Lumination’s NFL Midseason Awards

Hello, fellow NFL fans! Cory Woodroof here. The NFL season is half-way over, and we’ve got some awards to give out. The players and teams below are the ones I designate the “Midseason fill-in-the-blank” winner so far this year. These players or teams may not hang on for the rest of the year, but I’d bet in their favor. MVP: DEMARCO MURRAY – RB, COWBOYS To me, the best player in the NFL comes down to three players: DeMarco Murray, Peyton Manning and J.J. Watt. Manning is playing at an incredibly high level on the best team in the NFL, and Watt is wrecking opposing offenses on a regular basis. But, can we really say anyone is having a more impactful year than Murray? The running back has rushed for over 100 yards in eight consecutive games and has seven touchdowns on the season. Murray is also reportedly on pace to top former Rams great Eric Dickerson’s all-time season rushing yard record of 2, 105. The Cowboys are the surprise team of the NFL this year, and Murray’s big year is one of the huge sparks that has gotten them there. If Murray keeps up this pace and breaks Dickerson’s record, he’s the MVP. No questions asked. OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: PEYTON MANNING – QB, BRONCOS After winning MVP last year, the Sherriff has not slowed down. Manning has thrown for 22 touchdowns and has a 90.1 QBR so far this season. After getting settled in the season, he’s got the Broncos offense playing at such a high level right now that the team looks to be unbeatable. Having...

The Film Session (a weekly NFL recap), Week Two: The Dust Settles

Week two in the NFL is one of the more perplexing times of the season. It’s the big week when those ominous playoff statistics start to float around. If your team is sitting pretty at 2-0, the odds are in your favor. If your team is lacking two wins to start the season, things aren’t exactly floating down your team’s stream. However, when teams like the Bills and Texans are perfect and teams like the Saints and Colts are without wins, it’s hard to believe that these teams’ fates are set in stone. But, this is the NFL, and anything can happen on any given game day. Are the perfect teams for real? Are the winless teams on the downward path? What about the plethora of 1-1 teams? One thing that week two does effectively is end week one honeymoons. If your favorite team won big in the first game and got squashed in the second game, those feel-good jitters were probably replaced with worrisome questions and bummed-out frowns. But, you know what, that’s okay. Early season NFL is all about working out the kinks and getting your team clicking. We’ve still got a long, long stretch to go, and who knows where your selected franchise will be once the final whistle blows. Here are the 10 thoughts I had during the week. 1. The San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints are highly-respectable franchises with wonderful rosters, but those two teams have one bad thing in common: they both let RB Darren Sproles get out of their hands. After Monday night’s big comeback win for the Eagles, both...

Lumination’s 2014 NFL Season Preview

Hello, football fans! Lumination Senior Editor and self-described NFL nut Cory Woodroof here. We’re just around the corner from the start of the 2014 NFL season – a season that is sure to be filled with all the patented drama, excitement and intrigue that always accompanies another installment of professional football. Will this be the year Broncos QB Peyton Manning finally gets his second Super Bowl ring? Will Aaron Rodgers take his Packers back to the top after being sidelined for most of 2013? Will the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, become the first team to win two top titles in a row since the heyday of the Belichick-Brady Patriots? All these questions and more lay ahead in what is shaping up to be a stellar year in the NFL. Below, I’ve broken down each division, picked a winner and have provided even more speculation into some of the league’s top awards. So, without further ado, down, set, hut, hut, hike! AFC PREDICTIONS AFC NORTH With the AFC North, it’s all about who can stop the Bengals. With one of 2013’s most potent offenses in the NFL remaining largely intact, Andy Dalton and company should be able to produce the same results as last season. Their defense is also one of the more feared in the NFL. But, the Ravens, with added weapon Steve Smith on offense and Alabama great C.J. Mosley now at linebacker, could cause some noise. The Steelers need a little more help on offense before returning to the postseason, and the Browns are still in the middle of an identity crisis at the...