NFL Honors 2015: Date, TV Schedule, Host, Predictions and More for Awards Show
To bring a little bit of glamour to the NFL the night before Super Bowl XLIX, the league will pass out hardware to its top players, coaches and citizens for their work during the 2014 season.
It's the NFL Honors show, which annually features a who's who on the professional football scene and other entertainers. This year's show will be broadcast from Symphony Hall at the Phoenix Convention Center.
It will be hosted by actor Seth Meyers, and the show will air nationally on Jan. 31 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. The red carpet coverage starts at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Click here to see all of the awards.
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Let's take a look at the major awards up for grabs and my predictions. Just beneath the table is a breakdown of three of my choices.
| MVP | Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers |
| Off. Player of the Year | DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys |
| Def. Player of the Year | J.J. Watt, Houston Texans |
| Off. Rookie of the Year | Odell Beckham Jr., N.Y. Giants |
| Def. Rookie of the Year | Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders |
| Coach of the Year | Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals |
Aaron Rodgers over J.J. Watt for MVP
There's a difference between the best player and the most valuable player. Without question, the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt was the best player in the NFL. However, I wonder if a player can be called the MVP if his team didn't make the playoffs.
In other sports, it's almost unheard of for a player to gain serious consideration without a postseason berth. That certainly has to be the case in football. Watt was phenomenal with 20.5 sacks, an interception and a total of four touchdowns, but were those numbers drastically better than Rodgers'?
The Green Bay Packers quarterback threw for 4,381 yards, 38 touchdowns and just five interceptions in leading his team to an NFC North title. There's no quarterback bias here; if the shoe were on the other foot and the Packers missed the playoffs, it would've killed Rodgers' chances in my eyes.
Per NFL on ESPN, the Pro Football Writers Association had it right with the way they distributed their awards.
Bruce Arians over Pete Carroll for Coach of the Year
Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll did a great job guiding his team to the NFC West title, but another coach in the division deserves more credit for the way he was able to get his team to overachieve.
The Arizona Cardinals had no business finishing the season with an 11-5 record. Injuries tore apart the defense and the quarterback position. Yet under Bruce Arians, the Cardinals were one of the conference's best.
Carroll still had most of the talent that won the Super Bowl last season. Arians did his work with replacements in key positions. What Arians did goes beyond the Cards' record. He effectively changed the team's identity this season and for the foreseeable future.
According to the Score, team president Michael Bidwill wants to lock Arians up beyond his current contract after the job he did in 2014.
Odell Beckham Jr. in a Landslide
The biggest no-brainer has to be New York Giants rookie Odell Beckham Jr. for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Forget about the catch—OBJ's season was so much bigger than that one play.
Despite playing in just 12 games, the 22-year-old was 10th in the NFL in receiving yards, tied for ninth in receptions and fourth in touchdowns. No other first-year player had an impact comparable to Beckham Jr.'s.
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