So, with that lack of suspense theme in mind, I took it upon myself to hand out some hardware eventhough these awards were pretty much decided in December. Enjoy anyway.
Coach of the Year: Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs - I don't care that the Bucs didn't make the playoffs, they should have. Morris emerged this season from a guy I thought was going to be one of the first coaches to get canned to one of the league's rising young coaches. He made the Bucs a legit contender with a second-year QB in Josh Freeman(who developed leaps and bounds this year) and a couple solid rookies(one of which being former Oregon fisticuffs specialist LaGarrette Blount, who went undrafted than struggled to make a roster for Tennessee before becoming Tampa Bay's lead back after injuries forced him into the lineup), the best of which being wideout Mike Williams. Morris also spearheaded a defense with no real superstars(beyond veteran corner Ronde Barber, who is a couple years past his prime) and has the Bucs in position to be a scary team in 2011(if there's football, of course). You can give the nod to Mike Smith in Atlanta or Bill Belichick in New England, but my money goes to the most unlikely of candidates who turned a team that nobody believed in to one that is now fun to watch.
Comeback Player of the Year: Michael Vick, QB, Eagles - Really? I need to explain this one? Vick resurrected his career after many left him for dead following the nearly two years he spent in prison and saved Andy Reid's job by not only legitimizing the Donovan McNabb trade but by not forcing Big Red to try to make a winner out of former 2nd round wunderkind Kevin Kolb(I'm still not sold on Kolb. The Eagles win 7 games this season if he's the starter the entire year. I stand by that.) Vick put himself in the MVP contention after going nuts on the Redskins on a dreary Monday night at FedEx Field(20-28, 331 yards passing, 80 yards rushing, 6 total TDs). Granted, Vick probably didn't need to have the season he had(3,018 yards passing, 676 yards rushing, 21 passing TDs, 9 rushing TDs, 6 INTs) to take home this award because there weren't many viable candidates but he deserves to win something for what would have been an MVP-winning season if not for the supreme efforts of the man we'll talk about a little later.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford, QB, Rams - I deserve a big plate of crow here because I really thought Bradford was going to flop given his shoulder issues and the fact that he was drafted by a team with a poor offensive line and no real weapons beyond its injury prone Pro Bowl RB. Still, 3,500 yards and 18 TDs on a team that lost its two leading receivers before Halloween and had Bradford completing passes to guys named Danny Amendola and Daniel Fells is pretty damn impressive. Like Vick, Bradford's helped by the fact there aren't many challengers to the throne(except maybe the aforementioned Mike Williams) but his success and the fact that he got the Rams thisclose to winning the NFC West legitimizes his standing as last year's #1 overall pick when most of the world was clamoring for St. Louis to select a boy named Suh.
Comeback Player of the Year: Michael Vick, QB, Eagles - Really? I need to explain this one? Vick resurrected his career after many left him for dead following the nearly two years he spent in prison and saved Andy Reid's job by not only legitimizing the Donovan McNabb trade but by not forcing Big Red to try to make a winner out of former 2nd round wunderkind Kevin Kolb(I'm still not sold on Kolb. The Eagles win 7 games this season if he's the starter the entire year. I stand by that.) Vick put himself in the MVP contention after going nuts on the Redskins on a dreary Monday night at FedEx Field(20-28, 331 yards passing, 80 yards rushing, 6 total TDs). Granted, Vick probably didn't need to have the season he had(3,018 yards passing, 676 yards rushing, 21 passing TDs, 9 rushing TDs, 6 INTs) to take home this award because there weren't many viable candidates but he deserves to win something for what would have been an MVP-winning season if not for the supreme efforts of the man we'll talk about a little later.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford, QB, Rams - I deserve a big plate of crow here because I really thought Bradford was going to flop given his shoulder issues and the fact that he was drafted by a team with a poor offensive line and no real weapons beyond its injury prone Pro Bowl RB. Still, 3,500 yards and 18 TDs on a team that lost its two leading receivers before Halloween and had Bradford completing passes to guys named Danny Amendola and Daniel Fells is pretty damn impressive. Like Vick, Bradford's helped by the fact there aren't many challengers to the throne(except maybe the aforementioned Mike Williams) but his success and the fact that he got the Rams thisclose to winning the NFC West legitimizes his standing as last year's #1 overall pick when most of the world was clamoring for St. Louis to select a boy named Suh.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: (tie) Ndomukong Suh, DT, Lions/Devin McCourtey, CB Patriots - I'm not one to ride the fence and I know there will be flack from people who say I'm overrating McCourtey because he went to Rutgers, but that's not the case. Suh was legitimately dominant(66 tackles, 10 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT) for a Lions defense that didn't have many other playmakers on it. His presence alone makes Detroit a scary young team next year, especially if they can add another piece in this April's Draft(like, say, Suh's college teammate at Nebraska, CB Prince Amukamara). McCourtey was equally solid. On a Patriots defense that didn't put much pressure on the QB because of its lack of a proven pass rusher, McCourtey still finished 2nd in the NFL with 7 INTs(behind Baltimore's Ed Reed, who deserves props for still leading the NFL in interceptions despite missing the first 8 games of the season) and racked up 82 tackles, a sack, and forced two fumbles. Both were shoe-ins for the Pro Bowl. Both were the best defenders on their respective defenses. Both won the exact amount of playoff games(zero....sorry, Patriots fans). You can make the case for either, or do like I reluctantly did, and make the case for both.
Defensive Player of the Year: Clay Matthews, LB, Packers - Again, homer accusations are going to be in effect here, but I defy you to watch one of "The Ultimate Warrior"'s games from start to finish and not be in awe. The man is a certified machine and he managed to notch 13.5 sacks in a Packers 3-4 that didn't have another bonafide pass rusher even before it was decimated by injury. Yes, DeMarcus Ware and Cameron Wake put up better numbers....and both of them are sitting at home watching the playoffs. This Packers defense(as well as Aaron Rodgers' arm) is largely why Green Bay is a game away from the Super Bowl and it would not be the same without #52 reeking havoc on opposing offenses.
Offensive Player of the Year: Arian Foster, RB, Texans - As good as he looked in the preseason, nobody had Arian Foster leading the league in rushing and becoming the first undrafted rushing champ since Priest Holmes in 2002. Foster's 1,616 yards and 16 TDs took the world by storm, especially in a season where one of the big showdowns was supposed to be Chris Johnson vs. Adrian Peterson for the title of best RB. Foster threw himself in the mix by being the ground attack that was sorely missing in Houston's high-octane offense. Of course, Houston's horrid pass defense alongside Gary Kubiak's brainfart coaching kept us from seeing the Texans unleash said offense in the playoffs but Foster deserves his time in the spotlight for being the NFL's biggest surprise. He also deserves props for helping me win $600 in my keeper league and causing one of the best fantasy draft moments of my life when half the room exhaled "Who?" after I selected Foster in Round 8.
NFL MVP: Tom Brady, QB, Patriots - It pains me to hand this award to the well-coiffed one. Look, I hold nothing against Tom Terrific(even as a folically challenged individual). I just find playing merry-go-round with the same handful of people(LT, Peyton Manning, Brady) with this award gets pretty boring after a while. Still, there's no doubting this award belongs to Brady(3,900 yards, 36 passing TD, 4 INTs), even with Mike Vick making his best attempt to thwart Brady's chances. The man went from the middle of October to the second round of the playoffs without throwing an interception playing in an offense that didn't really have a running attack until "The Lawfirm" Benjarvus Green-Ellis came on during the second half. You may not like his hair, or his cliches, or his team, but there's no denying Tom Brady was the league's best this season. 
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