1st Annual Article 8 NFL Awards
MVP - Cooper Kupp
The MVP award is suppose to be given to the player who is the most valuable player to his team, in the context of the outcome of the league year. The league year technically ends after week 18, and does no include the playoffs. However, I think the playoffs should be a consideration, as we don’t care who had the best record at the end of the season, it’s who wins the Lombardi Trophy that matters, and that was won by a 4th seed team. This award goes to Cooper Kupp because without him the LA Rams do not win the Super Bowl. The leagues top recover in all three major categories, receptions, TDs and yards was also the best player in the Super Bowl. During the game, before the final go ahead score, the Rams were trying very hard not to focus too much on Kupp because he was getting double teamed the whole game. When other receivers were not able to catch a simple pass, double teamed or not, Kupp was getting the targets and he delivered. If you replace Kupp with an average receiver, the Rams might not even make it to the playoffs.
Kupp is the MVP because if you replace him with another wide receiver who is ‘good’, like Ceedee Lamb (who will be the number 1 receiver for the Cowboys next year), you instantly lose 10 TDs, 66 receptions and 845 yards receiving. Statistically what you would call the ‘replacement over average’, Kupp leads the way. The AP decided that Aaron Rodgers was the MVP, but if you put an average QB in the Green Bay system, the Packers would likely make the playoffs and would also not win the Super Bowl.
Coach of the Year - Matt Lafleur
The only coach in the history of the NFL to win 13 games in 3 straight seasons to start his coaching career. The knock on his success is that he has Aaron Rodgers, but people are starting to see that having Aaron Rodgers might be a reason to make him the catch of the year, at time coaching Rodgers is a hindrance to your success as he can put more faith in himself than in his team. In the two seasons before Lafleur came to Green Bay, Rodgers had the worse seasons of his career, in the 3 that have been with Lafleur, he’s won back-to-back MVP awards while Green Bay have won the NFC North 3 times in a row. The competition for this award came from Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. The competition wasn’t exactly warranted. The Titans had loses against the Steelers, Jets and Texans. Even though the Titans had to use more players than another other team in league history, due to injuries, the Titans didn’t do better or worse than the Packers head coach. The difference is Tennessee play in the worse division in football, the AFC South, filled with junk yard teams that barely know what a football is. Lafleur’s record, his ability to work with difficult people and his ability to overcome the weaker points of his team should leave most of us in no doubt that he is the best coach of the 2021 season.
Best Play - Josh Allen vs the Chiefs
Down 4 points, 1st & 10 at the Chiefs 19 yard line. 17 seconds left in the game. The game was suppose to be over after this play, but for reasons that no one really knows, the Bills would lose this game. However, the play that Allen makes might not be the most technically difficult or hardest throw to make, but making the important plays when it matters the most is more important than any punt return for a TD in the regular season, or any throw that looks great on screen, but you still lose the game (Herbert vs Cowboys comes to mind). This play was a big time player making a big time through on the biggest stage, he had to make this throw, and he did. We’re lucky that we’ll have Josh Allen in our lives for another 10 years or more.
Best of the rest…
Dumbest player: Antonio Brown
Deciding to walk out on your team isn’t ideal, but doing it during a game is just dumb. I hope this is the last we’ll ever see of him in football.
Most improved player: Yannick Ngakoue
He lost his way at the end of his time with the Jags, and his short stint with the Vikings wasn’t ideal, but his play for the Raiders was really good and a sign of good coaching to get the best out of a really great player. 2022 will be the last year of his current deal with the Raiders and he might get an extension before the start of the season. Well done to him and his family.
Best special teams player: Evan McPherson
The Bengals kicker made ever kick in the Playoffs and was a rock of consistency in the regular season. He’s the best example of why you should draft kickers and no just live off the scraps from other teams. You have to be relaxed and confident to be a kicker, it’s like being a player who’s brought into a soccer game just to score a penalty kick, if you miss that one kick, you’re the worst guy in sports, if you make it, everyone loves you. McPherson cares not for your thoughts, however, he’s here to enjoy the game with confidence that he knows he can make any kick that’s required of him. Here he is watching the Super Bowl halftime show while his team mates are getting coached for the second half of the Super Bowl:
oh… and he’s a rookie!