SUS NFL Season in Review, Part I

Wondering where the NHL All Star Game recap is? No you’re not, stop lying. Sorry kids, but the SUS NFL Awards section is about as close as you’re going to get to any sort of weekend recap. Although these awards are being shown with only the Super Bowl (AND PRO BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) left to play, we’re making our predictions as if they were made the day after Week 17 ended. On the plus side, you get to see how wrong we were with our midseason predictions, listed in parentheses.

Offensive MVP (AFC)

Point: (Jay Cutler) Yeah, I don’t think the Diabetic One gets this. There are really only two choices for this award, right? You could probably make a case for Phil Rivers or Chris Johnson, but it still comes down to Pennington or Manning. If it’s Pennington or Manning, the next question is this: are the Dolphins and the Ronnie/Ricky combo better than the Colts and their D? And how un-hetero of a name is “The Ronnie/Ricky combo”? Eh, forget those questions, I’m going Peyton because a) Miami had a cupcake schedule and b) Indy had a first place schedule and they still managed to win their last 9. More importantly, by losing in the first week of the playoffs, Peyton’s arm is nice and rested as his quest for his second Pro Bowl MVP award. You can do it Peyton!
Counterpoint: (Thomas Jones) Whoa. Thomas Jones? I WAS WAY OFF although no fault of Jones. At the time of this article, the Jets were on a tear but well Brett Favre had other ideas. Yep, it goes to Peyton by default at this stage but I think Colts fans wished for a little more during the playoffs. HA! Peyton still led his team to a 9 game winning to get into the playoffs. Cutler might have won it had it been for his teams horrendous choke in December.
Final Word: (Cutler) Peyton adds another trophy to a case that has one more Super Bowl MVP trophy than he deserves.

Offensive MVP (NFC)

Point: (Portis) The pride of Eastern Motors commercials hangs his head in shame after the Redskins limp to an 8-8 record. Great arguments can be made for Michael Turner and Larry Fitzgerald, but I’m going with Steve Smith. Yes, the Panthers have the best running game south of New Jersey, but Steve Smith still managed to have a great finish to his season. Teams knew what was coming and they were still powerless to stop him. And with the Panthers, it’s not like opposing defenses had to worry about a tight end or even a second wide receiver. Mushin Muhamad was solid about 7 years ago. Now? He’s as much of a #2 wide receiver as Amani Toomer.
Counterpoint: (Turner). I don’t even remember the regular season. Wasn’t that like 2 months ago? There was a point in time I would have argued for Eli but then Plaxico happened and Domenik Hixon did not. I’ll stick with Turner still because NFW the Falcons do anything without him allowing Roddy White and Matt Ryan to get some free shots down the field. With Smith, towards the end of the season, I’d say DeAngelo Williams became the focal point of that team.
Final Word: (Turner) Eh, ok, let’s go Turner, if only to make it look like our midseason prediction was accurate.

Defensive MVP (AFC)

Point: (Haynesworth) Nothing against the Cleating One, or the actual Defensive MVP, James Harrison, but I’m going Troy Polamalu. Why? Because if he’s playing deep against a post pattern, I still have complete faith in him to come in and somehow break up a screen pass. After facing Polamalu, quarterbacks have to go through some sort of NFL version of PTSD, right? They’ll be asleep and start dreaming about a throw they made during the game. And all around them, covering every receiver as well as chasing him out of the pocket, is Troy Polamalu. Oh, and props to Vernon Gholston, possibly the only Jet not responsible for their collapse.
Counterpoint: (Haynesworth) Haynesworth was playing at a high level all season but slowed down due to injury before eventually taking a rest during the last two weeks of the season. Because of that I’ll still say James Harrison and here’s why: 101 tackles, 16 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 1 int and 3 passes defended. Single handly helped the Steelers beat the Chargers, Patriots, Ravens 1, and Dallas. Add to that he doesn’t rush nearly as much as DWare. Ed Reed would have won it if he played in September/October but winning the defense player of the year only happens when you play the whole season.
Final Word: (Haynesworth) Stats are well and good, but I’m going with Polamalu. What can I say, the man scares me.

Defensive MVP (NFC)

Point: (Tuck) I want to go for Tuck, who was nowhere near 100% during his final few games of the season, but this award has to go to Demarcus Ware, possibly the only Cowboy without issues in their locker room. He nearly set the sack record this year and destroyed the as-good-as-advertised Giants O-Line.
Counterpoint: Ok Ware it is. Seriously, nobody else deserved it.
Final Word: (Tuck) Ware. And props to him for showing society that there is no such thing as an issue-free Cowboy, as he now wants a contract extension.