The Papa Bear Awards: The NFL's brightest and dimmest

Looking back before we look ahead.

First, a shameless plug:

The play “Ted Turner And The Last Roundup” begins this Friday at Long Beach (CA) Playhouse. Tickets are available at LBPlayhouse.org. It runs Jan. 10-12 and then next weekend Jan. 17-19 (8 pm Fri, 8 pm Sat, 2 pm Sun). NFL playoff scores will not be announced during the performance, so please activate your DVR at home. It was written by yours truly and features two terrific actors who are familiar to local audiences: Noah Wagner and Amanda Karr. If you’re in the area, please stop in.

Now:

Presenting The Morning After’s second annual Papa Bear Awards, named after the great George Halas and recognizing the accomplishments, both good and ill, during the NFL’s regular season.

MVP: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore. Please don’t throw things. A vote for Josh Allen or Saquon Barkley is perfectly acceptable. So is an explanation of how you shouldn’t be the MVP if you throw 41 touchdown passes and four interceptions, lead the league in passer rating and yards per attempt, and also lead the league in yards per rush and rank 20th in rushing overall with 915 yards, plus four touchdowns….and your team wins the AFC North title. Repeat, Jackson led the NFL in passer rating. Would anyone have believed that when he came out of Louisville, bringing his scattered line drives?

Coach: Dan Campbell, Detroit. Ridiculed after his first bite-their-kneecaps press conference, Campbell is now the model, a big, warm-hearted galoot who never stops preaching fearlessness, confidence and togetherness — and a guy you don’t mess with. Sean McVay, Dan Quinn, Sean McDermott, Matt Lafleur and Kevin O’Connell all deserve votes, but Detroit’s many defensive injuries and its stern schedule should have prevented a 15-2 season.

Bad Coach: Matt Eberflus, Chicago. Perfect example of how good coordinators don’t always become good head coaches. The quickest way to get fired, as Eberflus was on the day after Thanksgiving, is to mess up fourth-quarter clock situations. But any team would be happy to have him running the defense.

Offensive Rookie: Jayden Daniels, Washington. How to flip a franchise? Draft the right quarterback. Daniels had a 100.1 passer rating and ran four fourth-quarter comeback wins for the Commanders, who won 12 games and got back to the playoffs. The previous two Washington teams won a total of 12 games, and the club’s last winning season was 2016. Daniels had to be this good to hold off Denver’s Bo Nix and Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers.

Defensive Rookie: Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia: A tough one between the Rams’ Jared Verse and his 77 pressures and the Eagles’ Mitchell, a cornerback who doesn’t have an interception. But fewer QBs are throwing in Mitchell’s direction and he hasn’t allowed a TD in man coverage all year. The back end of the Eagles’ defense was the problem last year and Mitchell has fixed it, along with fellow rookie Cooper DeJean.

Bad Draft Choice: Tyler Guyton, Dallas. Not that he’s a bust, but Guyton graded poorly in his debut season. And, as the 29th pick, he went ahead of impact players like the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, the Packers’ Edgerrin Cooper and the Steelers’ Zach Frazier.

Executive: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Minnesota. He was the stealth champion of free agent season, plucking edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, and giving Brian Flores a defense that could deal. His pick of J.J. McCarthy, who was hurt in training camp, will eventually blossom. Brian Gutekunst of the Packers has worked comprehensive wonders with that roster.

Bad Executive: Terry Fontenot, Atlanta. And, yeah, this goes to the ownership level, so include Arthur Blank as well, but to pay that much for Kirk Cousins and then draft Michael Penix as a first-round quarterback while ignoring your crying need for a pass rusher is just too erratic. Especially when you miss the playoffs by a game, or by a couple of interceptions thrown by Cousins.

Comeback: Damar Hamlin, Buffalo. Yes, I’m aware of Sam Darnold, but Hamlin ranked third in tackles for the Bills even though he missed three games. The safety broke up five passes, had two interceptions and two tackles for loss, and helped the Bills in for the departures of safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. If you were breathing on Jan. 2, 2023, you presumably remember when Hamlin nearly died on the turf in Cincinnati.

Offensive Coordinator: Ben Johnson, Detroit. The Lions ran an NFL-high 1,118 plays, lost three fumbles and scored on 51.6 percent of their possessions. They also scored 40 or more points in six of 17 games. As a result, Johnson is as finicky as an 8-year-old tabby when it comes to head coaching jobs, and why not?

Defensive Coordinator: Vic Fangio, Philadelphia. Fangio took over a chaotic Eagles defense, supervised Mitchell as cornerback, turned loose Jalen Carter up front, and wound up coaching the league’s best unit in yards per play. The Eagles gave up 303 points, second to the Chargers (by two points). Jesse Minter of the Chargers or Steve Spagnuolo of the Chiefs would work, too, but the Rams’ Chris Shula might have been the coordinator of the second half, working with rookies and NFL sophomores to cause havoc.

Best Game: Buffalo 48, Detroit 42 on Dec. 15. Allen was Iron Man and Batman that day, and Jared Goff threw for 494 yards and five touchdowns.

Best Owner: Zigi Wilf, Minnesota. NFL players like the way Wilf treats them, and US Bank Stadium is a palace.

Worst Owner: Woody Johnson, Jets. Not only did he turn over the office to Aaron Rodgers and friends, he fired Robert Salah for no reason, and in the end he found himself having to deny that his teenage son Brick is a major influencer on the franchise.

Best Broadcast Team: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on ESPN, although not by much over Al Michaels/Kirk Herbstreit on Amazon Prime.

Best TV Analyst: Gregg Olson of Fox, who was unfairly demoted to the No. 2 team to appease a struggling rookie.

Worst Decision: Imagine how much ad money Jason Kelce would have stuffed away if he’d retired from the Eagles two years ago.

Best Quarterback: After proposing that Jackson is the MVP, this might seem weird, but Joe Burrow was fabulous for the Bengals this year, considering how much he was hit and how little help he got.

Best Runner: Barkley. He had a league-high 345 carries and fumbled twice. He also gained 2,005 yards, 84 more than anyone else, and sat out the Eagles’ finale.

Best Receiver: Ja’Marr Chase by a mile. Won the Triple Crown with 127 catches, 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns, and was the only receiver to average over 100 yards of catches. Also led in targets and first downs.

Best Tight End: Bowers. The 22-year-old Raiders rookie caught 112 passes and was the only viable threat on most Sundays. He was sixth among all receivers in first downs.

Best Offensive Tackle: Penai Sewell, Detroit. He had the second-most snaps and the second-highest Pro Football Focus run-blocking grade.

Best Guard: Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta. Easily the top run-blocking guard. Rookie Dominic Puni of the 49ers had a nice debut.

Best Center: Creed Humphrey, Kansas City. The Chiefs had trouble protecting Patrick Mahomes on the flanks, but Humphrey was a brick wall in the middle.

Best Edge Defender: T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh. Plays more snaps, gets his sacks, stops the run better than anyone else. I’m not sure he’s not the best player in the league.

Best Interior Defender: Leonard Williams, Seattle. He made game-changing plays once he got to the Seahawks. Special AARP discounts to Cam Heyward of the Steelers (35) and Calais Campbell of the Dolphins (38).

Best Linebacker: Bobby Wagner, Washington. At 35 he played over 1,000 snaps and still gave tight ends a fit.

Best Corner: Devon Witherspoon, Seattle. Today’s corners have to be great tacklers, and Witherspoon brings it. For pure coverage, Denver’s Patrick Surtain was the man.

Best Safety: Kerby Joseph, Detroit. He led the league in interceptions but not because quarterbacks were singling him out.

Best Kicker: Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh. He made 13 of 15 from 50-plus. Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey made 14 of 17 from 50-plus. Boswell’s overall percentage is higher, and he kicks in a windy wide-open stadium.

Best Punter: Tommy Townsend, Houston. Over 51 percent of his punts were downed inside the 20, and opponents returned his 76 punts only 125 yards.

Best Gamblers: Washington. The Commanders converted 20 of 23 fourth downs. The Cowboys were the worst, with 10 of 28. For those who get all warm and fuzzy when the coach leaves the offense on the field, note that the 14-3 Vikings tried it only 13 times, fewest in the league, and the 3-14 Browns led with 44 attempts, making 24.

Best Free Agent: Barkley.

Best Development: The comeback of the veteran runner, facilitated by defenses who keep their safeties out of cellphone range.

Worst Development: The continued existence of pro football in the New York City area.