NP. I don’t know if there’s been some survey of who is the most hated team in NFL, but the Pats would/should be close to the top aka Cheaters Inc
I can’t help but think the Chiefs and Cowboys are up there too, especially the latter.
Well, I don’t think people hate the Chiefs, they’re just kind of tired of them at this point.
as was the Pats–imagine lots of celebrations for their fall from grace, er success
The “NFL Honors” awards show is in progress tonight. Awards given so far, as of this writing:
- Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett, Browns
- Comeback Player of the Year: Christian McCaffrey, 49ers
- Offensive Rookie of the Year: Tetairoa McMillan, Panthers
- Protector of the Year: Joe Thuney, Bears (a new award, for best offensive lineman)
- Salute to Service Award: McCaffrey
- Assistant Coach of the Year: Josh McDaniels, Patriots
- Jim Brown Award (rushing leader): James Cook, Bills
- Deacon Jones Award (sack leader): Garrett
I’m on board with both of these.
- Coach of the Year: Mike Vrabel, Patriots
The 2026 Hall of Fame class has been announced:
- QB Drew Brees
- WR Larry Fitzgerald
- LB Luke Kuechly
- K Adam Vinatieri
- RB Roger Craig (seniors committee nominee)
Brees and Fitzgerald were elected in their first year of eligibility; Kuechly and Vinatieri in their second year. Vinatieri becomes the fourth pure specialist to enter the Hall, joining kickers Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen, and punter Ray Guy.
Hard to argue with any of those (though I don’t know enough about Craig). Delighted for Vinatieri - he was the definition of clutch.
Agreed with all of this. Don’t really know Craig but the others are awesome and very much deserve the honor.
Also, thrilled JSN got OPOY. And Stafford is MVP as he should be, he was ridiculous this year.
Roger Craig was a beast for the 49ers in the Bill Walsh era, as both a running back and a receiver, and was a member of three Super Bowl-winning teams. He ran for over 7000 yards, and caught over 500 passes, in eight seasons with the Niners.
However, he only made All-Pro twice (including in '88, when he was also Offensive Player of the Year), and I had figured, when he wasn’t elected when he was on the main ballot, that he had been deemed to be in the “Hall of the Very Good.” Honestly, if I had my choice between him and Ken Anderson (who was also on the Seniors ballot) for a spot in the Hall, I would have picked Anderson.
The remaining award winners:
- Most Valuable Player: Matthew Stafford, Rams
- Offensive Player of the Year: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks
- Defensive Rookie of the Year: Carson Schwesinger, Browns
- Walter Payton Man of the Year: Bobby Wagner, Commanders
- Air and Ground Players of the Year, Drake Maye (Patriots), McCaffrey, Smith-Njigba
- Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Budda Baker, Cardinals
Here in Patriots land, there was a lot of chatter about Drake Maye as MVP, and Stafford juuuuuuuuuuust edged him out. According to the Boston Globe:
Stafford received 366 points from a 50-voter panel of nationwide media, each of which chose five-player ballots awarding points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis. Maye finished with 361, well ahead of Buffalo’s Josh Allen (91), San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey (71), and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (49).
Stafford received 24 first-place votes to Maye’s 23.
I’ve enjoyed watching Maye, but the Pats’ defense was a huge contributor to the turnaround as well. I thought he was nowhere close to MVP (especially given strength of schedule compared to the Rams). Let’s see what next year brings before we go putting crowns on this young man.
I think Maye has potential to be a great QB (like Rodgers/Peyton/Brady/Mahomes), but I thought the same of CJ Stroud at one point. Yeah, let’s see how he develops. He sure is fun to watch though.
Yeah. One fun thing about in-person NFL is watching the coverage rather than the line of scrimmage, and at the games we went to he put some balls into places that I “knew” weren’t open. Also, he runs faster than it looks like he’s running, if that makes sense.
I do hope he keeps all that going and gets some better pocket sense.
Roger Craig was first RB to have a thousand yards rushing and a thousand yards receiving in a single season, sort of reset parameters for RB
I really associate him with the beginning and the success of the West Coast offense. He was exactly the man for the job.
I would have voted for Maye.
Stafford had the most yards but I don’t like that as a comparison, the reason he had more yards was he was asked to make more passes.
Maye had significantly better Yds per attempt, passing percent and also poses a significant rushing threat.
Yes Maye faced an easier SOS but you can only beat who you are put up against and think the better stats, but the counter arguement to that Paca Nacua can do things none of the Pat receiving corps can making things easier for Stafford.
How about 46 TDs vs 31. Stafford had 1 1/2 times what Maye got. To me that’s a ton more valuable.
Also, same number of interceptions despite having over 100 more passes.
Stafford just seems much better objectively, even though I like Maye a lot more. I’d much rather watch a game he’s in than one Stafford is in.
Maye has 450 rushing yards to Stafford’s 1. And 4 rushing TDs to Stafford’s 0.
I like Stafford, and I really don’t have a problem with him being MVP, but they are different types of QB and the numbers alone aren’t a perfect comparison.