Bleacher Report's Week 13 NFL Awards

Anything can happen in the National Football League.

That was certainly the case in lucky Week 13. Just ask the New England Patriots, who watched a four-win Philadelphia Eagles team come to town and reel off 35 points to send the Patriots to a second straight loss after starting 2015 10-0.

The Patriots weren't the only playoff contender that got rolled at home. The Minnesota Vikings' time atop the NFC North was once again short-lived, as the surging Seattle Seahawks came to town and dropped the hammer on the Vikes.

In fact, it's in the Twin Cities where we'll begin this week's look at the best and worst of the week that was, as voted on by the National Lead Writers and NFL Analysts here at Bleacher Report.

Team of the Week

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Winner: Seattle Seahawks (four votes)

I will freely admit that I've done my fair share of criticizing the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. The team just didn't look like the club that had won the last two NFC championships. The offensive line was a mess; the Legion of Boom wasn't scaring anyone.

However, in outscoring opponents 106-50 over their last three games, the Seahawks appear to have righted the ship, punctuated by Sunday's 38-7 demolition of the Vikings.

It was easily the Seahawks' most impressive performance of the season, and Michael Silver of NFL.com thinks it sent a clear message to the rest of the NFC.

The champs are back, baby:

"

After watching Seattle swallow up the Vikings (8-4) from start to finish on the road, the rest of America -- and especially the citizens employed by the league's other playoff contenders -- might be starting to get that old, sinking feeling. And with good reason: It's December, and the 'Hawks appear to be getting quite serious, as per custom. ...

In registering a de facto shutout -- the Vikings' lone points came on a 101-yard kickoff return by Cordarrelle Patterson late in the third quarter -- the Seahawks' defense looked as fast and furious as it did in its Super Bowl XLVIII annihilation of Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos two years ago. Seattle limited Minnesota to 125 total yards, including only 18 on the ground by NFL rushing leader and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson.

"

Yes, the Seahawks likely aren't winning the NFC West this year. But catching the fifth seed (presently Minnesota) is easily doable.

And that No. 5 seed gets the honor of traveling to face whatever flawed team wins the NFC Least this season.

As cornerback Richard Sherman told Silver, "It seems our demise is greatly overstated."

Um, oops.

Others receiving votes: Philadelphia Eagles (three votes); Green Bay Packers (one vote)

Coach of the Week

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Winner: Chip Kelly, Philadelphia Eagles (six votes)

At this time a week ago, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was in all sorts of hot water. Amid allowing 45 points in back-to-back blowout losses, there was talk that the team had quit on Kelly, per Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. His job was reported to be in more than a little jeopardy.

Amazing what going to Boston and beating the mighty Patriots can do for one's job security.

And after that most impressive of victories, Peter King of the MMQB wrote that where King Chip the First is concerned, Philadelphians need to just take a breath and relax:

"

For once, Philadelphians need to match the owner's patience. Remember how [Jeffrey] Lurie gave Andy Reid 14 years? He's certainly not going to look to move on from Kelly after three. Nor does Kelly have wanderlust. I still feel this strongly: Kelly's an imaginative coach with good ideas, and there's a good chance he's going to win big in Philadelphia. Sunday showed that with this guy, miracles are possible.

"

For his part, Kelly said he has no plans to go anywhere:

"

I made a commitment to this organization when they hired me, and I will see it through. ...

I don't have to convince people I'm staying. I can't. Everyone says, "He's a college guy." It's going to take a while for people to look at the ticker across the bottom of the screen without my name on it for people to understand.

"

In Week 13 at least, Kelly was a college guy.

His Eagles took the Patriots to school.

Others receiving votes: Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers (one vote); Dave Fipp, special teams coordinator, Philadelphia Eagles (one vote)

Goat of the Week

Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

"Winner:" Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons (six votes)

Matty Ice needs a hug.

Actually, the entire Atlanta Falcons team needs a hug. Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay dropped an Atlanta team that started the season 5-0 to 6-6. That sure trip to the playoffs is looking less and less sure by the week.

A large part of the reason for the Falcons' faceplant has been the slumping Ryan, who has tossed six interceptions over the last three games. No quarterback in the NFL has more red-zone picks this season, according to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure.

McClure also reported that Ryan has expressed concerns with the complex nature of new coordinator Kyle Shanahan's offense, concerns that Shanahan downplayed:

"

This isn't the most confusing thing in the world. It's about playing and being in the heat of the battle and seeing and reacting. We'd be doing something else if we were all geniuses. We're all capable of learning this stuff, but that's not what this is about. It's about being through the situations, going against certain coverages, getting rushed through things and having to react to someone missing a block, having to get rid of the ball early and stuff like that. ...

I think Matt's picked things up great. Matt's made some turnovers in a few games that has been the focal point all around. Matt's also been doing a lot of good things this year, too. I look at Matt and when you're No. 1 in the NFL on first down and No. 2 in the NFL on third down, it's pretty tough to do that without really good quarterback play. So, there's a lot of good things Matt's doing. We know the glaring thing is he's thrown some key interceptions at some bad times. Whatever those reasons are, it's my job to help him figure those out. We've got to work to not let those happen.

"

Ah, there's nothing like losing six games in seven weeks to bring forth the sideways compliments and veiled shots.

At least they don't have to travel this week to face the NFL's last remaining undefeated team.

Oh wait. They do.

Others receiving votes: Kickers (one vote); Brandon Browner, CB, New Orleans Saints (one vote)

Rookie of the Week

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Winner: Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans (five votes)

Oftentimes, as happened with Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf or Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, when a pair of quarterbacks go with the first two picks of an NFL draft, one of those teams usually ends up holding the bag.

In 2015, however, it appears both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans may have struck it rich.

As ESPN.com's Bill Barnwell reported, while Jameis Winston was getting the Buccaneers back into playoff contention with a win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 13, Marcus Mariota was lighting up the highlight reel with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars:

"

Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota was slicing through a ragged Jaguars defense for an 87-yard touchdown run, giving the Titans a three-point lead they would not relinquish in a 42-39 thriller. The move may have crushed 3-9 Tennessee's chances of claiming the first overall pick, as their chances of finishing with the worst record in football fell from 48.5 percent before Sunday to 30.9 percent afterward (per FPI), but it's hard to imagine anybody in the Nashville crowd complaining. Mariota finished with a 96.6 QBR, giving him the highest rating for any quarterback in Week 13.

"

Yes, at 3-9 Mariota's play isn't enough to cure all that ails a bad Titans team. Yes, in winning Sunday all the Titans did was cost themselves draft position.

They also won at home for the first time since October—of 2014.

Also against the Jaguars.

Others receiving votes: Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (three votes)

Best QB Performance

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Winner: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (six votes)

For someone who supposedly isn't as adept at throwing the ball as the other elite quarterbacks in the NFL, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers sure is piling up the touchdown passes.

In Sunday's wild 41-38 win over the New Orleans Saints—a win that propelled the Saints to 12-0 on the season—Newton threw five touchdown passes. It was the second time in three weeks Newton hit that lofty benchmark.

And in the opinion of Will Brinson of CBS Sports, it's time we all got on board with the notion of Newton as the 2015 NFL MVP:

"

For as bad as the Saints defense is — and it is really bad — it shouldn't be some excuse as to why Cam isn't the MVP. You can only play the teams on your schedule and in your division. The Saints are one of Carolina's primary opponents and they're a dangerous offensive team at home; Carolina kept pace and won in a different way, trotting out its top-five scoring offense and engaging in a shootout. ...

Carolina's defense is fantastic, sure, but so is Carson Palmer's. (Arizona actually ranks better overall defensively than Carolina.) And [Tom] Brady's defense is just giving up 0.4 points less per game than Cam's. It's a false narrative generally perpetuated by people who would rather look for excuses to discredit Cam than actually give him credit.

"

The general public may be slow to come around to giving Newton his due, but our voters have no such qualms.

Although that Saints defense is really, really bad.

Others receiving votes: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (two votes)

Best RB Performance

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: DeAngelo Williams, Pittsburgh Steelers (six votes)

Not a lot was made of the Pittsburgh Steelers' signing of running back DeAngelo Williams last spring. Yes, Williams would provide the Steelers with a veteran placeholder until Le'Veon Bell returned from suspension, but the 32-year-old's best days in the backfield were long gone.

There was just one problem.

No one told Williams.

Instead, Williams has emerged as possibly the team's MVP in 2015. With Bell lost for the season to an injured knee, Williams hasn't just been capable. He's been exceptional for a Pittsburgh team in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race.

Williams plowed through a soft Indianapolis Colts defense for 134 yards in a blowout win for the Steelers Sunday night, but Bleacher Report's Andrea Hangst believes the Steelers need to be wise with Williams' workload down the stretch:

"

Williams has carried the ball 141 times this season for 697 yards and six touchdowns, and he has even become a bigger piece as a receiver in recent weeks. He's definitely the Steelers' best free-agency signing of the year and perhaps even the best in the league as a whole.

But that still doesn't change the fact that Williams is 32 years old and the Steelers clearly need him very much.

That's why they need to manage Williams' workload for the remainder of the season, especially now that Pittsburgh has penciled itself back into the AFC playoff picture. Losing Williams to injury—including the potential for one brought on by overuse—is simply not an option.

"

It's certainly a valid concern, but with the division-leading Bengals up next for the Steelers, the managing of Williams' workload is probably going to have to wait another week.

Others receiving votes: LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills (two votes)

Best WR Performance

Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (five votes)

So it turns out Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown might be a bit better at terrorizing opposing defenses than celebration creation.

That is, depending on how you feel about Brown's risking injury by jumping onto a goal post in Sunday's blowout win over the Colts.

ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler came down on the side of letting Brown be himself:

"

Some guys can stave off injury as well as they can defenders. Brown is one of them. He has been durable his whole career.

Did you watch his flip against Oakland in Week 9? He executed a clean, perfect landing. He has been flipping since childhood. And so he tried to straddle the goal post. He jumped onto padding. Have you ever been to a bounce house? Practically the same thing.

"

Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin certainly didn't appear impressed by all the brouhaha over Brown's TD dance.

"I didn't see it," Tomlin said. "But I'm sure we'll rehash it and rehash it a thousand times in the next six days and suck all the life out of it."

What probably did impress Tomlin (just as it did our panel) was Brown's complete domination of Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis to the tune of eight catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Or maybe it was the 71-yard punt return score that gave way to Brown's straddle job.

You want Brown to stop celebrating? Keep him out of the end zone.

Good luck.

Others receiving votes: Brandon Marshall, New York Jets (two votes); Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars (one vote)

Best TE Performance

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: Richard Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (eight votes)

Like it was going to be anyone else after what went down Thursday night in Detroit.

Yes, it was Rodgers who caught the Hail Mary at the end of that night's contest between the Packers and Lions. It was Rodgers who hauled in Aaron Rodgers' prayer of a pass. Rodgers (and Rodgers) who may have saved Green Bay's season.

However, as head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters, it wasn't like Rodgers had been sitting on his hands all night.

"I think you look before the Hail Mary, Richard had a heck of a football game," McCarthy said. "I think he caught every ball that was thrown to him if my memory is right, so he needed that and we needed that. So we need more production in the passing game. And that was a big night for Richard."

The sum total was eight catches, 146 yards, one highlight-reel touchdown and the nod as Week 13's top tight end.

Somehow I doubt the last accolade is most important to the 23-year-old.

What if I threw in a Sizzler gift certificate?

Best Defensive Performance

David Richard/Associated Press

Winner: Geno Atkins, DT, Cincinnati Bengals (four votes)

As Coley Harvey of ESPN.com reports, in the opinion of Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, defensive tackle Geno Atkins is a serious contender for Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2015:

"

Maybe we haven't talked about it enough, but I said earlier in the season he should be in that conversation. He's done nothing not to be in there. ...

You ask anybody on [an opposing] offense, any offense that we play. The first guy when they turn the tape on Monday morning and they look at the tape to prepare for us, they say, "Oh s---, we better have a plan for this guy."

"

With 34 tackles and eight sacks (tops among interior linemen) in 2015, Atkins has backed that talk up. But it might seem a bit strange to see Atkins listed here after he failed to crack the box score in last week's blowout of the Cleveland Browns.

That is unless you actually watched the game.

Atkins spent more time in the Cleveland backfield than the Browns guards. He was a constant and relentless force in a game where Cleveland failed to find the end zone.

As Marc Sessler of NFL.com tweeted at halftime, "Geno Atkins doesn't show up in Cincy's first-half box score, but nobody has been more dominant for the Bengals."

Let's put it this way. According to Pro Football Focus, Atkins tallied 13 quarterback hurries against the Browns.

Thirteen hurries. In one game.

Yeah, I'd say that's making an impact.

Others receiving votes: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans (two votes); Malcolm Jenkins, FS, Philadelphia Eagles (one vote); Philadelphia Eagles (one vote)

Best Decision

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Winner: Packers Hail Mary (four votes)

OK, so in some respects it might be a little odd to call a Hail Mary the best play in a week. After all, it's a play borne of desperation. A decision that essentially makes itself.

Then again, they still have to pull the thing off. And that isn't easy to do.

As Packers head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters after the game, you need a pass thrown both far enough and high enough:

"

When you throw it with that arch you have a chance, because it gives guys a chance to fight for position. That's the whole design of it, and there's a design to where you try to get to and the triangle that you're trying to form (with teammates) down there. Richard is the perfect guy for that type of situation, big body and his ability to go up – you see his old basketball skills – and high-point the football.

"

Then you need Rodgers to actually haul in the football.

"We practice it a little bit in pregame. Aaron was throwing up really high balls, and I was catching them, and I kind of saw the same thing," Rodgers said. "I ran down there, saw the ball, made sure I was in the end zone and went up and caught it."

The phantom (maybe) facemask call that set up the untimed down didn't hurt either.

In any event, any number of things had to go right for that desperation decision to pay off.

And lo and behold, they did.

Others receiving votes: Less DeMarco Murray for Eagles (two votes); Bills' run-heavy game plan (two votes)

Worst Decision

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

"Winner:" Leaving Calvin Johnson on bench for Hail Mary (five votes)

Of course, there's a flip side to the Packers' success on that fateful play:

The Lions' failure to defend it.

As Kyle Meinke of MLive reported, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell made it clear Monday that he was in no mood to rehash what went wrong on the game's final play:

"

Some of you will ask me questions about last Thursday. I'm not going back there. I'm going that way. Forward-focused. It might not be appeasing to you -- appealing to you -- but the fact is you have to be focused in on St. Louis in a hurry. I think you've seen over the weekend what happens in games if you don't get focused. Anyone can win in this league.

That's what we're doing, and we're looking forward.

"

However, the day after the game Caldwell explained why wide receiver Calvin Johnson (he of the 6'5" frame) wasn't on the field for the Packers' heave.

"In that situation, we have a couple of different things that we do," Caldwell said. "That was one where you're kind of looking for more that pass-back-and-forth kind of thing because of the range. He ran around there so long, moved up, gave himself a chance to get into the end zone."

I'm going to go out on a limb and say next time Caldwell won't underestimate Aaron Rodgers' arm strength.

You know, if he gets a next time against the Packers as Detroit's head coach.

Others receiving votes: Vikings' offensive game plan (one vote); Giants' red-zone play-calling (one vote); Patriots' drop kick (one vote)

Player of the Week

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Winner: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers (four votes)

This selection may seem a bit strange. Rodgers didn't win for the Best Quarterback Performance of Week 13. How can he be Player of the Week?

Well, Cam Newton may have had the best day under center last week, but that doesn't make Newton the week's biggest player.

No, that would be the quarterback responsible for the week's biggest play.

And boy, what a play. What a throw. A 70-yard (61, officially) rainbow. Perfect. Long enough to reach the end zone. High enough to allow Green Bay's receivers to gather under it.

And as ESPN.com's Jason Wilde reports, good enough to plaster a smile across one happy quarterback's face: "It's the greatest feeling. We're blessed to be able to play this game, and it reminds you at times how special this game is. You live for days like this, to be able to have something miraculous happen."

It was, believe it or not, the first time Aaron Rodgers has ever successfully completed a Hail Mary.

What a bum.

It is not, however, the first time Rodgers, who threw for 273 yards and two scores on the night, has been Bleacher Report's NFL Player of the Week.

And it's probably not going to be the last.

Others receiving votes: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (two votes); Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers (two votes)