Mid-Season Team MVP Awards – AFC East

We’re at the midway point of the season, with every team in the league having played either seven or eight of its 16 games. This feels like a perfect time to check in with each and every one of the NFL’s 32 teams, and hand out some mid-season Most Valuable Player awards.

New England Patriots – Aqib Talib

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 29: Aqib Talib #31 of the New England Patriots celebrates after an interception against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome on September 29, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

Not surprisingly, all the candidates for this team’s mid-point MVP are on the defensive side of the ball.

Chandler Jones is faring very well after an up-and-down rookie year. The defensive end has posted 6.5 sacks in his first 8 games, already an improvement on the 6.0 sacks he managed last season. More impressive than that, though, is his 44 combined tackles, which is around twice as many tackles as the average recorded by most defensive ends at this stage of the season. Jones has been a factor in the run game just as much as he has as a pass rusher.

Devin McCourty deserves recognition as probably the second MVP on this team right now. He was playing as well as any safety in the league even before his impressive tip drill interception with Marquise Cole last week against the Dolphins.

However, Aqib Talib has been without a doubt the stand-out performer for this Patriots team in 2013. The big corner-back has been the most dominant corner in the league bar none through the first half of the season. He’s tied for the league lead in interceptions with 4, and he’s tied for 7th in passes defenced with 9.

Impressively, he’s managed that whilst literally shutting down the opposing offence’s best receiver week after week. Cornerbacks are very rarely the reason a team wins a game. Talib has won not one but two games almost single-handedly for New England this season.

Against the Falcons, he recorded 4 passes defenced and 1 interception going up against Julio Jones and Roddy White. The best of those passes defenced came against Roddy White. On fourth down late in the fourth quarter and up by 7, Talib got his hand in front of Roddy White in the end zone to knock Matt Ryan’s pass away, effectively winning the game for New England.

Against the New Orleans Saints, he was asked to play man-on-man coverage against the 6 foot 7, 265 lb tight end Jimmy Graham, who led the league in receiving yards and was top five in the league in touchdown catches and receptions at that point in the season.

Talib didn’t allow Graham to have a single catch. That pretty much says all that is needed about the season this guy is having.

New York Jets – Muhammad Wilkerson

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – OCTOBER 13: Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson #96 of the New York Jets sacks quarterback Ben Roethlisberger #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter during a game at MetLife Stadium on October 13, 2013 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Steelers defeated the Jets 19-6. (Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images)

No, Geno Smith is not this team’s MVP at the halfway mark. While the rookie quarterback caught everyone’s eye with his winning performance against the Atlanta Falcons (16 of 20 for 199 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions for a 147.7 quarterback rating), Smith also has three games in which his quarterback ratings were 51.9, 48.8 and 27.6. He’s showing flashes, but it would be wrong to say that he’s playing well at this point.

While my MVP is actually defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson, a case could easily be made for fellow defensive lineman Damon “Big Snacks” Harrison. Both have been far too much for offensive lines to handle this season, and the two together are the main reason why New York currently has the NFL’s leading rush defence.

However, while Harrison is playing like a mammoth on the defensive line, absorbing blocks and stuffing running lanes, Wilkerson has taken his play to another level entirely.

The third year man out of Temple has 7 sacks, 30 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 1 interception in his first 8 games of 2013. Those numbers would be incredibly impressive for a linebacker. Wilkerson is not a linebacker, he’s a 315lb defensive tackle. For him, those numbers are absurd.

As a dominant player in every phase of his game at the moment, Wilkerson is shaping up to have the kind of season Cincinnati defensive tackle Geno Atkins put on display for us all last season; and that got him an All-Pro selection. If Wilkerson carries on as he is, he’ll be heading the same way.

Buffalo Bills – Mario Williams

ORCHARD PARK, NY – SEPTEMBER 29: Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens tries to run away from Mario Williams #94 of the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium on September 29, 2013 in Orchard Park, New York.Buffalo won 23-20. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Despite their 3-5 record, the Bills have a number of players on their roster who are having tremendous seasons worth mentioning.

The highlight of this team has been their 7th ranked rushing attack, which has been powered not by the electric CJ Spiller as many expected but by the veteran Fred Jackson. Jackson has been a nice surprise for this Buffalo team, especially as a threat in the red zone. Jackson has already scored 6 rushing touchdowns, third best in the league and tied for his career best despite being only halfway through the season.

The defence has given up a lot of yards this season but does have its share of key performers. Rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso has taken to his new defence like a duck to water. With 4 interceptions and a massive 81 combined tackles in 8 games, Alonso looks like a genuine contender for defensive rookie of the year.

But while Alonso might be the future of this defence, but the undoubted superstar on this team right now is former #1 overall pick Mario Williams.

The pass rusher has been unstoppable this season. His 11 sacks are second in the league only to Robert Mathis’ 11.5, and include a monster 4.5 sack performance against Cam Newton’s Panthers in week two that ranks as one of the best defensive showings of any player this season.

Williams is currently on pace for a staggering 22 sacks, which would put him just half a sack behind Michael Strahan’s all-time single season record. If he continues as he is, Williams’ 2013 season will go down as one of the most dominant years by a pass rusher in NFL history.

Miami Dolphins – Ryan Tannehill

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – OCTOBER 31: Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Miami Dolphins leaves the field following his teams victory over Cincinnati Bengals at Sun Life Stadium on October 31, 2013 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

There are far more disappointments than MVP candidates on this Miami Dolphins team. The offensive line has been horrible; Mike Wallace has been a non-factor; the defence has been unspectacular and the run game has been underwhelming. There is no hiding the fact that this is a distinctly average Dolphins team, and their 3-4 record proves it.

Cameron Wake is the true superstar of this franchise, but a knee injury has kept him either off the field or quiet on it all season. To the irk of the Dolphins fans, there has been no real standout player in his wake.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is the only player on this team who has at least flashed top level ability. Most people expected Ryan Tannehill to make the leap this year after a promising rookie campaign, and to some extent he has.

Tannehill has managed a league average 252 yards per game, and has thrown more touchdowns (11) than interceptions (9). His numbers aren’t spectacular, but given the horrendous offensive line he has been working behind, they are encouraging and they are certainly enough to make him the best player on this team so far in 2013.