look elsewhere this time around. His Super Bowl opponent Doug Pederson was already a strong candidate before Wentz tore his ACL, and the way that the Eagles’ offense unloaded on Minnesota with Nick Foles behind center in the NFC title game was astonishing.
But there is a statistic that I’m struggling to look past: the one that says the Rams are the first team since the merger to go from last in scoring offense to first in the same category 12 months later. This despite the fact that they had the same starters at quarterback and running back, and no 1,000-yard receiver on their books.
Yes, it is easier to look good when you are following on from Jeff Fisher. But Sean McVay did look very good indeed in his first year as an NFL head coach.
Plays of the Year
In reverse order …
This is why you DO NOT kick to @TarikCohen.
— NFL (@NFL) December 3, 2017
Absolutely ridiculous. #DaBears pic.twitter.com/UahwkjI02F
5) Tarik Cohen was going the wrong way on his punt return against the 49ers … until he wasn’t.
4) Deshaun Watson goes for a stroll against Cincinnati.
3) Toes tapped dept: Antonio Brown against the Packers was good, but Julio Jones against Seattle was better.
2) One-handed catch dept: Rob Gronkowski against the Bills was good, and Maurice Harris against Minnesota even better. But DeAndre Hopkins tipping the ball up for himself was utterly ridiculous.
1) Look, the Play of the Year has to be Stefon Diggs and the Minnesota Miracle, because which other play are we going to remember more vividly in five years’ time?
That said, there was a similarly improbable ending to the first-half of Kansas City’s game against Dallas in November. There were seven opponents between Tyreek Hill and the end zone when he caught the ball 40 yards out on the final play of the second quarter. He found a way past all of them.
Best two-point trickery
Mitch Trubisky runs one in (eventually) against the Vikes.
Best disappearing act
Carson Wentz, from under a pile of Washington defenders.
Most willing to throw a team-mate under the bus
"Uhhh YOU TAKE IT!" - Kirk Cousins, probably... 😟 pic.twitter.com/n0JjISV42b
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 5, 2017
Kirk Cousins.
Best stiff arm
Austin Hooper on Quintin Demps.
Best pre-snap chat
Clay Matthews: It's that wheel route, it's that wheel route
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) December 18, 2017
Cam Newton: You been watching film, huh?
Matthews: Yeah
Cam: That's cool. Watch this
Cam: Slant to McCaffrey TD
I can't stop watching this.pic.twitter.com/PZcfiayC7T
Who needs ‘Omaha!’ when you’ve got Cam Newton congratulating Clay Matthews for predicting the Panthers’ playcalls… before beating him with a subtle tweak.
Weirdest press conference
The one where Santa filled in for Andy Reid.
Honourable mention: The one where Chuck Pagano got a question about being stuck in Groundhog Day, and ran with it.
Simplest pleasures
Cam Newton, getting a train to toot its horn on the way past Panthers practice.
Man of the Year
Chris Long, who announced in October that he was giving away his entire 2017 salary to support educational causes. His paychecks for the first six weeks of this season went toward scholarships for a school in his hometown, and the next 10 to charities in Philadelphia, St Louis and Boston – the three cities where he has played in his professional career. The 32-year-old has thrived on the field for the Eagles, too, collecting five regular season sacks despite limited snaps in the defensive line rotation. It was his hit that caused Case Keenum to underthrow his receiver in the NFC title game, allowing Patrick Robinson to pick the ball off and return it for a 50-yard touchdown.
Man of the Year if You Live in Buffalo
Andy Dalton did not often please his own team’s supporters in 2017, but he certainly made Bills fans happy as he threw for three touchdowns in an improbable week 17 win over the Ravens – a triumph that allowed Buffalo to squeeze into the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Over the following three days, Bills fans donated almost a quarter of a million dollars to the Bengals quarterback’s charitable foundation – much of it in $17 increments.
