Chaotically Intolerant NFL Awards

SARASOTA, FL- The Kansas City Chiefs are the 2023-2024 Super Bowl Champions, the first back to back champions since those Tom Brady Patriots teams of the early 2000's (their defense carried Brady in the first 3 Super Bowls). We did our mid-season awards here, I like to read through the article and just take a trip down memory lane of the 1st half of the season, that feels like a year ago already, remember when the Dolphins were the #1 team in the NFL? Yeah, me neither, anyways, check out all 12 of our awards and go back and see how much we changed.

MVP

Alex Boyajian- This is a battle, Josh Allen vs Lamar Jackson vs DAK PRESCOTT??? (It's a QB league, sue me) Yes, Dak Prescott, who led the league in passing touchdowns, threw 9 int's, led in completions, 2nd in QBR, 3rd in QB rating and 3rd in passing yards, oh yeah, he also accounted for more passing + rushing yards than Lamar and finished just behind Allen. This also depends on how we view the MVP award, could another QB come in and put up similar numbers? Absolutely, could another QB lead Dallas to a division title and a 1st round exit? Absolutely, but was it Dak who put up those numbers? Yes and he finished with better numbers than Lamar and Allen in every category besides INT's (Lamar had 7, Allen had 2x Dak's INT's), so, who is my MVP? Dak Prescott

Curtis Brown- Lamar has all the stats but couldn't get over the hump, that is, Patrick Mahomes. Honestly, though his stats this season aren't what they have been in the past, Mahomes seems to be more indisposable than Lamar, who’s backup was a Pro-Bowler a season ago. But, if I listen to my heart, it tells me it's a young man in Houston. I'm not gonna give it to him, but I could and it would make sense. Regardless, my real MVP vote… CMC. Look at his numbers before you come at me.

Michael Seff- No sense in trying to be coy or outsmart myself here. Lamar Jackson is hands down the 2023 MVP, and frankly he looks more polished than when he previously took home the hardware in 2019. Now it's time to prove he can win in January.

Comeback Player of the Year

Alex Boyajian- What QB was left for dead in the NFC South, on a team that wanted the backup to start, expected to win 4 games this year and draft a QB and went on to win the NFC South AND a playoff game over the defending NFC Champions at home? Baker Mayfield. Damar was a great story, his comeback from his cardiac arrest is nothing to shake a stick at, but with 3 total tackles on the year, it's hard for me to give him the award, Joe Flacco was inspiring, but he played 5 games in the regular season, you need to play at least half of the games for me to think you deserve ANY award.

Curtis Brown- Baker Mayfield. Unlike the favorites for this award, Joe Flacco and Damar Hamlin. Baker both played and wasn't the last resort for a completely ravaged QB room. Instead, he took the helm of a team written off and looking into the eye of obscurity post The Goat’s era in Tampa. Not only was he a division winner this season but won a playoff game. For a guy who was a top draft pick by way of Oklahoma, then disgraced with the Deshaun trade, getting dealt to Carolina to run scout team defense reps, cut and signed and starting a game for the Rams with less than 3 days on the team. He has come back to announce his failure was on Cleveland.

Michael Seff- The last few weeks, Flacco has been a breath of fresh air, going from his couch to leading Cleveland to a playoff berth. The fourth QB to start for the Browns this year, Flacco is holding nothing back, slinging the ball like he did in his heyday with Baltimore.

Most Explosive

Alex Boyajian- Well, we can go by the statistics and say Mostert or Gibbs because of their explosive rate and efficiency, but I am going to go with the chalk answer because he deserves it, it's Christian McCaffrey

Curtis Brown- Well when the chips fell, it wasn't Tyreek that gets this one from me. But the same as my MVP, CMC.

Michael Seff- Again, no need to overthink this. Lamar Jackson is doing it all for Baltimore in 2023, even cracking the Top 20 in rushing yardage.

Coach of the Year

Alex Boyajian- There are 3 really deserving coaches, so I am going to go with the one who helped turn around a 3 win team into a 10 win team, Demeco Ryans

Curtis Brown- Demeco Ryans, Ryans led a team of players that was projected to have the fewest regular season wins in the AFC in the preseason. I myself thought an optimistic ceiling was 7 wins, what with a Rookie HC, Rookie OC, Rookie QB, a young core of 1st or 2nd year players and a smattering of players on prove-it deals, there wasn't too much to be sure of with this team. Yet he managed to get the absolute most out of everyone in that organization, on their way to their 7th AFC South division title. I bet he even made the Towel boy a better young man.

Michael Seff- It's hard to not pick Dan Campbell, but you simply cannot overlook the job Stefanski has done in leading the Browns to the postseason without the services of star running back Nick Chubb and down to his fourth-string QB. By a nose, the Penn alum gets the nod.

Biggest Surprise Team

Alex Boyajian- I am going to overthink this and go with the Philadelphia Eagles, they started 10-1 and finished 1-5, who would have thought the NFC Champs would fall that fast?

Curtis Brown- I am going in a negative direction, the Chargers… It's really not hard to imagine why. This was supposed to be the other team in the AFC West to make the playoffs, on their revenge tour post their unceremonious exit from the 2022-23 playoffs. Yet, Staley gets fired after his star filled team gets murdered by 50 by a team who didn't score the week before, and the team looked broken from the season's starting whistle. Still, there were more disappointing teams.

Michael Seff- Narrowly edging out a couple of AFC South teams, the Browns seem to be doing it with smoke, mirrors, and one heck of a defense. Given the injury situation and the strength of the AFC North, the Browns winning 11 games is pretty shocking.

Biggest Surprise Player

Alex Boyajian- Since I didn't give Joe the Comeback Player of the Year, I gotta give it to him here, I didn't think I would hear Joe's name again until his inevitable turn to the booth, Joe Flacco was not on my bingo card for 2023, but I am happy for him, the world needs Joe Flacco in football

Curtis Brown- Devin Singletary, while he has still yet to ever crack 1k yards on the ground in any single season, he was able to get some semblance of a respectable year behind a patchwork OL in Houston. A guy who was slated to be the back up, got a chance bc of injury and eventually usurped the starter. He was absolutely instrumental in at least 3 Texans victories this season. I wonder if they will bring him back.

Michael Seff- The Rams are a potential playoff dark horse thanks in large part to the emergence of Kyren Williams, a fifth-round pick who is second in the league with 1,144 rushing yards.

Most Disappointing Team

Alex Boyajian- Weren't the Jaguars supposed to have the division locked up in week 1, wasn't Trevor Lawrence supposed to have finally found his footing and become the next "Andrew Luck"? Never use Andrew Luck in the same sentence as Lawrence again, it's disrespectful, the Jacksonville Jaguars were the most disappointing.

Curtis Brown- Philadelphia Eagles, a team so highly touted coming off a Super Bowl run a year ago, couldn't even string together enough wins at the end of the season to secure the division or a bye week. The cracks may have started to show in philly, with the departure of their OC and DC following the Super Bowl. Maybe Siriani was just good at hiring coaches.

Michael Seff- As I said at midseason, a regression may have been expected, but the G-Men have completely fallen off the grid in 2023. The Daniel Jones injury didn't help, but all facets of the Giants have taken a step back as they've plummeted to complete irrelevance this season.

Most Disappointing Player

Alex Boyajian- Leaves Green Bay, the media talks about the Jets winning the preseason Super Bowl, signs all his old friends, gets hurt 4 drives into the game, spends the rest of the season talking about how he can return soon, talks about how great his surgery was, doesn't return, then says he still can't run at full speed, yeah, it's Aaron Rodgers

Curtis Brown- AJ Brown. I can hear it now “How can you say that!? He had these stats and these yards”. Well stats aren't everything. Let's start with the end of the Philadelphia Eagles season where he would disappear, for long stretches at a time. Then screech at his QB to throw him the ball. He is a disappointment because he is a diva, he has that Antonio Brown, Terrell Owens factor, where if he isn't the main focus, he loses focus of the bigger picture. This season exposed him as a bad teammate.

Michael Seff- A four-year, $25.4M contract looks like a big mistake for Carolina as Miles Sanders has struggled to just 414 yards rushing and one touchdown on the season. In conjunction with rookie Bryce Young's struggles, the Panthers are the laughingstock of the league in 2023.

LVP

Alex Boyajian- This was tough, because there were so many deserving candidates, but the Carolina Panthers offense minus Bryce Young and Adam Thielen is the most deserving, just awfully bad, gross, disgusting and is making everyone think that Bryce Young was the biggest bust since Ryan Leaf.

Curtis Brown- The Titans OL is still my vote here, outside of Peter Skoronski, who gets a partial pass for being an above average rookie in a turd filled lineup, the rest of them… be ashamed.

Michael Seff- The Falcons waited way too long to realize Desmond Ridder wasn't the guy. Taylor Heinicke at least gives the Falcons a fighting chance, but Ridder really did not show any promise that he could be the franchise QB for Atlanta.

Bone Head Coach of The Year

Alex Boyajian- It's Brandon Staley, watch his press conference after their game against the Packers, I would be shocked if he didn't explode when he got fired after his defense gave up 63 points.

Curtis Brown- Dan Campbell, watch the NFC Championship game…

Michael Seff- How in the world did Brandon Staley last until December? He continued to outdo himself with bad decisions on a weekly basis, and it took a complete humiliation in prime time – a 63-21 loss to the Raiders – to finally compel owner Dean Spanos to cut him loose.

Heart Breaking Loss of The Year

Alex Boyajian- I am going homer here, Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts, Week 18. First, you started with the ball with 6 minuets to go, you cannot assume you will score a TD, score as soon as possible and either kick a FG (don't call timeouts), get a stop (use timeouts) and get the ball back. Trying to score quickly gives you as many chances to win as possible, scoring on one drive in a defensive-ish game is literally putting all your eggs in one basket, anyways, Gardner Minshew just had to make an OKAY throw to Tyler Goodson, which, by the way, absolutely no hate to Tyler Goodson, but if this was going to be THE play you call on 4th and 1, why would Jonathan Taylor not be getting reps with the play in practice, why was JT not on the field because he wasn't hurt enough to keep off the field on 3rd and 2 & if you think the defense would "key in" on Taylor, why have him in on any key play? Why pay him all that money if you can't use him in key plays? Do the Dolphins take Tyreek Hill off the field during key plays? Absolutely insane logic from Shane Steichen and the Colts fanbase to cope with Shane Steichen's bad decision making

Curtis Brown- I am going to dip into the playoffs again, the Detroit Lions, NFC Championship Game. The whole country outside of a few counties in California were wanting to see history made by the franchise, making their 1st Super Bowl appearance, 1st NFL Title game of any sort since 1957. Yet, not taking the points was their undoing.

Michael Seff- Cowboys 20, Lions 19, Week 17. In the short-term, this loss doesn't hurt the Lions that badly, considering they'll still host the first-ever playoff game at Ford Field on wild card weekend. But an unfortunate penalty call, following by an even more-unfortunate decision to go for two again from the 7-yard line, may well cost the Lions a second home game (likely against Dallas) in the divisional round.

Most Under Utilized Player

Alex Boyajian- Michael went with Kyle Pitts, I am going to go with a rookie, Bijan Robinson, he has top 5 RB abilities and under 1,000 yards and 214 carries, barely inside the top 20 in carries.

Curtis Brown- Jamal Agnew, In Jacksonville, Jamal is one of many mouths to feed, yet when fed, he is electric. Jamal is a specialty player, Kickoff Returns, Punt Returns, Gadget WR/RB, you could argue he is used fairly plenty. But I think if given the chance to focus on 1 thing, he could blossom.

Michael Seff- I'm doubling down on my midseason choice of Kyle Pitts. He is too big of a weapon to only be averaging three catches and 40 yards per game for a team that still has a chance to win its division.

Alex Boyajian is the CEO of Chaotically Intolerant Multi Media Productions, Host of the Chaotically Intolerant Podcast, Commissioner of Chaotically Intolerant Table Tennis and the biggest Colts fan at Chaotically Intolerant

Michael Seff is the owner of draftamerica.com, Chaotically Intolerant's resident football analyst and the biggest Ravens fan at Chaotically Intolerant

Curtis Brown is the Owner of the Curtis Podcast Network, host of This AFC South Show and the biggest Texans fan at Chaotically Intolerant, you can find more from Curtis at his YouTube here