NFL midseason awards: Ravens duo in running for top awards, but Lions are story of the season
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, left, jokes with running back Derrick Henry, right, as they wait to talk at a news conference after defeating the Denver Broncos in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 3, 20204, in Baltimore. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
The NFL has a team in Kansas City that is undefeated and trying to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl. It has an organization in Washington that has been turned around after years of ineptitude with the help of new ownership, a new coach and a rookie quarterback. It has a ridiculous number of teams — nine! — mired at two wins through the first half of the schedule. It introduced a dynamic kickoff that has been anything but. And it could have its MVP and Offensive Player of the Year playing in the same backfield in Baltimore.
But the story of the season to this point isn’t any of those.
It’s taking place in Detroit, where the Lions, who haven’t won a championship since 1957, are off to their best start since 1956 and have a chance to reach their first Super Bowl, ending nearly seven decades of Motor City misery.
It shouldn’t be a surprise. The Lions advanced to the NFC Championship Game a year ago, and this season, they are even better. Their offense is humming along, their defense — which took a brief hit with the loss of Aidan Hutchinson to a season-ending leg fracture — has retooled at the trade deadline, and they are churning out wins like an automobile assembly line.
There are those who believe the Lions are the best team in football despite Kansas City’s slightly better record and more recent resume of success.
Will the Lions be the story of the year when the season is over? We’ll find out in a few months. In the meantime, here is a look at some of the unofficial Midseason Awards that we’re handing out (along with a look at who we predicted would win the hardware in the preseason):
MVP
LAMAR JACKSON, RAVENS
(Preseason pick: Josh Allen)
No one in football is playing better than Jackson, who is in line to potentially win a second straight and third overall MVP.
Among quarterbacks, he ranks first in passer rating, first in touchdown-to-interception ratio, first in passing yards per attempt, first in rushing yards and tied for first in touchdown passes. It was hard to believe he could improve on last year’s award-winning performance, but he has.
While Allen has a chance to beat him out, especially if the Ravens slip up in the second half, Jackson should cruise to the stage at NFL Honors in February . . . unless he’s playing in the Super Bowl.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
DERRICK HENRY, RAVENS
(Preseason pick: Ja’Marr Chase)
The devaluation of running backs has a few very obvious exceptions, and the teams that ignored the trend — Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minnesota — have benefited. None more than the Ravens, though. While Henry looked on the verge of being washed up in his final days in Tennessee, he has been rejuvenated in Baltimore and has brought a physicality to the Ravens’ offense. Even at age 30, he remains, deceptively, one of the fastest players in the league.
Henry came into Week 10 leading the NFL in rushing yards (1,052), rushing touchdowns (11) and runs over 20 yards (12), and his 87-yard scoring play is the longest run of the year. Thursday night’s performance only added to those towering numbers.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
T.J. WATT, STEELERS
(Preseason pick: Maxx Crosby)
Two weeks ago, this might have gone to the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence, who still is second in the league in sacks (9.0) as a nose tackle. Two weeks before that, it would have gone to Hutchinson, who was playing at a ridiculously unstoppable level. But Watt clearly is the most well-rounded defender in the league right now, and while his 6.5 sacks aren’t eye-popping, his down-to-down play certainly has been. Look for him to win this award for the second time, which would put him one behind his big brother J.J.
COACH OF THE YEAR
DAN QUINN, COMMANDERS
(Preseason pick: DeMeco Ryans)
We know Quinn probably still flinches about being comfortably ahead in anything halfway through (cough, cough, 28-3), but the job he has done to help turn the Commanders from afterthoughts to contenders in just a few short months is remarkable. Hat tips to the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell — who was able to shift gears when his rookie quarterback suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason — and Dan Campbell, who certainly has pushed all the right buttons in Detroit. And there still is time for someone else to make a run out of an early hole and win this award (Sean McVay? Jeff Ulbrich?). But Quinn’s attitude and confidence have been infectious since he entered the building in Washington and it’s changed an entire organization.
OFFENSIVE ROOKIE
JAYDEN DANIELS, COMMANDERS
(Preseason pick: Marvin Harrison Jr.)
Quinn hasn’t done it himself, though. For the second year in a row, the quarterback taken second overall appears to be the best of the draft class. Daniels’ best attribute may be his calm demeanor. After his Hail Mary TD pass to beat Caleb Williams and the Bears this month, he was spotted in the locker room, soaking it all in, enjoying watching his teammates go bonkers. It was as if he expected to complete the pass and win the game. And now the Commanders do too.
DEFENSIVE ROOKIE
JARED VERSE, RAMS
(Preseason pick: Verse)
Verse has 33 tackles and 3.5 sacks, but his consistency has been a major factor in his and the Rams’ success. He leads all rookies with 39 quarterback pressures. In a year when no defensive players were drafted until 15th overall, Verse is looking like the one who slipped through the cracks before he was taken by the Rams at 19.
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
KIRK COUSINS, FALCONS
(Preseason pick: Aaron Rodgers)
The quarterback returning from a torn Achilles wins this award, just not the one we initially thought. Cousins has done for the Falcons what Rodgers was expected to do for the Jets (and, to be fair, what Rodgers still could accomplish): Take a team that thought it was a quarterback away from contending and prove them right. It’s worth noting that Cousins was a candidate for MVP last year in Minnesota before his injury, and he’s picked right back up with his new team.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.