Bleacher Report's Week 15 NFL Awards

'Tis the season—the season for absolute chaos across the National Football League.

Not long ago, the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals looked like they might be the NFL's two best teams. Now, both are scuffling with unproven quarterbacks. The Broncos haven't scored a second-half point in three games.

Meanwhile, there are three AFC wild cards no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs. The problem is there are only two wild-card spots.

Oh, and after beating the New York Giants in wild fashion, the Carolina Panthers need just two wins against losing teams to complete a perfect regular season.

We'll get to that game in a bit, but it's with one of those AFC contenders that this look at the best (and worst) of Week 15 begins.

Team of the Week

Don Wright/Associated Press

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers (6 votes)

Sometimes in the NFL, how many wins a team gets in a season isn't as important as when it gets them. The 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2010 Green Bay Packers and the 2011 New York Giants all entered the postseason with nine or 10 wins.

All three also won the Super Bowl.

The 2015 Steelers are starting to look like their brethren from a decade ago after roaring back to defeat the Denver Broncos 34-27 in Week 15.

This was a team that trailed the squad with possibly the NFL's best defense 27-10 in a game it absolutely had to win. The New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs had already won. A loss would have dropped Pittsburgh to No. 7 in the AFC.

That's not good when six teams make the playoffs.

According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, this is just the sort of victory that can propel a team not only into the playoffs but also all the way to a championship:

"

Victories these next two Sundays at Baltimore and Cleveland guarantee the Steelers a playoff berth, perhaps against these same Broncos, or the Cincinnati Bengals, whom they beat the previous week. Those are consecutive victories by the Steelers against two 10-win teams, one of which is almost certain to be the No. 2 seed in the AFC with a first-round playoff bye.

[...]

Somehow, they got their act together and helped win a game by playing the best second half of their season Sunday. Two more like that, and they will enter the playoffs, and after beating the likes of the Bengals and Broncos on consecutive Sundays, they might turn the postseason upside-down the way they did their final game at Heinz Field.

"

Make no mistake. This week's matchup between Cincinnati and Denver is huge. Neither team wants any part of these Steelers again.

Others receiving votes: Carolina Panthers (1 vote)

Coach of the Week

Fred Vuich/Associated Press

Winner: Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers (4 votes)

This is not an easy thing for a Cleveland Browns fan such as myself to say.

I like Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

I like his passion, his fire and the fact that the Steelers have gone for two more times this season than any team in NFL history.

And Tomlin may have done the best coaching job of his career in 2015. Pittsburgh isn't just a team as hot as any in the NFL. It is also a team that's started three different quarterbacks this season.

Ask the Dallas Cowboys how that usually works out.

The Steelers, however, have not only persevered but also thrived, and ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler thinks much of the credit should go to Tomlin:

"

Tomlin has coached like a man with zero regrets. He's willing to make decisions and live with them if they backfire.

In fact, of his three big calls this season, two didn't work—the fake field goal in Seattle and the fourth-and-1 in overtime against the Ravens. The one in Seattle was especially egregious.

But the one that did work, Bell's walk-off Wildcat touchdown on the final play of the San Diego game, was beautiful. And it changed the complexion of the season.

Tomlin is 1-for-3 on his calls, but he's 3-for-3 on getting the locker room to rally behind him. Aggressive play-calling can have a positive residual effect on a team. He is coaching to win, so they play to win. That has been the mindset this season.

"

The Cleveland fan in me wants to argue. But the sportswriter in me can't.

Others receiving votes: Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers (2 votes); Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins (1 vote)

Goat of the Week

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

"Winner": Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants (all 7 votes)

Sometimes, the winners of these awards just pick themselves. When we get to the Best WR Performance in a bit, it isn't going to be a huge shock who won the Week 15 honor.

And it most certainly was not Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants.

As Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post reported, Beckham didn't have the best of days in Sunday's loss to the Carolina the Panthers:

"

The usually electrifying star, who has taken the league by storm due to his one-handed catches and sheer athleticism, was on the wrong end of many lowlights Sunday.

Coming into the game, there was a lot of hype on the matchup between Beckham and Carolina star corner Josh Norman. The Panthers defensive back got the better of Beckham on the field and also got into his head.

Beckham was flagged for three unnecessary roughness penalties, including two on one drive. He threw a punch/slap at Norman and corner Cortland Finnegan in a couple of many tussles initiated by Beckham.

The most egregious, however, was a blindside, helmet-to-helmet, full-speed hit he delivered to an unsuspecting Norman after a play was over.

"

ESPN.com reported that Beckham "felt threatened" by a Panthers player brandishing a bat during warm-ups.

And SportsCenter tweeted that, according to a source with the Giants, Carolina players directed expletives and anti-gay slurs at Beckham before the game—thus making it like every football game ever played from junior high on up.

While that doesn't excuse the alleged actions of some Panthers players, the simple fact is Beckham lost his cool. Big time. He melted down in spectacular fashion.

And now a Giants team in a must-win situation will have to face the Minnesota Vikings without him because that hat-to-hat shot earned Beckham a one-game suspension.

Rookie of the Week

Elsa/Getty Images

Winner: David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals (4 votes)

A year ago, injuries at the quarterback position derailed what started as a promising season for the Arizona Cardinals.

This year, it appeared a similar fate might befall the Cardinals when their backfield was ravaged by injuries in Week 12. Starter Chris Johnson and backup Andre Ellington left that game against the San Francisco 49ers in the third quarter and did not return.

But in stepped rookie David Johnson.

And now an already potent Arizona offense might be scarier than ever.

The Cardinals looked terrifying Sunday night, blasting the Philadelphia Eagles to wrap up the NFC West.

And as ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss reported, Johnson's career night took center stage:

"

He set career highs in yards (187) and touchdowns (three) in Arizona's 40-17 win, pacing Arizona with more than 100 yards in the first half. The Cardinals got a scare late in the second quarter when Johnson went down with a right knee injury. He left the field early for the locker room but returned for the second half.

Johnson's 187 yards were the fifth most in a game in franchise history.

"

The undefeated Carolina Panthers and the surging Seattle Seahawks are the talk of the NFC. But Johnson and the Cardinals may well be the conference's best team.

Others receiving votes: Marcus Peters, CB, Kansas City Chiefs (2 votes); Damarious Randall, CB, Green Bay Packers (1 vote)

Best QB Performance

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

Winner: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (all 7 votes)

Cam Newton might want to clear some space on his mantle.

No, not for his latest Bleacher Report award. Those are important, but unless there's a trophy-shipping operation I don't know about, they don't take up a whole lot of shelf space.

Newton needs room for the 2015 NFL MVP award, which the Carolina Panthers signal-caller may have locked up with his performance against the New York Giants on Sunday.

As ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor wrote, it wasn't just the historically great numbers Newton posted against a bad Giants defense, it was also the manner in which he rallied his team to a last-second win:

"

Newton just became the first player in NFL history to throw for at least five touchdown passes and rush for at least 100 yards in a game, and of greater consequence, he just delivered a clinic on how a franchise player needs to keep his head while everyone around him is losing theirs.

Out of nowhere, the Carolina Panthers had turned a 35-7 lead over the New York Giants late in the third quarter into the kind of Sunday that could permanently destroy a serious contender, never mind put an end to an undefeated season. Odell Beckham Jr. had embarrassed himself by delivering more shots to the head than were seen last spring in Mayweather-Pacquiao, and his main-event opponent, Josh Norman, had responded with some unnecessary roughhousing of his own before he got beat, by Beckham, for the touchdown that shockingly made it 35-35 with 1:46 to go.

[...]

From his own 26-yard line, facing the howling crowd and a lousy Giants defense that was suddenly playing like the '85 Bears, Newton looked about as panicked as a fan in a La-Z-Boy trying to decide between salsa dip and guacamole. Newton hit Fozzy Whittaker for nine yards, plowed up the gut for a first down, hit Greg Olsen for 16 yards, hit Ted Ginn Jr. for 12 yards, then rolled right and ran for another 10 yards before spiking the ball with five seconds left and putting Graham Gano's winning 43-yard kick on a tee.

"

Now, only the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers stand between the Panthers and a perfect regular season.

And only injury and/or apocalypse stands between Newton and the MVP award.

Best RB Performance

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Winner: David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals (all 7 votes)

In the history of the National Football League, only two players have topped 180 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

One is Jim Brown, who is only the greatest player ever.

Yes, I said it.

The other? David Johnson on Sunday night.

Now, this certainly isn't meant to compare the two. I'm merely saying games like that don't happen often.

Johnson certainly impressed Arizona Cardinals left tackle Jared Veldheer, who had this to say about his teammate's 47-yard scoring run, according to Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic:

"

Oh man, talk about a blur. It was like a split second and all of a sudden, yeah, he was gone.

It's awesome having a back like that. He's fast, he's smooth and he's really strong. Guys have real problems tackling him.

"

Those problems may have something to do with the fact that, for all his speed and elusiveness, Johnson is 224 pounds.

And while he certainly isn't Brown, the 24-year-old is off to quite the start in his NFL career.

Best WR Performance

Don Wright/Associated Press

Winner: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (all 7 votes)

As I mentioned a few slides back, this week's top wide receiver was a no-brainer.

It wasn't just that Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers had another day with triple-digit yardage, double-digit catches and multiple scores.

No, as Jared Dubin of CBSSports.com pointed out, in doing so in the Steelers' wacky comeback win over the Denver Broncos, Brown made one of the NFL's best cornerbacks look like a scrub:

"

Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. has been one of the best players at his position for a few years now. As you may know by now, he had not given up a touchdown in two years entering Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In that time, he'd allowed quarterbacks to complete only 84 of 156 passes for 745 yards, per Pro Football Focus, and he'd also picked off five passes thrown his way. That's good for a passer rating of just 53.4, an absurdly low number.

Sunday against Pittsburgh was much different.

Spending most of the afternoon covering Antonio Brown, Harris was targeted with 15 of Ben Roethlisberger's throws. Amazingly, Ben registered a completion on 14 of them, for 164 yards and two scores. That's a passer rating of 151.8 on throws in Harris' direction.

"

Harris acknowledged his poor performance while speaking with Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

"

It was the best versus the best, and he won. I haven't given up a touchdown in two years. For me to come out here and play the way I played is disappointing. I definitely let the team down. He's a great player. The best receiver in the game right now, but I didn't make any plays in this game.

"

Brown finished with a staggering 16 grabs for 189 yards and two scores, marking the second time this season he has caught 15 or more passes in a game.

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, that had never happened.

Best TE Performance

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Winner: Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins (all 7 votes)

Maybe the spirit of the season has inspired a sense of agreement among the NFL analysts and national lead writers here at Bleacher Report.

Or maybe it was the special eggnog.

Or it might just be that all these unanimous votes for the top performances in Week 15 were the result of some huge games by players in big situations—like, say, the seven catches for 84 yards and two scores posted by tight end Jordan Reed of the first-place Washington Redskins against the Buffalo Bills.

Yes, the first-place Redskins.

Reed sounded like a player on a first-place team while speaking with Stephen Czarda of the team's website Sunday:

"

I feel confident in myself before the game. I believe in my skills and I believe in Kirk [Cousins] and this offense. I just go and try to make as many plays as I can.

We definitely got a lot of playmakers. Everybody right now is taking advantage of the opportunities, [Jamison] Crowder, Pierre [Garcon], D-Jax [DeSean Jackson] and me, and running the ball well today. So you just got to keep it going.

"

And against the Bills, Reed turned in a first-place performance.

Best Defensive Performance

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

Winner: Geno Atkins, DT, Cincinnati Bengals (3 votes)

Two years ago, Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins was arguably the best player at his position in the NFL. Then came an ACL tear and a 2014 campaign in which Atkins looked like a shell of his formerly disruptive self.

This year? Geno is back, baby.

Not only is the big man again making ball-carriers and quarterbacks equally miserable, but as Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said Atkins should be in the conversation for NFL Defensive Player of the Year as well:

"

No doubt. No doubt. No question. He should. He does deserve to be in that. You ask anybody on their offense, any offense that we play, the first guy when they turn the tape on Monday morning and they look at the tape, they say, 'Oh shoot, we better have a plan for this guy.'

He's been tremendous this year. Tremendous. To me, like I said, we're No. 1 in scoring defense and he's our best player. He certainly should be in that conversation.

"

Piling up four tackles and two sacks against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15 isn't exactly going to hurt Atkins' case.

Others receiving votes: Marcus Peters, CB, Kansas City Chiefs (2 votes); Melvin Ingram, OLB, San Diego Chargers (1 vote); Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams (1 vote)

Best Decision

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Winner: Benching Marcus Mariota (6 votes)

Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor—especially when that discretion is shown by a coach who may not be around to enjoy its benefits.

Of course, it might appear Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey didn't show much discretion. After all, rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota is lost for the season, according to ESPN.com.

However, there's lost, and then there's lost.

Yes, Mariota was tackled awkwardly on a sack during a loss to the New England Patriots. Yes, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner sprained his MCL.

But if Tennessee were a playoff contender, Mariota might have returned to the game. He'd all but surely be back this season.

The Titans aren't, though, and so with two games left, Mariota's season is over with his coach's compliments, per Jason Wolf of the Tennessean:

"

He's experienced a lot for a rookie. To go through the change with the head coach, the injuries that he's had early, to overcome multitudes of injuries (to other players), it's just been different personnel, the offensive line to be moved around as much as it's been. He's gone through what most guys won't do for years; he's had it in his rookie year. And like I said, he's never flinched, he's never said, 'Woe is me,' ... He's just been steady and he's learned a lot in this one season alone.

"

Mularkey wouldn't rule out Mariota completely for Week 17, saying he could play if he's healthy.

But he won't be. Even if he is.

And for that, Mularkey gets the compliments.

Others receiving votes: Leaving Cam Newton in (1 vote)

Worst Decision

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

"Winner": Odell Beckham Jr.'s meltdown (4 votes)

There's already been a good deal of spin put on what Odell Beckham Jr. did Sunday and why he may have done it.

Per John Breech of CBSSports.com, reports indicate the Carolina Panthers brought a bat onto the field before the game, the bat was brandished at Beckham, it was Josh Norman who brandished it and Norman threatened to "end [Beckham's] career."

There is evidence of the bat being on the field and evidence of Norman holding said bat.

The rest? Not so much—even in an era when everything happens on camera.

Panthers spokesman Steven Drummond called the allegations a load of bunk:

"

"Absolutely nothing happened on the sideline. I was there. No one was threatened," Drummond said in a statement, adding that Norman was stretching most of the time and was not involved with any incidents regarding the bat and that only a practice squad player exchanged words with Beckham and it was not derogatory. "No one was threatened with a bat. It didn't happen. It's a diversionary tactic and a good one at that."

"

Whether Batgate (oh, act like you didn't know it was coming) was provocation or poppycock, one thing isn't up for debate: Completely losing your grip and getting suspended as a result when your team is fighting for its playoff life is not a smart move.

Others receiving votes: Leaving a battered Matt Hasselbeck in (3 votes)

Player of the Week

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Winner: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (all 7 votes)

There may be a difference of opinion regarding the magnitude of what Odell Beckham Jr. did.

However, no one is questioning what the Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton accomplished against the New York Giants in Week 15: 340 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and 100 more yards on the ground.

It had never been done before in the NFL.

According to Tom Ley of Deadspin, the win was Newton's masterpiece in a season that just keeps getting better:

"

There's been a lot of talk this season about Cam Newton's growth as a player. He started the year off as essentially the same often electric and often shaky quarterback he's always been, but he's reached another level during this back half of the season—he's tossed 24 touchdown passes and just three interceptions in his last eight games—and yesterday's game was a particularly big step forward. The Giants were in his face all game, and Newton responded by carving them up with exactly the kind of quick-fire attack we're used to seeing Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers roll over defenses with. He was in control all game, and even when the Giants reversed the course of the blowout and tied the game at 35 in the fourth quarter, he remained in control.

The drive that followed oozed with even more confidence than the head nod. He went 3-of-4 for 37 yards through the air, and put the team in field-goal range with a heady 10-yard scramble. This was a game that had been falling apart in the Panthers' hands just a few minutes prior, and suddenly Newton was out there winning it as if doing so was the easiest thing in the world.

"

Over Newton's first four seasons, there were more than a few questions about whether he was the kind of quarterback who could carry an NFL team, lead one to a Super Bowl and become a megastar at the position.

No one is questioning it now.