Honors and Dishonors 2011

Now that another season (full of victory) is complete, it's time to hand out some hardware.

• MVP - Calvin Johnson, WR Detroit. Sure, it was the year of the quarterback, but somehow lost in the shuffle was one of the best seasons ever produced by a wide receiver. Johnson went for 80+ yards receiving TWELVE times, started the season with 9 touchdowns in his first five games, and finished the season with 560 yards over his final three games. Megatron, indeed. Runner up: Peyton Manning. Name another team that could lose its starting QB and turn to total shit?
• LVP (Least Valuable Player) - John Beck, QB Washington - His numbers looked fairly mediocre on the surface, but Beck took over a 3-1 Redskins team and left them 3-5 after his four starts. More blame here could be placed on the shoulders of Mike Shanahan, who OutShananhan'd himself once again, just as he did when he benched a 7-2 Jake Plummer for Jay Cutler, and promptly missed the playoffs.
• Prognostication of the Year - July 28, 2001, I wrote a piece about the lose/lose scenario of the Kevin Kolb trade, and doomed the "Dream Team."
• Worst Prognostication of the Year - That the Colts would man up without Peyton Manning and win the AFC South. It's too late to clean up all the posts mentioning that at this point.
• Quote of the Year - Dre: "Fuck you, faggot Ravens." Dre had some serious animosity towards Joe Flacco, Ray-Ray, and the maddeningly inconsistent Ravens.
• Play of the Year - Kevin Walter's Touchdown, Saints vs. Texans, 9/25/11
• Worst Play of the Year - Matt Ryan fumble, Falcons vs. Bears, 9/11/11. Falcons fans (like me) were having Micheal Vick flashbacks. Ryan, trying to avoid a sack, literally laid the ball on the turf for Brian Urlacher to pick up and carry into the endzone.
• Rookie of the Year - AJ Green, WR Cincinnati - Cam Newton was the obvious choice, but I'm going with the guy who was the only guy on the Bengals offense. Quick, name another impact skill position player on that offense! The combo of Andy Dalton to Green was electrifying, and the Bengals went as that combo went, which was all the way to the playoffs, and a quick exit in Houston. But really, who had the BENGALS making the playoffs at all? Runner up: Von Miller, LB Denver - he's a fucking beast!
• Worst Rookie of the Year - Blaine Gabbert, QB Jacksonville - Jags fans: you're lucky most of your games are blackouts!
• Awesome Story of the Year - Sam Hurd, Scarface! No, it wasn't Tim Tebow.
• The 2012 Houston Texans Memorial Chic Preseason Pick to Make the Playoffs will be - The Houston Texans, of course. I mean, c'mon, they're LOADED! All their players are coming back from injury, they'll be UNSTOPPABLE!!!! Only the Texans could win their own award AFTER making the playoffs.
• It Feels Like It Was Years Ago But It Happened This Season - Donovan McNabb starting the year as the Vikings QB.

Calls I was proud of :

• The Jets will never win anything with Mark Sanchez
• Bear Whispering
• Backing the Broncos into the playoffs
• Riding the Giants into the playoffs

Calls I regret :

• Sticking with the Colts way too long, and then jumping off when they started covering the number
• Riding the Giants into the playoffs and then jumping off them in the NFC Championship, almost cost me the season
• That 2-12-2 I put up in Week 2. I'm beyond amazed I squeaked out a season over .500