The plan was to do a quarterly update, but with how busy I have been, this is the first chance I am having to do this. In this article, I will be detailing the front runner on the big Award Races, the playoff races(and choosing the most interesting), detailing major injuries that are currently out there and pointing out some interesting statistics.
Award Races:
MVP: The biggest race has a frontrunner early on in New England's Dareon Elliott. His 22 touchdowns by the midway mark of the season has him out to a distinctive advantage. The only two players in position to challenge him for the award are rookie Browns QB, Zachery Bledsoe and Texans running back Sedrick Knox.
Coach Of the Year: Kendall Thomas of New England is 8-0, and the immediate frontrunner as the last remaining unbeaten team.
Offensive Player of the Year, AFC: The combo of Elliott, Bledsoe and Knox are the frontrunners for OPOY in the AFC, unsurprisingly based on the MVP race. Elliott's touchdowns give him the advantage here as well.
Offensive Player of the Year, NFC: This was looking to be a competitive two way race between Khyri Toler of the 49ers and DeMarcus Royal of the Bears, but a broken collarbone for Royal as made Toler the lead dog and the only realistic option unless someone has a big surge the 2nd half of the season.
Defensive Player of the Year, AFC: This award is coming down to a competition between the Browns and Patriots for who has the best defense. Currently, the Browns have 4 players in the top 10 for the award and the Patriots also have 4. Dillard Poe and his 10 interceptions lead this race.
Defensive Player of the Year, NFC: Last year's winner, Jermaine Worthen of the Bears has 11 sacks and is the frontrunner for the NFC. Seattle's Josiah Breaston and his 8 interceptions are right on his tail for the award.
Standout Rookies:
QB's: Browns, Zachary Bledsoe currently leads all rookie passers in passing yards and passing touchdowns, with 2,484 and 26.
RB's: Tremondae Phillip of the Saints leads all rookie RB's with 784 yards rushing. Stehle Tarrant of the Browns is 2nd with 638 and Shaakir Rutledge of the Steelers is 3rd with 548.
WR's: Justice Searcy of the Bears leads all rookie WR's with 966 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Jordin McGowan of the Raiders is right on his heels with 954 receiving yards with James Spicer of the Patriots rounding out the top 3 with 728 yards.
TE's: Jarrett Chester of the Dolphins leads all rookie tight ends with 620 yards and 4 touchdowns.
OL: Riley Zimmer of the Texans is the only rookie OL with more than 500 snaps played and 0 sacks given up. The next closest is Pat Sloan of the Steelers with 432 snaps.
DL/LB: Simuel Flemons of the Falcons leads all defensive rookies with 8.5 sacks. Wayne Divens, of the Jaguars, leads all defensive rookies with 63 tackles.
DB's: The Browns have a rookie safety tandem of Dillard Poe and Rashard Ham, who have combined for 16 interceptions, 16 deflections and 107 combined tackles.
K/P: No one is currently using a rookie kicker or punter.
Playoff Races:
AFC 1st Seed:
1. Patriots | 8-0
2. Steelers | 7-1
3. Browns | 7-1
4. Texans | 7-1
Week 16 will be a big week for this race as the Browns and Patriots could be playing for a 1st round by when that game comes around. The Steelers will also have to play the Browns twice, week 14 and 17, which will both have huge implications in the division and 1st round bye races.
AFC North:
1. Steelers | 7-1
2. Browns | 7-1
As stated above, the key weeks for this race are week 14 and 17 when they play head to head.
AFC West:
1. Chiefs | 5-3
2. Chargers | 5-3
They "play" their second game of the season this week. With their situation, the Chargers will go up on the division and have the advantage going into the 2nd half of the season.
AFC South:
1. Texans | 7-1
2. Jaguars | 5-3
The Jaguars dug themselves a hole early on with 2 losses to start the season including one to the Texans. Week 17 will be when they meet next, the Jaguars will need some help but they can work themselves back into the race for 1st in the South.
AFC East:
1. Patrios | 8-0
Patriots are starting to run away with the division with a mid season 4 game cushion.
NFC 1st Seed:
1. 49ers | 7-1
2. Falcons | 6-2
3. Bears | 6-2
4. Washington | 6-2
49ers have the advantage based on a win over the Bears. For the 2nd by spot, the Bears have the advantage of the Falcons based on their win earlier in the season.
NFC North:
1. Bears | 6-2
2. Vikings | 5-3
3. Lions | 4-4
Last previous two seasons, the Bears/Vikings split their two games. Minnesota best way to win the division is to take both games from the Bears this season. If the Bears/Vikings do end up splitting, Detroit can find it's way to the top of the North with some help.
NFC West:
1. 49ers | 7-1
2. Rams | 5-3
3. Seahawks | 5-3
The 49ers have already beat the Rams and Seahawks once this season and are in a good position to win the division. Both the Rams and Seahawks will have to win their second game to have a chance at unseating the 49ers.
NFC South:
1. Falcons | 6-2
2. Buccaneers | 4-4
3. Panthers | 4-4
The Falcons are off to a great start in the South as they have already beat the Bucs twice and the Panthers once. They do play the Panthers in week 17, so if the Panthers get some help, then they could be playing for the division in that final week.
NFC East:
1. Washington | 6-2
2. Giants | 3-5
The Giants will have to win this week against Washington to give themselves a chance to make this a race.
Big Injuries:
Demarcus Royal, Bears: Last season's MVP will miss the entire second half of the season. How will this affect the Bears run game and their battle for a bye and the NFC North?
Will Money, Bucs: In the same game that Royal was injured, on the opposite sideline the Bucs lost their starting RB. Marquise Derby came in and gave the run game a boost and is now averaging 8.4 yards per carry on his oppurtunities this season. Could Derby be the spark that the Bucs need to get back atop the NFC South?
Interesting Statistics:
Coach Wins: Kendall Thomas joined Chetty Twelve as the only coaches to reach the 100 win plateau. We also have a couple of new owners with a great win percentage since joining in Bam Beast(Texans) at 79% and Sweetz Mack(Seahawks) at 75%.
Career Records: Dareon Elliott, RB for the Patriots, is approaching the record for touchdowns in a career. He currently is at 157 rushing touchdowns, 7 away from the record. Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley have also broken into the top 10 with 108 and 102 respectively. JJ Watt is continuing his surge toward the sack record. He is currently at 178, 22 sacks away. Von Miller ahs also worked his way into the top 10 with 144. It was also already pointed out but Kwon Alexander now leads all players in interceptions for a career and continues to build on his total. Will he be the first player to have 100 for his career?
Penalties: Currently, the Bengals have the most penalties with 45 and the Bucs have the fewest with 6.
Sorry that this is a little bit late, with my trip to Minnesota for work, this was difficult to get to. But thank you to everyone again who took the time to vote, it is much appreciated. This voting, we had the most votes every(21 people) and all the season's this year have beat the most amount of votes of any season from last year's Madden, so keep it up.
Most Valuable Player:
Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams(6 Votes)
Runner Up:
Deron Lewis, RB, Arizona Cardinals(5 Votes)
In a race that saw the big 3 RB's steal votes from eachother(Coleman with 4, Hill with 4 and Lewis with 5), it was a defensive player that came in and stole the award. For the first time in MBC history, a defensive player is MVP.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Jeremy Hill, RB, Buffalo Bills(7 Votes)
Max Riles, QB, Tampa Bay Bucs(7 Votes)
Runner Up:
Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons(4 Votes)
The only QB on the list almost stole another award away from Hill, but both ended up with the same amount of votes.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Gordon Griffin, WR, Tampa Bay Bucs(18 Votes)
Runner Up:
John Royster, RB, Indianapolis Colts(1 Vote)
JC Carrington, RB, Dallas Cowboys(1 Vote)
Efrem Blake, WR, St. Louis Rams(1 Vote)
In the biggest runaway voting in recent memory, Griffin did not have any serious contenders for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams(12 Votes)
Runner Up:
Jonathan Dowling, FS, Buffalo Bills(5 Votes)
For the second year in a row, voters have sided with sacks over interceptions for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Donald has been the most dominant pass rusher and is proving to dominate voting as well.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Everette Jordan, MLB, Buffalo Bills(8 Votes)
Runner Up:
Antuan Bynes, FS, Minnesota Vikings(7 Votes)
In one of the closest votings, Everette Jordan barely nudged out Bynes. Both players look to continue to lead each of their respective defenses and look to battle for next seasons Defensive Player of the Year award.
Special Teams Player of the Year:
Jeff Demps, KR/PR, Atlanta Falcons(13 Votes)
Runner Up:
Cairo Santos, K, Kansas City Chiefs(3 Votes)
Onterio McCaleb, KR/PR, Oakland Raiders(3 Votes)
Another award where there was really only one way to vote. Demps was the best kick and punt returner on the season and ran away with the voting.
Most Improved Player of the Year:
Jeremy Hill, RB, Buffalo Bills(8 Votes)
Runner Up:
Max Riles, QB, Tampa Bay Bucs(6 Votes)
After battling for the Offensive Player of the Year award, it was not surprising to see these two neck and neck for Most Improved. Hill edged out Riles to take home the award.
Dynamic Duo of the Year:
Gordon Griffen and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, WR/TE, Tampa Bay Bucs(7 Votes)
Runner Up:
Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins, WR/WR, San Diego Chargers(5 Votes)
Jonathan Dowling and Sean Smith, FS/SS, Buffalo Bills(5 Votes)
The rookie dominated this years winning duo, but Seferian-Jenkins gave enough for the voters to edge out the dominant pass receiving duo of Allen and Hopkins and the dominant safety duo of Dowling and Smith.
Coach of the Year:
Chetty Twelve, Arizona Cardinals(10 Votes)
Runner Up:
Tim Riggins, Buffalo Bills(8 Votes)
Highlight of the Year:
Runner Up:
Here are the MBC Awards winners from last year. Sorry that I don't have time to do a full article this year(plus my computer crapped the bed earlier today, so this is all from a tablet). Here are the winners and runners up.
Most Valuable Player:
Zac Pittman, QB, Buffalo Bills - 11 Votes
Runner Up: Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons - 4 Votes
Offensive Player of the Year:
Zac Pittman, QB, Buffalo Bills - 7 Votes
Runner Up: Mike Evans, WR, Buffalo Bills - 4 Votes
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Deron Lewis, RB, Arizona Cardinals - 10 Votes
Runner Up: Dareon Riley, WR, Minnesota Vikings - 4 Votes
Defensive Player of the Year:
Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams - 10 Votes
Runner Up: Jonathan Dowling, FS, Buffalo Bills - 5 Votes
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Thomas Ash, DT, Oakland Raiders - 5 Votes
Runner Up: DJ Nealy, FS, Houston Texans - 4 Votes
Runner Up: Desi Cole, FS, Indianapolis Colts - 4 Votes
Special Teams Player of the Year:
Ryan Morales, KR/PR, Atlanta Falcons - 8 Votes
Runner Up: Brandon McManus, K, Buffalo Bills - 4 Votes
Most Improved Player of the Year:
Johnny Manziel, QB, Atlanta Falcons - 7 Votes
Runner Up: Mike Evans, WR, Buffalo Bills - 4 Votes
Dynamic Duo of the Year:
Aaron Donald and Robert Quinn, DL, St. Louis Rams - 7 Votes
Runner Up: Mike Evans and Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills - 4 Votes
Coach of the Year:
Tim Riggins, 16-0, Buffalo Bills - 10 Votes
Runner Up: Ryan Flaharty - 2 Votes
Runner Up: Nate Coach - 2 Votes
Runner Up: Chetty Twleve - 2 Votes
Highlight of the Year:
Runner Up:
For full results: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-KFWD8GRQ/
Posting a stroy about the Statistical Records this season, just to give some extra props to those who had great seasons. I feel like with these in the forum, not everyone gets a chance to check them out, so congratulations to everyone on another great season. Bolded are the additions from 2018.
Sorry about the delay in the article, but with the website issues I couldn't post it.
Most Valuable Player:
Zac Pittman, QB, Bills
Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons
The voting for MVP was right down the middle between the QB and the RB, with both players each getting 47% of the vote. It seems only appropriate that the most dominating QB and most dominating RB share the award in a season where they both set records.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Zac Pittman, QB, Bills
Runner Up:
Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons
John Brown, WR, Cardinals
Pittman and Coleman may have tied for MVP, but Pittman was the runaway OPOY award winner. Pittman finished with 47% of the votes for OPOY, but John Brown stole some votes from Coleman in this category to give Pittman the win.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Zac Pittman, QB, Bills
Runner Up:
Jemale Finley, RB, Giants
In the biggest landslide of votes, Pittman ran away with the OROY award with 10/15 votes. Finley being the top rookie RB did steal a few votes away.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Jon Bostic, MLB, Bears
Runner Up:
Aaron Donald, DT, Rams
After coming so close to winning in 2016, Bostic finally took home the DPOY award in 2017. His 16 turnovers forced and 115 tackles were enough to overcome the sack king, Aaron Donald.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Immanuel Ferrell, MLB, Raiders
Runner Up:
Levon Jordan, MLB, Bears
Mason Russell, MLB, Chiefs
DPOY was dominated by MLB's this year and the voters decided that Immanuel Ferrell was the best of the bunch.
Special Teams Player of the Year:
Tavon Austin, KR/PR, Cardinals
Runner Up:
Lyndon Reed, KR/PR, Rams
In one of the surprise voting results, Tavon Austin ran away with the SPOY award. Looking at the results, the voters must have went effeciency and average yards per return over quantity. Reed set records for his kick return yardage, but it was not enough to overtake Austin.
Most Improved Player of the Year:
Alex Smith, QB, Cardinals
Runner Up:
Branch Riley, FS, Lions
Casey Hayward, FS, Packers
After being replaced in 2015 by Tyler Bray, Alex Smith was an aging backup with seemingly no life left in his career. That's when Brett Hundley's annual injury bug hit and Smith was left as the starting QB of the Arizona Cardinals. He finished the year with a QBR of 115.2 and a 16/5 TD to INT ratio. The efficient season of Smith was enough to hold off the young surging FS of Riley and Hayward.
Dynamic Duo of the Year:
Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons
Julio Jones, WR, Falcons
Runner Up:
Casey Hayward, FS, Packers
Haha Clinton-Dix, SS, Packers
After Julio led all receivers in receiving and Coleman led all running back in rushing yards, the voting for Dynamic Duo was fairly easy. There were a couple of other dominant defensive pairings, including the safety combo in Green Bay, but it was not enough to overtake Coleman and Julio's dominance.
Coach of the Year:
Chetty Twelve, Arizona Cardinals
Runner Up:
Duval Hornet, New Orleans Saints
After leading his team to a Super Bowl win in 2016, Chetty Twelve led his team within 1 game of being undefeated, but fell just short. This did not change the voters mind, as they voted Chetty Twleve the Coach of the Year. Duval Hornet does deserve a lot of recognition for the job he did trading for Stafford and keeping the Saints offense dominant.
Highlight of the Year:
Runner Up:
To try and keep the Highlight of the Year alive, I went through some of my old game highlights and dug up a few entries.
JTG Punt Return Before Half
Wright Steals One From Peterson
Colts Diving Interception
Week 3 Highlights Vs the Colts
Week 4 Highlights Vs the Vikings