Every postseason we go through every team/division, head-to-head/tournament style, casting our vote for the team’s and each division’s Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year…sending the divisional winners to a conference battle to get down to the final two (AFC and NFC) for the ‘Super Bowl’ of each award.
Our voting process and methodology and reasoning is usually quite different from the NFL’s and typically at least half If not all) our winners are not the NFL’s voted winners.
Come along for the division-by-division ride, and then to the conference finals, and then to the ultimate final to find out who our 2021 winners are…a new piece posted each day of early February, and the finals happen right before the NFL has their awards night.
OK, here we go…
--AFC NORTH--
Offensive Player of the Year:
CIN = Joe Burrow, CIN
PIT = Diontae Johnson, PIT
CLE = Nick Chubb, CLE
BAL = Mark Andrews, BAL
If the season ended Week 14-15, Joe Burrow would not be the name that sticks out here. It was his last few weeks of 2021 season that was a nuclear bomb explosion to get him back to being beloved. Does anyone on this list feel like they deserve to be in over Burrow?
Diontae Johnson saw a lot of targets, but he wasn’t a difference maker…just a great season tally/targets. Nick Chubb was nice, but the Browns didn’t fly higher because of Chubb. Hell, the Browns would have probably had the same season if they ran Hunt-D’Ernest all season.
Mark Andrews is really underrated for what he did this season. #1 in catches, #1 in targets, #1 in yards, #1t in TDs among tight ends this season – and he did it despite not playing in a high-volume passing game with elite QBs, and he produced with Lamar and with Huntley (and Josh Johnson too). Hat’s off to Andrews, but Joe Burrow is a Cincinnati Messiah, one of the best players in the league already – he has to get the nod here.
WINNER = Joe Burrow moves on to the AFC divisional finals.
Rookie of the Year
CIN = Ja’Marr Chase, CIN
PIT = Najee Harris, PIT
CLE = Greg Newsome, CLE
BAL = Odafe Oweh, BAL
By looking at the names, as a group, you instantly fly right by Oweh and Newsome, as you should. It comes down to Ja’Marr Chase and Najee Harris, but then with an extra second of thought…what did Najee do to deserve awards in the 2021 season? Nothing. He got a lot of touches…big deal. He didn’t really stack numbers or carry the offense. Meanwhile, Chase had a really good year overall…up and down throughout, lucky in spots, but the season totals were terrific…and that game against Kansas City, a huge spot, and he took it over and (you could say) single handedly won it with his stunning catches late in the game.
WINNER = Ja’Marr Chase moves on to the AFC divisional finals.
Defensive Player of the Year
CIN = Chidobe Awuzie, CIN
PIT = T.J. Watt, PIT
CLE = Myles Garrett, CLE
BAL = CB Marlon Humphrey, BAL
Humphrey was so key to the Ravens…once he went down, the defense fell further, and the team never recovered and the D-C got fired (which is a mistake/unbelievable after all he has done there).
Myles Garrett is very good, but he’s not as good as T.J. Watt.
I love the season Chidobe Awuzie had…one of the reasons for the Cincy D turnaround and one of the best CBs in the 2021 season. I want to give the nod to Awuzie so badly, to be clever, but T.J. Watt is a freak and amazing and was extra-amazing again this season. You have to give the vote to Watt.
WINNER = T.J. Watt moves on to the AFC divisional finals.
Coach of the Year
CIN = Zac Taylor, CIN
PIT = Mike Tomlin, PIT
CLE = Kevin Stefanski, CLE
BAL = John Harbaugh, BAL
Last year’s winner (for the NFL), Kevin Stefanski…what a fall from grace. A year ago, many saw Cleveland as the future of the AFC…now, today, they’re not even the future of the AFC North.
John Harbaugh made some of the worst coaching decisions, in-game I saw this season…he’s not close to consideration.
I wanna leap right to Zac Taylor for the Cincy win, but as much as I cannot stand Mike Tomlin…how in the hell did the Steelers get to the playoffs? It’s much easier to get to the playoffs than it is to win a division, so despite the fact that Taylor’s big coaching attribute is ‘has Joe Burrow’…I give it to him because he was a part of this division winning team and made gutsy calls late in the KC game, and then smartly rested players Week 18 to get ready for the playoffs instead of wasting time/resources on maybe having a shot to move up a seed.
WINNER = Zac Taylor moves on to the AFC divisional finals.
