John Berger
Senior Editor
In the past few days we’ve posted our NFC and AFC previews. Now it’s time to pick the individual award winners and the Super Bowl. The thing I like about the NFL’s awards is that they are given to the best in each category from the entire NFL, not just the AFC or the NFC. Remember, the NFL MVP has not won the Super Bowl in the same year since Kurt Warner won both for the Rams all the way back in 1999. So individual success is certainly not a guarantee of team success.
NFL Rookie of the Year: Andrew Luck
Kind of hard to mess this one up. Luck will be getting a ton of opportunities to produce, and he will be watched closely all season long. Not to mention, he is a really good player, which helps. Obviously RGIII had a huge day on Sunday against the Saints, but I think Luck will prove to have a better year overall.
NFL Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Peterson
He may let me down later, but Peterson is really good. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, he led all non-quarterbacks last year in value. He gets a ton of opportunities to make plays as a returner, which will help him in the voting. He already had an interception this past week against Seattle. Playing for the Cardinals may hurt his exposure, but he’ll show up in a big way in the boxscore and on the field.
NFL Offensive Player of the Year: Tom Brady
The Patriots are going to throw the ball. A lot. Last year’s running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis is now on the Bengals, which means Brady is going to throw the ball even more than last year, and he threw it 611 times last year. He’ll also put up great stats in an efficient way, which will result in him being named Offensive Player of the Year.
NFL Coach of the Year: Greg Schiano
In order to be the Coach of the Year in the NFL, you usually have to be the coach of a team that’s been mediocre or bad in the last few years. The Bucs fit that criteria perfectly, as they haven’t been to the playoffs since 2007. They’re in a tough division, but they have good young talent and Schiano will get them to play with discipline, something that his predecessor Raheem Morris couldn’t do.
NFL Comeback Player of the Year: Peyton Manning
This one is as easy a pick as you’re going to get. Peyton was practically in vintage form on Sunday night against the Steelers, slicing the Steelers up with surgical precision to the tune of 253 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19-26 passing.
NFL MVP: Aaron Rodgers
Call me a homer if you want, but Rodgers is going to put up the best numbers in the league this year provided he stays healthy. The Packers were outclassed by the 49ers this past week (more on that in a later blog entry), but Rodgers still completed close to 70% of his passes and had over 300 yards through the air. Although it’s very tough to repeat as MVP, Rodgers in his prime is a guy who can do it.
Super Bowl Prediction:
49ers over the Patriots – I’ll admit that prior to this past weekend my prediction was a Packers/Patriots Super Bowl. The 49ers performance against the Packers on the road was enough to sway me. They have a tremendous front 7, a very good running back, and a great coach. Alex Smith isn’t great, but he does enough to win games, and that’s all you can ask for. As for the Patriots, they just keep chugging along. Even though I’m not sold at all on their pass defense, I think they’ll be better there this season, and last season they went to the Super Bowl. I think the 49ers would win this hypothetical game because I think their defense can contain any offense in the league, including the Patriots.
Make sure you check back later to get some of my thoughts on Week 1 of the NFL season.
Benjarvis Green-Ellis is on the bengals, not the browns.