Mid-season NFL awards (2023):

San Francisco 49ers v Pittsburgh Steelers

Coach of the Year:

1. Mike Tomlin

2. Dan Campbell

3. Mike McDaniel

Right off the bat, this award typically goes to either the coach of the best team in the NFL, if it became the storyline of the season, or the guy in charge of a franchise, that significantly exceeds its pre-season expectations or has overcome adversity throughout the year. John Harbaugh certainly deserves consideration for running what I believe currently is the best all-around team in the NFL and looking at this as more of a recognition of the entire coaching staff, they’ve been outstanding, but I predicted them to win 11 games, and the two things Harbaugh should have his eye on the most – special teams and fourth-down aggressiveness – they’re average in both.

The Steelers may just be the worst 5-3 team I’ve seen in my life. By now, we all know that they’ve been outgained by their opponents in all eight of their games. Of the 34 teams in NFL history that’s true, they are the only one with a winning record, and only the Broncos – who were responsible for the most yards surrendered in any game ever, when Miami put 70 points on them – have a worse yardage differential (-790 yards) this season. It really doesn’t even make sense, especially considering in their three losses, they were defeated by a combined score of 80-to-23, yet here they sit again. I’ve already given T.J. Watt his flowers and as bad as the offense has been, Kenny Pickett has delivered with the game on the line (three game-winning drives), but the one constant for this organization for the last 17(!) years by now is the guy wearing that black cap on the sideline. Mike Tomlin just has these guys believing at all times. There have been so many times this season where the other side was clearly superior, yet Pittsburgh somehow hung around and was able to pull through in all five of their one-possession games. That toughness and belief his troops bring to the table is even more insane when your offense has to be infuriating to watch for large stretches of games, being in the bottom three in yards and points created, with your fans openly calling for your OC to be fired whenever possible. We can argue Tomlin and the organization should have made a move at offensive coordinator and this would be over pretty quickly when I look at what Matt Canada has brought to the table, but for that environment to elevate players in high-leverage moments and for them to be able to weather the storm the way they do, with the steady presence of the guy running the show, not enough can be said.

For this Lions organization, this is an acknowledgment of what the coaching staff has done over the last calendar year basically, as since their 1-6 start in 2022, they’ve won 14 of 18 games and two of their four losses came on a game-winning field goal and in overtime, without their offense possessing the ball, respectively. Detroit was the NFC North favorite and they’ve certainly benefitted from their rivals going a combined 10-and-16, but I expected there to be some negative regression, considering how turnover differential and less stable variables were tilted in their favor this past season. However, Dan Campbell has run a steady ship and the team overall is actually significantly better overall I’d argue, as they rank fourth in overall DVOA, with their defense improving from 27th all the way to eighth league-wide in that metric. As a credit to Lieutenant Dan, he was able to retain one of the premier offensive coordinators in the league in Ben Johnson and stuck through some dark times with counterpart Aaron Glenn on the defensive side of the ball. I know this team got blown out 38-6 at Baltimore and that’s burned into people’s minds, but they won at Kansas City in the season kickoff game, when the crowd is always hyped up to see their team hang that Super Bowl banner (even if KC was missing two key pieces), and then their five other victories all came by at least 12 points. When you look at Detroit’s stars on offense, you have a kick-ass O-line and three guys people essentially didn’t want – Jared Goff packaged with extra picks being shipped off for a different QB, David Montgomery signing in free agency from the rival Bears and third-round receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown. On defense, Aidan Hutchinson and maybe C.J. Gardner-Johnson are the only names casual fans would probably know. And this is a credit to GM Brad Holmes for just drafting good football players instead of what is perceived as “high-value positions”, but this coaching staff has done a great job of getting their rookie class acclimated and turning them into key contributors right off the bat.

Third here, I’m still going to put Mike McDaniel, primarily for having constructed an offense that was on a historical pace until three weeks ago and has some wrinkles to it that we’ve never seen. In particular that quick out motion they made prominent this year has been adopted by colleges all across the NFL and it’s also trickled down to the lower ranks of football. However, just in general they stress defensive rules and create favorable opportunities in both facets of the game is special and they do it better than anybody out there trying to copy them. We’ve seen this group be held to just 24 points (plus a defensive touchdown) by the Eagles and Chiefs in two of the last three weeks, which is where you see the limitations of having what I’d perceive a “great system quarterback” in Tua, who still has some trouble with the defensive picture changing post-snap and not having the physical capability to create beyond the Xs and Os. With that being said, Miami still ranks first in yards and points per drive and game each, as well as yards per play. What’s been so impressive about them is that they’ve dominated through the air and on the ground, as they rank second in both categories in terms of EPA per play, and they average 1.1(!) yards more per carry than any other team in the league. So even though we have to see if McDaniel can continue to evolve his approach to challenge the true contenders in the AFC, they’ve been an elite offense by any measure, regularly skipping third downs to take pressure off their QB and cashing in for touchdowns at the highest rate of their third-down possessions (75.0%). So for their innovative play-caller to more than just compensate for a defense and special teams unit that rank 24th and 25th in DVOA respectively and sit atop the AFC East is very impressive. Now with DC Vic Fangio getting his pieces back, there should be less pressure on this high-scoring machinery.

Honorable mentions: Nick Sirianni, John Harbaugh, Doug Pederson, & DeMeco Ryans

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