Award Races
2011 PFF All-Postseason Team
The postseason is done, football is over (for six months anyways), and the New York Football Giants are your Super Bowl champions. They got there with some incredible performances, and today we’re looking back at what has happened since the regular season ended to give you our PFF Team of the Postseason.
That means we’re tabbing the guys who used the postseason to enhance their credentials with the kind of performances that got their teams there in the first place. So whether they were the Super Bowl MVP, or a receiver from a one-and-done outfit, it’s time to inflict yet another ‘Team of Something’ upon an unsuspecting public.
PFF Pro Bowl Selections
Editor’s note: Here’s a re-post of our PFF Pro Bowl selections that were first announced in late December. Originally in separate articles (AFC, NFC), our choices for both teams are together here. In the end, as players were removed and replacements added, there were 66 that got PFF mentions and actually received tickets to Hawaii (though some will miss out due to injury or the Super Bowl).
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So here it is, the one the players really want to see. No hype, no bias, just a simple acknowledgement that–on the field of play, for the first 14 games of 2011–they were among the best at their position. It’s not based on highlight reels and you get as much credit for playing well early as you do late (during the regular season, winning the first game counts the same in the standings as winning the last). Read the rest of this entry »
2011 PFF All-NFC West Team
The most maligned division in the NFL once again produced a mixed bag from its teams this season and for the eighth straight year an NFC West squad collected a postseason victory. The division produced one of the best sides in the NFL, one of the worst, and two teams who had up-and-down season that offered hope to the optimistic that they might make strides next season and equal evidence to doubters that they could fall back in 2012.
But 2012 is for the future and right now we are honoring the best players from the NFC West for the 2011 regular season as we make the final stop on our All-Division tour. The team unsurprisingly features a high number of San Francisco 49ers, but each team had players to be proud of this season and one St. Louis Ram has a rare honor that was afforded to no other player in this series. What was that honor? Read on and find out as we unveil our last All-Division Team for 2011.
2011 PFF All-AFC West Team
The fourth stop on our all division tour of the 2011 season (AFC East, AFC North, AFC South) sees us head out West as we tip our hat to the top individual performers from the AFC West. In a season when no team could sustain a high level of play throughout, there were both some tough choices due to excellent play and some tough choices due to a distinct lack of quality.
As with the other All-Division Teams that we’ve presented this week, some discretion was required for defensive personnel to ensure the best players make the team rather than the best players that fit a certain scheme.
Here, then, is PFF’s All-AFC West Team for the 2011 season:
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2011 PFF All-AFC East Team
The postseason is still ongoing, and it’s too soon to really get into free agency. So how are we to amuse ourselves until we can get back to talking about ongoing games or discussing the moves to be made?
Well, in the first of eight installments to be released over the next two weeks, we’re going to be naming our All-Division Teams, and today we start with the AFC East. Now, as with all these teams, we’re being liberal in what type of personnel we use on offense or defense to create a lineup that involves the most talented players from each division where possible.
Will that disclaimer go down well? Does it matter? Here’s PFF’s All-AFC East Team for 2011:
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2011 PFF All-Rookie Team
There are plenty of things that have impressed me this year. The Green Bay Packers’ attempt to go undefeated. The records broken by Drew Brees and others. Heck, I’ve even been impressed by how Levi Brown turned a switch on to look like a competent left tackle for six games at the end of the season.
But what impressed me the most? I think it may be the impact the 2011 draft class has made.
We’ve seen so many excellent performances that it’s hard to comprehend that these guys had a shortened off season. Either coaching just slows talent down and prevents them making an immediate impact, as it did with a lot of the 2010 class, or this year’s rookies are just that much more talented. You be the judge.
In any case it’s been a joy writing about these guys in my ‘Race for the Rookie of the Year’ weekly feature which saw Von Miller come out on top, and so now it’s time to name the Pro Football Focus, All Rookie Team of the Year. Starting with a slam dunk at the QB spot.
2011 PFF Most Valuable Player
What an enthralling season of individual performances. The shortened offseason stunted defenses early in the year and–outside of a small handful of units–they were playing catch-up all year long. This allowed a number of individuals to elevate their play which, in turn, saw long-standing records tumble.
Finding a single Most Valuable Player is tough in any one season, and this year was no different as an argument could be made for more than a few standouts. Whether they were making the difference for playoff teams or holding their team up from abject misery, many deserve recognition and they will receive it here.
Two players, though, separated themselves from the pack from the very first game and maintained that lead all the way through. It’s between those two that we have to choose who takes home the MVP trophy and, who knows, those they could ultimately decide Lombardi’s home at the end of the 2011 NFL Season.
In the season of the offense, we give our take on who has been the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
2011 PFF All Pro Team
If we pride ourselves on anything at Pro Football Focus it’s that we have at least six eyes watching every single game. Not just watching in passing, but spending hours upon hours breaking down what happened and accumulating the stats that make PFF so unique.
It’s why we feel as qualified as anyone to put forth an All Pro team that does away with reputation, preconceived ideas of players and hype, to give you a group of guys who were the best on the field. With that in mind we’ve altered the usual format of the NFL so that we can fully appreciate players for what is being asked of them. Why should we cross compare 3-4 defensive ends with 4-3 defensive linemen? Why should we judge 4-3 OLBs the way we judge 3-4 OLBs? And given the nature of the modern NFL why wouldn’t we recognize slot receivers and nickelbacks?
Yes our squad is larger. Yes the PFF analysts (Neil Hornsby, Ben Stockwell, Sam Monson and I) almost came to blows as we discussed some of the selections (once again guys, apologies for the large amount of swearing but you warranted it). And yes by virtue of strong performances in Week 17, some guys made our All Pro team without making the Pro Bowl, but here it is.
2011 PFF Defensive Player of the Year
As passing records fell with the regularity of a Tim Tebow incompletion you could speculate that defenders in the 2011 season weren’t up to much. It’s true that some pass rushers struggled to get pressure and certain defensive backs had horrendous problems even getting close to receivers, but at the other end of the scale, things were pretty much as normal. The top end guys, the ones on this list, excelled to the same level as you would normally expect from the best players at their respective positions. So to be absolutely clear these are not default selections in a down year for defense; they are players that would have been at or close to these ranking after any season.
So after giving our definitive positions on Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year here are the ten best players from the defensive side of the game.
2011 PFF Offensive Player of the Year
The 2011 regular season is no more, but it will live on in the history books as we saw a season where records were broken all across the league. Dan Marino and Kellen Winslow’s single-season yardage marks were both shattered this season as a pair of records fell that had stood for a combined 58 years. All four of the players to top those marks feature in our Offensive Player of the Year list, but none of them finished at the top, giving you some idea of the quality of play we saw this season.
With an offseason truncated through protracted CBA negotiations and a lengthy lockout, many speculated that defenses would be ahead all season, but if anything the reverse was true, with offensive players starting off fast and never looking back. Here we’re going to run through 10 of the best seasons from the offensive side of the ball.
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