Bleacher Report's Week 11 NFL Awards

The more we think we know, the less it turns out we actually do.

After five weeks, the Atlanta Falcons were cruising right alongside the Carolina Panthers at the top of the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were doing anything but, and talk had already begun that Lovie Smith's second season in Tampa would be his last.

Now? The Falcons can't score and have lost four of five. Jameis Winston is setting passing records, the Bucs have peeled off three wins in four contests and the two teams are separated by only one game in the NFC wild-card race.

Go figure.

And those Carolina Panthers?

It's there we'll start our look back at the best (and worst) of Week 11 with this week's edition of the Bleacher Report NFL Awards.

Team of the Week

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Winner: Carolina Panthers (4 votes)

There may well have been "bigger" wins than Carolina's 44-16 drubbing of the Washington Redskins Sunday. Huge performances by the Green Bay Packers in Minnesota and the Arizona Cardinals at home against the Cincinnati Bengals come to mind.

But all season along, as the Panthers piled up win after win, the knock on Carolina was it wasn't blowing anybody out. No style points.

Well, the Panthers got them against Washington, becoming the 16th team of the Super Bowl era to start a season 10-0. Six of those franchises (not including this year's Patriots) went on to win football's biggest game.

So, what was the Panthers' reward for all that success? For that dominant victory?

Per Chris Chase of USA Today:

"

One day after routing the Washington Redskins and becoming the 16th team in NFL history to start 10-0, the Carolina Panthers came hurtling back to earth when the team opened as one-point underdogs to the 3-7 Dallas Cowboys for Thursday’s late-afternoon Thanksgiving game.

Carolina (+1) at Dallas

It’s just funny to see in print. If the line holds, it’d be the first time a team of 10-0 or better would be an underdog to a team with a losing record. There’s your history, Carolina!

"

No respect, I tell ya!

Well, at least Cam Newton and the boys have our Team of the Week award to take solace in—and that spread as motivation for Thursday's game. 

Others receiving votes: Arizona Cardinals (3 votes), Green Bay Packers (1 vote)

Coach of the Week

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Winner: Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs (5 votes)

Not long ago, the Kansas City Chiefs were a 1-5 dumpster fire of a football team. Five straight defeats. Their best offensive player (tailback Jamaal Charles) out for the year. With a second straight bad season looming, rumblings had begun regarding Andy Reid's job security as head coach.

Now, after a 33-3 pounding of the hapless San Diego Chargers in Week 11? As Joe Giglio of NJ.com noted, it's Reid's replacement in Philadelphia who is feeling the heat:

"

At the end of the 2012 season, the Eagles moved from head coach Andy Reid. After 14 years, 130 regular season wins, five NFC Championship Game appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia was ready for a change. ...

Now, after back-to-back 10-win seasons, [Chip] Kelly's team has crashed. At 4-6, with the latest loss coming during a 45-17 drubbing at the hands of the Buccaneers on Sunday, questions about Kelly's future and job security have begun.

Meanwhile, Reid has rallied the Chiefs from a 1-5 start to postseason contention in the muddled AFC. Four straight wins, dominant defense and efficient offense—without the services of star running back Jamaal Charles—has Reid's team back in the race. Yesterday, while Kelly's worst day in Philadelphia commenced, Reid was orchestrating a 33-3 road win in San Diego.

"

A bit of seller's remorse, perhaps?

Given that the the Chiefs are one of the few wild-card contenders in the AFC trending in the right direction after Week 11, it's unlikely that Kansas City is interested in any refunds or exchanges.

You know what they say, Philly...

Be careful what you wish for.

Others receiving votes: Mike Shula, OC, Carolina Panthers (2 votes), Dom Capers, DC, Green Bay Packers (1 vote)

Goat of the Week

Nick Wass/Associated Press

"Winner:" Jeff Fisher, Head Coach, St. Louis Rams (3 votes) 

A few weeks ago, the St. Louis Rams were riding high. Three wins in four games gave rise to a 4-3 record and talk of the playoffs.

This was going to be the year the long-rebuilding Rams finally got over the hump and showed some real progress.

Instead, there have been three straight defeats and quarterback Nick Foles got the hook.

And in a new low last week head coach Jeff Fisher left Case Keenum on the field despite the fact that, as Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Keenum appeared to have clearly suffered a concussion:

"

It looked like limped-limb Case Keenum splaying both hands over his scrambled brain. It looked like an offensive lineman attempting to yank Keenum to his feet only to have him roll over and wobble on all fours like a seasick sailor in a squall. It looked like Rams coach Jeff Fisher, the rest of his staff and the NFL allowing a clearly-concussed quarterback to stay in a game. ...

Disregard for one moment the repulsiveness of letting Keenum take another snap. Keenum, who had not exactly been torching the Ravens defense, was clearly rattled. Foles was benched on Monday, but he's healthy. Who would you rather have calling the shots in a tie game? The guy who started every other game this season, or the guy who was still trying to climb through concussion cobwebs?

"

According to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com, that isn't Fisher's only problem:

"

With Fisher at the helm, it sure looks like the Rams can keep losing games like they did on Sunday. After all, it's Fisher who built this roster on the hope that a dominant defense would trump all, even if the offense was lagging far behind.

It's a recipe that elevated the Rams from NFL bottom-feeders to approaching the mediocre mark that has permeated Fisher's two-decade career as a head coach in the league. It's also a formula that doesn't look anywhere close to getting the Rams to the next level.

"

Other than that, though, everything's just swell.

Others receiving votes: Idiot lady who wrote letter about Cam Newton's dancing (2 votes), Minnesota Vikings offensive line (2 votes), Domata Peko, DT, Cincinnati Bengals (1 vote)

Rookie of the Week

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Winner: Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8 votes)

It wasn't that long ago that the belief was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might want a mulligan on the 2015 NFL draft. Marcus Mariota had shown real promise under center for the Tennessee Titans. Jameis Winston had looked every bit a rookie with the Buccaneers.

Yeah, about that.

It's a pretty safe bet the Buccaneers are feeling a bit better about Winston after this year's No. 1 overall pick tied an NFL rookie record with five touchdown passes in a 45-17 rout of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Winston told ESPN.com it was quite a feeling to beat the NFL team he grew up rooting for: "I ain't going to cry, but this is a dream come true for me. I always wanted to play here, ever since I was a little boy. I always wanted to be an Eagle. I was even singing the fight song on the sideline. It was a special day for me."

Yes, Winston had his bumps early on, but as wide receiver Mike Evans said, "We are watching a young quarterback grow before our eyes."

And on a weekend where Mariota's Titans fell to 2-8, Winston led a Tampa team no one thought of as a wild-card contender back to .500 at 5-5.

And that gets you in the mix this year.

Best QB Performance

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Winner: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (8 votes)

The train is picking up steam.

As Bleacher Report's own Ty Schalter wrote, the MVP hype around Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was already picking up steam, despite the stats that compare favorably to the other stars at quarterback:

"

Coming into Week 11, Newton was ranked 22nd in NFL passer efficiency rating, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, and 18th in adjusted net yards per attempt. He was 17th in Football Outsiders' defense-adjusted yards above replacement, 21st in ESPN QBR and generally sat at the bottom of the middle third of NFL passers in just about every measurable way.

So why were analysts such as Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport touting Newton for league MVP?

The answer, simply, was to watch him play—and see how often Newton made something out of nothing, elevated his teammates and overcame adversity when those teammates let him down. Looking strictly at passing numbers, of course, also overlooks Newton's 382 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. 

The only quasi-objective metric that captured what Newton was doing on the field was Pro Football Focus' film-grading system; Newton was PFF's fifth-highest-graded quarterback through 10 weeks.

"

Well, after Sunday's game against the Redskins, the Newton Express is going to need another passenger car. Twenty-one completions in 34 attempts. Two hundred forty-six yards. Zero turnovers.

Oh, and five touchdown passes. I should probably mention the five touchdown passes.

He threw five touchdown passes.

Best RB Performance

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Winner: Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8 votes)

I find all this agreement unsettling.

The votes for this week's top rookie, quarterback and running back were all unanimous calls. So is the vote for top wideout on the next slide.

Hey! No peeking!

Still, it's hard to argue with that sort of a vote at running back when said running back carried the ball 27 times and averaged 8.7 yards a carry.

That's 235 yards, for those of you who didn't bring an abacus.

That's the afternoon Doug Martin turned in for the Buccaneers in their demolition of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

And now, as ESPN.com's Andrew Astleford wrote, the same Tampa Bay team that declined Martin's fifth-year option back in May is now very interested in retaining his services:

"

"Keeping Doug? Is Doug Martin a priority?" [head coach Lovie] Smith said when asked about the running back Monday. "Now I can say that, yes, he definitely is." ...

"I think it has benefited Doug as much as anything," Smith said of the Bucs not picking up Martin's option. "He's in a great position right now. I don't think Doug came into the season thinking, hey, he wasn't wanted around here. It's the complete opposite of that."

"

What Martin is thinking right now is, "I'm going to get paid."

His agent isn't thinking at all.

He fainted.

Best WR Performance

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Winner: DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans (8 votes) 

Five catches. One hundred eighteen yards. Two touchdowns.

That's a fine day for any wide receiver. A great one, even. Maybe not the greatest performance of Week 11, but a strong showing nonetheless.

Until you consider the circumstances. Then those numbers put up by DeAndre Hopkins in Sunday's 24-17 win over the New York Jets take on a whole new meaning.

You see, Hopkins did all that while "marooned" on Revis Island.

Hopkins admitted to ESPN.com's Tania Ganguli he knew he would have to bring his very best against Darrelle Revis:

"

A guy like Darrelle Revis has been in the NFL a long time. They study tendencies. They know what you're doing from the way you line up. When you run a route, you almost have to be perfect at it. You can't slip. Timing has to be perfect with the quarterback going against a smart guy like him.

"

Then, as Hopkins said, "The test, the media blowing up Revis Island—I had to come out and answer."

Oh, he answered, all right. And in doing so Hopkins raised another question.

How good could he be playing with a better quarterback?

Best TE Performance

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Winner: Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (7 votes)

It's worth noting that as I write this, Rob Gronkowski is preparing to take the field Monday night, so if Gronk gets all Gronk-y, don't get bent out of joint about this.

We all get it. It's Gronk's world. Other tight ends just live in it.

However, no one in the NFL has more touchdown grabs than Eifert.

After a shaky Week 10 showing against the Houston Texans, Eifert admitted to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com that it can be hard to keep the yips at bay.

"You drop one, you try to forget about it and your mind...every time the ball's coming to you after you're thinking: 'Don't drop it,'" Eifert said.

In Week 11, Eifert was back doing what he does best—finding the end zone.

In fact, two of the third-year pro's three catches in the 34-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals went for touchdowns.

That gives the former Notre Dame standout an NFL-high 11 on the season.

Others receiving votes: Crockett Gillmore, Baltimore Ravens (1 vote)

Best Defensive Performance

Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans (8 votes) 

Order has been restored to the universe.

As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports, in Sunday's 24-17 win over the New York Jets, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt sent a friendly reminder to quarterback and former teammate Ryan Fitzpatrick as to who the NFL's best pass-rusher is.

Sadly for Fitzpatrick, he plays for the Jets now:

"

Watt busted through the line of scrimmage to twice sack the former Texans quarterback, finishing a 24-17 win Sunday with a team-high eight tackles, eight solos, five tackles for losses and five quarterback hits.

The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year leads the NFL with 11 1/2 sacks and has 50 tackles and one forced fumble with six games remaining in the regular season.

“He’s so stupendous that you almost take it for granted, unfortunately,” Texans owner Bob McNair said of the $100 million man. “He’s a difference-maker. He is disruptive on every play.”

"

The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been a key part of the Texans' recent three-game win streak, but Watt told Wilson it's been a team effort:

"

Everybody has to be doing the right thing to have success. I think we’re in a groove right now where everybody is playing really well. … We’ve been playing intense all year. I think there’s been some great energy and I think the more plays you make, the better you play.

"

So Watt's saying that the more sacks he makes, the stronger he gets?

That would essentially make him The Incredible Hulk.

Best Decision

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: Denver Broncos starting Brock Osweiler (8 votes) 

It's not often that we get a unanimous vote for the top decision in a given week.

In fact, that never happens.

Someone must have really done something right.

That's our writers' opinion of the Denver Broncos' decision to sit an injured Peyton Manning and start Osweiler, 25, under center.

And according to ESPN.com's John Clayton, the move signaled more than just a switch at quarterback:

"

By beating the Chicago Bears and former Broncos coach John Fox 17-15, the [Gary] Kubiak era came into focus. With Peyton Manning back in Denver getting treatment for his multiple injuries, the Broncos officially shifted away from the on-the-field control of Manning to the all-encompassing control of the coach who happens to be the friend John Elway hired to be on the sidelines.

Osweiler, a 6-foot-8 former second-round pick, had waited three-and-a-half years for his first NFL start. Kubiak made it work against the Bears, and Osweiler offered short- and long-term hope for the Broncos.

"

How much hope? We won't have to wait long to find out.

In Week 12, head coach Gary Kubiak, Osweiler (250 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT) and the Broncos face the New England Patriots in what was supposed to be the latest chapter in Tom Brady vs. Manning.

That storyline has changed now. In a big way.

Worst Decision

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

"Winner:" Leaving an injured Case Keenum in the game (7 votes)

Just as with the Best Decision of the Week, it's rare indeed to get a unanimous (or even nearly unanimous) vote in this category. When it happens, one thing is for certain.

Somebody done messed up.

As Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reported, the NFL was quick to announce that it was investigating the circumstances that resulted in a clearly rattled Keenum staying in last week's 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens:

"

"Promptly after the conclusion of yesterday's game, we began a review to determine the facts of the injury to St. Louis quarterback Case Keenum and why he was not removed from the game for the necessary evaluation by a team physician or the unaffiliated neuro-trauma consultant as required by our concussion protocols," the league said in a statement. "We are continuing that review today, which includes discussions with the Rams and their medical staff, the ATC spotter [a certified athletic trainer], the game officials, our medical advisors and the NFLPA [NFL Players Association].

"In the meantime, prior to this week's games, we will reinforce with all involved the need to ensure that these injuries are properly identified and addressed in a manner consistent with our protocols." ...

After the game, Rams coach Jeff Fisher didn't seem to know that Keenum had suffered a concussion. Asked if he considered taking Keenum out of the game, Fisher said no.

"

The Rams missed it. The independent neurologist missed it. The spotter in the booth missed it. Everyone missed it.

Except for anyone who happened to be, you know, actually watching the game.

How did they miss that?

Others receiving votes: John Fox's decision not to kick a field goal in fourth quarter (1 vote)

Player of the Week

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Winner: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (8 votes) 

What, you expect me to disagree? I gave him my MVP vote in our midseason awards here at Bleacher Report.

Coming off his career-best five touchdown passes, Newton was hard at work Monday, per Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer:

"

There was turkey, there was dressing and there was dabbin’.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton fed nearly 900 Charlotte children through his foundation on Monday night at the Fillmore, serving the kids while flanked by his brother and mother and after holding a dance contest.

“To see the kids, to see the parents, and to share a plate, a moment, a conversation with them is always beneficial for both parties,” Newton said at his third annual Thanksgiving Jam.

Newton’s foundation fed children and some parents from Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s Kids Café Program. It partners the food bank with other nonprofits that serve at-risk children.

Before serving the kids, Newton led a dab competition. The dab is a dance move that originated in Newton’s native Atlanta, and it was part of the celebratory dance that Newton did after scoring a touchdown Nov. 15 that led to a big national discussion.

"

Given what week it is, talking about feeding hungry people seemed a bit more appropriate than talking about touchdowns.

And that makes Newton Bleacher Report's Player of the Week in more ways than one.

Have a happy, safe Thanksgiving, everyone!