The 2014 NFL season will be remembered as one tarnished by endless scandal. It began with grim video footage of Ray Rice hitting his wife in an Atlantic City elevator, and progressed through a series of domestic abuse cases involving high profile stars. It ended with the newly-crowned Super Bowl champions, New England, awaiting the conclusion of an investigation into their use of deflated footballs during the AFC title game.
How the latter story will shake out remains to be seen. It was reported on Sunday that only one of the Patriots’ 12 footballs had been deflated to an air pressure that was two pounds per square inch below the league minimum. Others may have been much closer to complying with league guidelines. Either way, the NFL-appointed investigator, Ted Wells, said before the Super Bowl that he was unlikely to deliver a verdict for “at least several more weeks”.
League commissioner Roger Goodell has thus far survived all these crises. He stood defiantly at his pre-Super Bowl address and insisted that he could not even imagine a context in which he would resign or be fired. The fact that he was asked, repeatedly, about his personal job performance during that session tells its own story, and yet the league is expected to have turned a record profit under his stewardship once again.
The product on the field, furthermore, remains as compelling as ever. Super Bowl XLIX was the most-watched US TV show of all time, updating a record that the NFL had already broken three times in the past four years. The Patriots and Seahawks justified such attention with a game that was as brilliant as its conclusion was bewildering.
So for now, let us celebrate the past five months of football, rather than dwelling on the less edifying circumstances that have surrounded it. Without further ado, here are our annual NFL Talkboard awards.
Most Outstanding Player
As argued in more detail here, the NFL’s MVP award is being undermined by semantics. Taking the words ‘Most Valuable Player’ at their most literal, the award almost inevitably has to go to a quarterback – since their role is inherently more influential than that of any individual team-mate.
So we are rebranding our equivalent award as the Most Outstanding Player, and handing it without hesitation to JJ Watt. A haul of 20.5 sacks would be remarkable at any position but it is even more so for a 3-4 defensive end on a team with few other stand-out talents on that side of the ball. Throw in 78 tackles, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 10 passes defensed, one interception and an incredible five touchdowns (three of those while playing on offense), and his achievements move into the outlandish category.
Offensive player of the year
No individual stood out on offense quite like Watt did on the other side of the ball. DeMarco Murray won the AP edition of this award, but as brilliant as the Cowboys running back was, rushing for almost 500 yards more than any other player, we must also acknowledge that he was working behind the best offensive line in the league and with a quarterback, Tony Romo, who was also exceptional – discouraging opponents from stacking up against the run. Likewise, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown each benefited from having one another as team-mates in Pittsburgh.
Aaron Rodgers would be an obvious choice, the best quarterback in the league in this writer’s opinion, and if he had not torn his calf muscle late in the year we might be reflecting now on the second Super Bowl victory of his career. That he came so close to reaching that stage was a feat in itself, and the desperate 12-yard limp that he made for a first down on Green Bay’s final possession against Seattle spoke volumes to his toughness.
But we are going to go in a different direction here and give our award to Rob Gronkowski. This was a season in which Brandon LaFell almost went over 1,000 yards and Julian Edelman confirmed his status as a reliable possession receiver, but the Patriots offense is simply a different proposition with Gronk in the line-up. The same could be said for other players, of course, (hi, Tom) but the feat is more rare for a tight end.
Only three players in the league could top his 12 receiving touchdowns in the regular season, and Gronkowski added one in every postseason game. He was dominant when his team most needed a lift, hauling in six passes for 100 yards and a score to help the Patriots crush Cincinnati one week after being routed by the Chiefs. His one-handed grab over Denver’s TJ Ward was one of the most memorable plays of the season.
Defensive player of the year
Watt. (See above).
Rookie of the year
Odell Beckham Jr almost won this award with a single play. His preposterous three-finger catch against the Cowboys might just have been the greatest ever made in the NFL (we’re still reserving that award for David Tyree at Super Bowl XLII, but it’s certainly a close-run thing). But this was no isolated feat. Despite missing the first month of the season with a hamstring injury, Beckham still caught 91 balls for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns. The only question now is: what will he do for an encore?
Coach of the year
Bruce Arians won the AP award, and he is a richly deserving recipient. To fashion an 11-5 team out of the injury-strewn mess that was the Cardinals’ season was, bluntly, incredible. It is a lasting regret of this season that we never got to see how far Arizona could go with Carson Palmer under center.
But we are only going to make Arians a joint-winner of our award alongside the less crowd-pleasing Bill Belichick. It was his leadership which allowed the Patriots to stay on track after their collapse in Kansas City, and his innovative play-calling that dug the Patriots out of a hole in their divisional playoff game against Baltimore. All through the postseason he wrong-footed opponents with his switching of eligible and ineligible players. The 28 points scored on Seattle’s No1-ranked defense in the Super Bowl were just the latest evidence of Belichick’s capacity to identify weakness in even the most resolute opponents.
Best play of the year
In reverse order …
3) The whole ‘Beast quake’ thing is getting a little old, but watching Marshawn Lynch rampage through defenses really isn’t.
2) There might not be a coach in the league who deploys special teams trick plays as often, and as effectively, as Jeff Fisher. The ‘mountaineer’ bluff that he pulled on a punt return against Seattle was brilliant.
1) Beckham’s catch. Obviously.
Boneheaded play of the year
Brandon Bostick might never forgive himself for the decision to go rogue and attempt to field an onside kick himself, instead of blocking for Jordy Nelson as he was supposed to do, at the end of the NFC Championship Game.
Worst play call of the year all time
Was it really Pete Carroll’s decision to throw the ball, instead of running it, from the one-yard line on second-and-goal at the end of the Super Bowl? Either way, it is not just the head coach, but the entire Seahawks organisation who will have to live with the consequences for the rest of their professional lives.
Most implausible statistic
The one that shows Geno Smith was the only quarterback to finish a game with a perfect passer rating in 2014. This in the same season that he posted a passer rating of zero against the Buffalo Bills – becoming just the ninth player ever to do so whilst throwing more than five passes in a game.
Greatest disappointment
It was always unreasonable to expect Johnny Manziel to waltz into the NFL and dominate like he did in college, but equally, after seeing him replace Brian Hoyer and quickly lead the Browns down the field for a touchdown during a defeat to Buffalo in November, it was hard not to get a little bit carried away. Sadly, his ensuing two starts would be altogether more underwhelming. It was not so much that he lost his first two starts – against Cincinnati and Carolina – but that he suddenly seemed incapable of slipping a tackle or completing a pass more than four yards downfield.
A month-and-half later, Manziel has now checked into rehab. Perhaps we will look back on this moment in the future as the one in which he turned things around. But so far, the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 draft has been just another letdown for a Browns team that has endured more than its fair share. Little wonder fans show up to games wearing shirts like these.
“@dcj98: @bustedcoverage her jersey. pic.twitter.com/qDwJGruIk8” @lana Here you go
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) October 5, 2014
Best press conference
The one which Ryan Fitzpatrick used to show off how smart his son is.
Best celebration
Worst celebration
Tough competition this year. Stephen Tulloch and LaMarr Houston injured themselves while celebrating tackles this season (the latter in a blow-out defeat), but at least they made sure that they had finished the play first. Sammy Watkins, not so much.
Worst decision to leave a game early
So much for the relentless dedication of the 12th Man.
Worst decision to sleep in
Jonas Gray went from breakout star with four touchdowns in his second-ever NFL start, to forgotten man who would not even make it onto the Patriots’ active roster for the Super Bowl, after showing up late to practice on the Friday after his breakout performance.
Best crossover hit
Behold, the onside kick rabona.
My other favorite NFL highlight this weekend: Caleb Sturgis (brother of soccer pro Nathan) tries a Rabona onside kick http://t.co/Fpwe3YC2Q7
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) November 24, 2014
Most poetic moment
The Atlanta Falcons trudging off the field at the end of their division-deciding 34-3 defeat to Carolina in week 17, to find that a sewage pipe had burst outside their locker room.
Worst blocking
Worst flop
Best kicker
Antonio Brown. (Geddit?)
Greatest commitment to practice
Panthers kicker Graham Gano was not going to let the small matter of a marching band prevent him from getting a few kicks in during the halftime interval of Carolina’s win over the Buccaneers in week one.
Only in the NFL dept: Gano physically shoving band out the way so he can practice at HT. https://t.co/WTfa8ii0zF (via @Paul_Jackiewicz)
— Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) September 7, 2014
NFL Talkboard champion
And finally the most important category of all. Participants in our prediction games will already know that our regular season Pick Six contest finished in a three-way tie, with aojigbo, DevonGiant and Dsizzle2013 all finishing level on 71 correct picks out of a possible 102.
I can now also announce that the winner of our Pick the Playoffs contest was EscargotMyCargo, who completed a remarkable postseason clean sweep – calling all 11 games correctly. A startling achievement, I’m sure you’ll agree.
All of which just leaves us to determine our overall champion. It could hardly have been a closer run thing. Both aojigbo and Dsizzle2013 followed up their brilliant regular seasons by going 9 for 11 in the playoffs, meaning that the title would come down to a tie-breaker. Since both of them picked Seattle to win Super Bowl XLIX, this came down to which of them predicted a smaller margin of victory.
And so I can confirm that Dsizzle2013 is our Talkboard predictions champion for 2014-15 – having plumped for Seattle to win by just three points (his rival went for six). Congratulations to him on a brilliant season and thanks to everyone who participated through the year. Overall standings will be posted below the line shortly, but in the meantime I do hope you’ll join me in congratulating all our champions for such impressive predictive powers.
I will sign off by saying thanks to everyone who participated in both the contests and the chatter below the line. You guys have made it great fun to run this blog through yet another entertaining NFL campaign.
