The 5th Quarter – Week 17

TheCoach’s record this year was 128-127-1 (50.2%) against the spread and 165-91 straight up (64.5%)
*CLICK HERE For TheCoach’s Weekly Record And Record For Each Conference, Division and Team*

Playoffs

NFC

6th Seed – Philadelphia Eagles (11-5)
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3rd Seed – Dallas Cowboys (11-5)

5th Seed Green Bay Packers (11-5)
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4th Seed – Arizona Cardinals (10-6)

1st Seed – BYE & Home-Field Advantage - New Orleans Saints (13-3)
2nd Seed – BYE – Minnesota Vikings (12-4)

AFC

6th Seed - Baltimore Ravens (9-7)
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3rd Seed -New England Patriots (10-6)

5th Seed – New York Jets (9-7)
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4th Seed – Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)

1st Seed – BYE & Home Field Advantage – Indianapolis Colts (14-2)
2nd Seed – BYE - San Diego Chargers (14-2)

Awards 

MVP
Peyton Manning – Indianapolis Colts Quarterback

Is there anything Peyton Manning didn’t do this year? Not
only did he lead the Colts to a record of 14-2, which could have been 16-0 if the Colts decided to play out and not bench their starters, but Peyton did so much more. Manning threw for 300+ yards in eight of the first nine games (surprisingly had 235 in a 42-6 beat-down over the Rams). From week 8 to week 12, Manning lead the Colts to five straight 4th quarter comebacks. He also finished with over 3000 yards, the 12th consecutive season he has done that, and lead the Colts to 23 straight regular season wins (the most in NFL history). The same game he broke the record (22nd game), he also solidified the most wins (114) in the decade of 2000-2009. As I said, find something Peyton Manning didn’t do this season and I will hand someone who did more the MVP. You won’t find anyone. Before the season, no one expected with the loss of Marvin Harrison, as well as head coach and offensive coordinator that the Colts would be practically perfect. Peyton is a lock for the MVP and all that is left is SuperBowl XLIV.

Offensive Player of the Year
Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans Running Back

GAT-DAMN! If it weren’t for so many impressive quarterbacks (Manning, Brees, Favre, Rivers), there is no question Chris Johnson would have the MVP trophy. He rushed for 2,006 yards on the season to put himself in some ELITE company. The only other running backs with 2000+ in a season are; Eric Dickerson (2,105), Ray Lewis (2,066), Barry Sanders (2,053), Terrell Davis (2,008) and O.J. Simpson (1973), who [Simpson] did it in a 14-game schedule. Back to Johnson as early in the 4th quarter on Sunday, he had a 62-yard touchdown called back for a holding penalty that would have put him at 2068 (2nd all-time) and a lot closer to Dickerson with plenty of time left on the clock (it was called back and Tennessee ran the ball with LenDale White when Johnson got his breath back on the sidelines). On 358 carries, Johnson averages 5.6 yards per carry (give him the ball and he will get a first down every two rushes) and punched in 14 touchdowns. From week 6 forward, he had 100+ in every game and its a shame prior to week 6, 4 of his 5 games were under 100 yards. If the Titans had of known what kind of weapon they had in the backfield, as well as started Young for the entire season, not only would you see Dickerson’s record broken, but the Titans in the playoffs and Johnson would have the MVP.

Defensive Player of the Year
Elvis Dumervil – Denver Broncos Defensive End

Not only did Elvis Dumervil lead the league in sacks with 17, but he is the first ever defensive lineman under 6′0″ to record 15 sacks in a season. Dumervil stands 5 feet 11 inches, 248 pounds but has the agility to get around slow-moving offensive tackles. In 2006, teams waited until the 2nd day of the draft to pick up Dumervil and Denver snagged him with the 126th pick in the 4th round. The main reason so many teams passed on Dumervil and didn’t want to draft him, was oddly because of a) his size (they wanted to turn him into a linebacker) and b) he went his final three collegiate games without recording a sack. Three years later, his size certainly doesn’t matter and TheCoach knows any team would take this sack-master on their team. Dumervil finished the season with 48 tackles, 17 sacks and 4 forces fumbles. I contemplated giving Dumervil the “biggest surprise award” but quickly reconsidered and gave the little big-man the respect he deserves.

Offensive Rookie of the Year
Percy Harvin (born May 28, 1988) – Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver

When Percy Harvin got drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, he had the fact he was in the NFL to be excited about, but knowing Tavares Jackson would be throwing him the ball week-in-week-out probably didn’t get him to psyched… in comes Brett Favre. What more could Harvin ask for than having one of the greatest quarterbacks in history slinging him touchdown passes? Harvin excelled early in the season before injuries plagued his stats a little bit but he still managed 731 yards on 53 receptions (13.8 yards per catch) and six touchdowns. It certainly doesn’t hurt he added 14 carries for 113 yards (an average of 8.1 yards per carry) and 42 kick-off returns for 1156 yards (27.5 yards per return) and two touchdowns. Minnesota used the 22nd draft pick in the 2009 draft to pick up their speedy wide-out, while other teams had previously passed on him taking Darrius Heyward-Bey (7th pick – 9 catches for 124 yards, 1 touchdown and yes he played every game), Michael Crabtree (10th pick – held out for first five games, 45 catches for 567 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Jeremy Maclin (19th pick – 52 catches for 715 yards and 4 touchdowns). Hard to say if Harvin will be better than Maclin and Crabtree in his career but if Favre is throwing him the ball… don’t expect anything less from the 21 year old.

Defensive Rookie of the Year – TIE;
Brian Cushing (born January 24, 1987) – Houston Texans Outside Linebacker
Jairus Byrd (born October 7, 1986) – Buffalo Bills Saftey

TheCoach couldn’t decide who to give the Defensive Rookie of the Year too, so we have a tie. Brian Cushing, a USC grad and one of  three linebackers from USC taking in the first 40 picks of last years draft (Cushing drafted 15th by Houston, Clay Matthews 26th by Green Bay and Rey Maualuga 38th by Cincinnati). Cushing has dominated all season long, is a large reason Houston’s defence has suddenly emerged and he’s played a pivotal roll in the Texans first ever winning season. Cushing had 128 tackles, four sacks and two forces fumbles.

Jairus Byrd, a safety out of Oregon University was taken 42nd overall by the Buffalo Bills and has definitely turned a lot of heads this season. Jairus, the son of two-time San Diego Charger Pro-Bowl defensive-back Gill Byrd, has 45 tackles which isn’t that impressive. BUT, what is impressive is he leads the league with 9 interceptions and if he keep playing the way he has this year (he has been selected to the Pro-Bowl), expect to see not only makes many trips to the Pro-Bowl, but have one extremely proud (and envious) father.

Biggest Disappointment (Player)
Jay Cutler – Chicago Bears Quarterback

Lucky for Cutler’s sake he finished off the season on a high note, going 42-of-71 for 549 yards, 8 touchdowns and 1 interception in his final two games.
The 14-games prior is where Cutler disappointed Bears fans not only in the windy-city but all over North America. Chicago, who hasn’t had a good quarterback since Jim McMahon (let’s be clear, McMahon wasn’t that good), expected Cutler to be the missing piece to the Bears puzzle. Not so much. In the first 14 games Cutler threw 19 touchdowns to a staggering 25 interceptions. You have to feel bad for Chicago who gave up their first and second round draft picks to Denver in order to get Cutler, considering Denver finished with a better record (8-8) than Chicago (7-9). Chicago got the better personnel in the trade because Cutler is better than Orton, he just needs a wide-out like Brandon Marshall but Denver absolutely won the trade now that the season is over and they have a 12th and 44th selection from the Bears in the upcoming draft along with the 16th and 48th of their own. Four draft-picks in the top 50 selections can be the cornerstone of a rebuilding process… a rebuilding process Chicago will need to consider thinking but will be almost impossible without drafting until the 3rd round.

Biggest Surprise (Player)
Brett Favre – Minnesota Vikings Quarterback

It should have come as no surprise to see Brett suit up in purple in order to ‘get back’ at the Packers who he feels forced him to retire. After being “forced” to go and play for the Jets last season, everyone knew when he “retired”, it wouldn’t be long before you saw him playing in Minnesota. What comes as a surprise, is how incredible Favre has played and even when the Vikings has lost 3 of their last 5, Favre has been the most consistent player on the Vikings squad. Other than a three-week stretch when Favre tossed 4 interceptions vs 3 touchdowns, Brett has played the best football of his career throwing 33 touchdowns compared to just 7 interceptions, a whooping 4,200 yards and for the first time in his career, has a quarterback rating of over 100.0 (he ended up with a rating of 107.2). Wouldn’t it be something else to see the Vikings win or at least get to the SuperBowl or possible a Minnesota-Green Bay playoff game? Maybe than Favre could retire with ease.

Biggest Disappointment (Team)
Pittsburgh Steelers – SuperBowl Champs to 3rd in Their Division
Loses to the Browns, Raiders and Chiefs ultimately ended a chance to repeat

Biggest Surprise (Team)
Cincinnati Bengals – 4-11-1 (1-5 in division) in 08′ to 10-6 (6-0 in division) in 09′
They’re the Bengals & the Cardiac Cats didn’t mess around in 2009 sweeping Baltimore and Pittsburgh and won their division for the 2nd time in almost two decades.