The 2011 NFL season was one of extremes. Extremes in terms of the number of
strong teams compared with the slew of pathetic losers and underachievers. Six teams surpassed 12 wins and four
reached 13. Yet, only two of the
NFC’s playoff teams from last year reached the promised land again and among
the underachievers was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who concluded the season with
10 consecutive loses – a number so staggering that firing head coach Raheem
Morris seems insufficient. The
whole team should be fired.
It was a season of extremes in the number of records we saw
shattered. Three quarterbacks
reached 5,000 passing yards. Both
Brady and Drew Brees topped Dan Marino’s long-standing single season passing
record of 5,084 passing yards.
Brees’ nearly 5,500 yards is so straight up disgusting that it will
probably never be broken, that is, expect for next season when Drew goes for
6,000. Oh, and did I mention that
Matt Stafford (Matt freakin’ Stafford) came within one Megatron bomb of
surpassing Marino’s record himself?
The craziest part of all of this is that none of the listed quarterbacks
will get the MVP award. For that
matter, these guys might not even be the top-two vote getters.
Projected NFL Most Valuable Player Award
First Place: Aaron
Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers put together perhaps the greatest individual
season in NFL history. Even with
all the great passing records of 2011, Rodgers should feel disrespected if he
does not receive all 50 first place MVP votes. One year ago Brady became the first player to unanimously
win the NFL MVP. If Brady produced
an exact replica of his 2010 numbers again this year (which he basically did),
even he should not earn a single first place vote. Comparing the last two MVP’s, Rodgers threw for 743 more
yards, nine more touchdowns, and had a QB rating 11.5 points higher than Brady
in 2010 (Rodgers’ rating of 122.5 is the single season record). By the way, Rodgers also led his team
to a 15-1 record.
Second Place: Eli
Manning
Another non-5,000 yard passer (although he missed the mark
by 67 yards, which is the equivalent of Victor Cruz’s average yards/reception
over the last 2 weeks), Eli produced a season so good that it would rank among
Peyton’s best. In a season of
eye-popping numbers, Eli’s statistics leave you with your vision in tact. However, his 15 fourth quarter
touchdowns were a record and seemingly half of his 16 interceptions hit a
Giants receiver first. Eli led six
game winning drives, a number that would be impressive in any season but is
especially meaningful when the Giants only had nine wins.
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| Both Eli Manning and Tom Brady had 99 yard passes this season |
Third Place: Tom
Brady
Like Eli, Brady has been one of the only constants for his
team this season. His numbers are
essentially the same as his MVP campaign last season and in just 16 games he
has transformed TE Rob Gronkowski into the most challenging defensive
assignment in football.
Fourth Place: Drew
Brees
Brees finished the year with the single season record for
passing yards and the fourth most passing touchdowns. I spoke a few weeks ago about his remarkable numbers since
coming to New Orleans. Just for
the official record, he has averaged 4,732 yards and 33.5 touchdowns a season. 4,732 passing yards would be the 10th
most anyone has ever averaged in a season. Suffice to say he is the best 4th place MVP
finisher of all time.
Fifth Place: Calvin
Johnson
Megatron pretty much secured himself as the league’s top
wide out since Week 1. He had a
touchdown in all but 5 games this season, surpassed 100 yards 8 times, twice
went for over 200 receiving yards, and finished the year with nearly 1,700
yards, 96 catches, 16 touchdowns, and the best nickname in sports. A wide receiver has never won the AP
MVP Award (although Jerry Rice won it from other writers in 1987 and 1990) but
Johnson’s remarkable year deserves some recognition.
Everyone has been making a big deal about the increased
passing totals the last few seasons and this one in particular. However, how often do we hear people addressing
the related increase in individual sack totals? Jared Allen recorded 3.5 sacks in his final game to finish
the season with 22, just half a sack short of Michael Strahan’s single season
record. Meanwhile, DeMarcus Ware
continued his dominance and finished the 2011 campaign with 19.5 sacks. Another half a sack would have given
Ware his second 20 sack season.
Eighteen sacks would ordinarily be a season high, but Philadelphia’s
Jason Babin finishes third.
Babin’s final numbers were impressive, but they tended to come in
bunches. He failed to record a
sack in seven games this season, which makes you wonder what could have been
had the 31 year old defensive end played more consistently. With an increased premium placed on the
passing game, teams will be putting a similar emphasis on pass rushers who can
interrupt the flow of a game. The
defensive player of the year finalists reflects this trend.
Projected NFL Defensive Player of the Year
First Place: Terrell
Suggs
How do you give the award to a pass rusher when he has eight
fewer sacks than the lead sack man in the league? Easy. Suggs,
out of “Ball So Hard” University, had the best season of his already impressive
career, recording 70 tackles and a league-best seven forced fumbles to go along
with his 14 sacks. As Ray Lewis
continues to age (although you wouldn’t know it from his play), Suggs is among
a slew of Ravens defenders ready to take the first-ballot hall of famer’s
place. He was a furious,
unstoppable force all season long and unlike Allen, Ware, and Babin, Suggs’
team is actually in the playoffs. Suggs
was the best defensive player this season on one of the league’s best teams
and, resultantly, narrowly edges out the competition to take home the
hardware. He also did THIS WONDERFUL INTERVIEW.
Second Place: Jason
Pierre-Paul
Pierre-Paul nearly won the D-POY award in just one night:
December 11 against Dallas in which in he had 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and
blocked the would-be game winning kick.
JPP has been a force in every game this season and failed to record a
sack in just four games. The word
“high motor” is invented for this guy who had 86 tackles this season, 14 more
than any other defensive end.
Statistics rarely tell the whole story, especially on the defensive side
of the ball, but JPP’s total tackles are indicative of his ability to make a
play anywhere on the field. It was
difficult to give Suggs the award over Pierre-Paul, but the phenom out of
Southern Florida should take refuge in the fact that he is in just his second
season.
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| Pierre-Paul may be the finest athlete in all of the NFL |
Third Place: DeMarcus
Ware
DeMarcus Ware once again demonstrated that he is quite
possibly the best defensive player in the game. He has recorded 99.5 sacks since coming into the league in
2005 and has surpassed 11 sacks each of the last six seasons. Like JPP, Ware failed to record a sack
in just four games this season.
Had the Cowboys defeated the Giants on Sunday night, he may have very
well taken home the award.
Fourth Place: Jared
Allen
His 22 sacks pretty much speak for themselves. Unfortunately, so does a 3-13
record. Allen is a great player,
but if he was so valuable Minnesota should have won several more games.
Fifth Place: Antonio
Cromartie
Antonio Cromartie was without question the best defensive
back this season and never contributed to any of the Jets’ eight losses. The only thing more impressive than his
man to man coverage was his ability to cover up the football in the return
game. Also, Santa Claus and the
Tooth Fairy are real, the meaning of life is the number 15, and in
approximately 12 hours Barack Obama will announce that cheddar cheese is the
new currency of the United States.
In other news, Cromartie has nine different children from eight
different women across six different states. Only one of the things mentioned in this paragraph is true
(hint: it has to do with incorrect condom usage).
Before I move forward to discuss the postseason, I think it
would make my predictions more (or less) credible if we first revisit my
preseason column (SEE
IT HERE).
NFC EAST
Like many fans, I anticipated big things from the Eagles
this season. However, by week 6 it
was apparent that they would not be reaching the 13 wins I had predicted. However, I wrote that the Giants would
finish 9-7 (which they did), the Cowboys would do the same (pretty close), and
the Redskins would win five games (which they did). Only the Eagles earned a playoff birth in my September
article, but this was still one of my more accurate divisions. Grade: B
NFC NORTH
If it were not for an inexplicable Kansas City loss, I would
be the greatest football genius this side of the Mississippi. Still, I did call for an Aaron Rodgers
MVP and for Green Bay to be, rather obviously, the league’s best team. I also correctly predicted an improved
Lions season (I gave them 8 wins) and a disappointing season for the
Bears. All this would have added
up to an A+ were it not for the Vikings.
Unfortunately, the North was also home to my greatest abomination of the
preseason article. The stars
incorrectly told me that Donovan McNabb would be the consistently mediocre
quarterback that Minnesota needed to reach the playoffs. He was not and I anticipated seven
additional wins. Grade: B+
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| Donovan McNabb's time in Minnesota was hard to watch |
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta and New Orleans both made the playoffs in my
preseason article, although I had the Falcons edging out the Saints for the
division title. I could have never
anticipated a 10 game losing streak to round out the season, but I did think
2011 would be a setback year for Tampa Bay. Carolina was a pleasant surprise and won two more games than
I had anticipated. My predictions
were relatively accurate, but given the generally straightforward recent
history of this division, anyone forecasting the upcoming season should have
done well. Grade: B
NFC WEST
The NFC West was, as usual, a head-scratching
hodgepodge. I thought a NFC West
team would reach the 10 win plateau, but I honestly had no idea who would do
it. Arizona winning it with a 10-6
record was not a bad prediction, but
still incorrect. I gave Seattle
six victories and they got seven, which resulted in a third place finish in the
September column and in reality.
However, I grossly devalued San Francisco and even more grossly
overvalued what-happened-to-our-talent-because-we-have-absolutely-none St.
Louis. Grade: C-
AFC EAST
New England finished the regular season 13-3 and as the
number one overall seed in the AFC.
I predicted they would finish the regular season 13-3 and as the number
two overall seed in the AFC. I
missed the mark badly on the Jets 2011 season (12 predicted wins vs. 8 actual
ones) but came respectably close with Miami (7 predicted wins vs. 6 actual
ones) and with Buffalo (4 predicted wins vs. 6 actual ones). Grade: B
AFC NORTH
Anyone with general football knowledge could have guessed
that the Steelers and Ravens would be battling it out for most of the season
for divisional dominance. I
thought the Steelers were the better team in September and still do despite the
fact that Baltimore won the division.
Cincinnati was a surprising postseason entry this season and I
anticipate an equally unsurprising first round departure. Obviously, Cleveland was and continues
to be one of the worst teams in professional sports. Grade: B+
AFC SOUTH
I wrote my September column before the news of Manning’s
second or third (I lose count) surgery.
At the time, the team and surrounding media believed it would be a 6-7
week recovery period. This
discrepancy leaves all my AFC South predictions inherently void. Grade: None.
AFC WEST
Always one of the league most inconsistent divisions, maybe
I should have just played it smart and made every team finish with an 8-8
record. If I had done that, I’d
look like I know what I’m talking about.
Only Kansas City finished the year without a .500 record (7-9). I wasn’t surprised by San Diego’s slow
start, but predicted that they would turn things around earlier than they
actually did. Tebow’s God-given
victories I did not anticipate.
Grade: C+
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| Outscoring Weezy is a feat Trent Dilfer knows nothing about |
GPA Scale of Football Knowledge
0.00 – 0.50: Should definitely start trying to find other
things you are good at. (Michele
Bachman)
0.51 – 1.00:
Should probably start trying to find other things you are good at. (Aaron Carter)
1:01 – 1.50: Think you’re so great and it comes back to hurt
you. (Trent Dilfer)
1.51 – 2.00: Don’t know how you knew that, but okay. (Lil
Wayne)
2.01 – 2.50: Exceptionally average. (Matt Millen)
2.51 – 3.00: Not bad, but we still expect more form
you. (Me)
3.01 – 3.50: You have skill. (Keyshawn Johnson)
3.50 – 3.75: Dean’s List. (Steve Young)
3.76 – 4.00: Exceptional. (Bill Belichick)
Final GPA: 2.80
The postseason preview will be coming soon.
-AW
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