Not everyone in the NFL is in Houston for the Super Bowl this week (though it can feel that way). Only two teams are still playing, which means 30 are at home, disappointed. But that doesn’t mean nothing went right for them this season.
While the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons are well represented in our end-of-season awards, there are enough names here from non-Super Bowl teams to remind you of some of the brilliant performances from the 2016 season.
Here are ESPN’s picks for this season’s awards, including Offensive Player of the Year and more. Official winners will be announced on Saturday at NFL Honors, which airs at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
Methodology: We tabbed the panel of 13 experts who voted in our weekly MVP poll during the regular season. Each nominated their top three candidates for the six awards included. First-place votes are worth three points, second-place votes worth two and third-place votes worth one. Only regular-season performances were considered.
You could always give this award to the coach who has the best record, and Belichick was that again this season. The Patriots went 14-2 to pace the NFL and are back in the Super Bowl for the seventh time since Belichick became the head coach in 2000. But this award also tends to go to someone who overcomes a significant coaching challenge, and Belichick might have locked it up by going 3-1 when starting quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games to start the season.
He also has coached the bulk of the season without top offensive weapon Rob Gronkowski, who is injured. He also had the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, in spite of trading two of his best defensive players — Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins — over the past calendar year. You could give him Executive of the Year honors too, if you were so inclined.
Jason Garrett of the 13-3 Dallas Cowboys, who lost his own starting quarterback to injury in the preseason and had to replace him with a rookie, deserves a mention here, as well. But you can’t go wrong giving this to Belichick.
The Falcons scored more points than any other team in the league and more than all but six teams in NFL history. They added 80 more points in their first two playoff games to roll into the Super Bowl. At the center of all of this, obviously, was the quarterback, who led the league in passer rating, Total QBR and yards per attempt. Ryan completed 69.9 percent of his passes for a career-high 4,944 yards and a career-high 38 touchdown passes, against just seven interceptions. It wasn’t easy to win this award this season against the likes of Ezekiel Elliott, Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers. But Ryan was excellent from start to finish, and as a result, he’s not finished yet.
Yeah, you know. Just a basic, ho-hum, 13.5-sack season for Miller — chicken farmer, Old Spice pitchman and nemesis of quarterbacks.
With J.J. Watt out of the picture, Miller is to this award what Bill Belichick Marsbahis is to Coach of the Year: You could give it to him every season and it would be hard to make a case that you’re wrong. The sack numbers are what they are. This season’s 13.5 represent only the third-highest single-season total of his career, and he has cracked double figures in five of his six NFL seasons. But Miller’s value goes beyond sacks, and it’s hard to watch a Broncos’ game without feeling as if he’s either taking it over or occupying the opposing offense’s attention.
Bravo to Khalil Mack of the Oakland Raiders for doing his best Miller impression, and what Landon Collins did for the New York Giants deserves a hat tip. But Miller is the best defensive player in the league right now.
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 draft lived up to his billing, leading the league with 1,631 yards — 318 more than any other player. Elliott was the driving force behind a Cowboys offense that churned its way to a 13-3 record before falling in the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers on a last-second field goal.
His closest competition for the award was teammate and quarterback Dak Prescott, but it’s worth throwing an honorable mention to Tennessee Titans lineman Jack Conklin, because linemen never get any love in these awards.
It took a while for Bosa to get his NFL career started. He missed training camp while arguing with the Chargers about the final details of his contract. When he finally signed, he had to overcome a hamstring injury that kept him off the field for the first four games of the season. But he was worth the wait. Bosa collected two sacks in his debut against the Raiders and ended up with 10.5 for the season in just 12 games.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey showed a lot in his first year in Jacksonville, but double-digit sacks as a rookie makes this award just about automatic for Bosa.
Nelson missed the entire 2015 season after tearing his ACL in the preseason, but he returned in time to start 2016 and led the league with 14 touchdown catches. Like the rest of Green Bay’s offense, Nelson took a little while to find his groove. But once he started to trust his leg again, he re-established his old rapport with Aaron Rodgers and ended up catching 97 passes for 1,257 yards. Easy call here.
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