Through 9 weeks, it’s been one hell of a crazy, unpredictable season. It’ll be a tough task for Weeks 10 through 17 to bring the surprising results that we’ve seen this far in. But even though we always know in advance that the results are completely up in the air, we still can’t believe our eyes when a certain team proves all the experts wrong and plays great football when they were predicted to be at the top of the draft order the following season. Or vice-versa, when a team has Super Bowl expectations galore from all the so-called experts, and then plays like anything but a Super Bowl team, causing major disappointment for everyone that bought into the hype. So despite everything I’ve just told you, I’m going to do my best to predict how the rest of the season will play out and predict how the rest of the season will play out and just who will be in Dallas to play in Super Bowl XLV. But before that, it’s time to hand out the NFL Midseason Awards. 

   Most Disappointing Team

****There’s been a fair share of them this season, but by far this award was literally made for the Dallas Cowboys this year. Wade Phillips is out of work after a 1-7 start and there’s clearly no shot at the playoffs, let alone the big homefield advantage at the Super Bowl that Jerry Jones had planned. Maybe it was just too much pressure for Dallas, knowing everyone including their owner was expecting such great things out of them. However, a team with this much talent should really have no legitimate excuse to even be below .500. 

**Dishonorable Mentions: **Minnesota, San Francisco, Cincinnati

** Note Before anyone asks, “Where’s San Diego on this list?” They are about where I expected them to be at 4-5. You have to remember this iis a team that almost always starts out slow and then comes on strong late in the season. I expect the same this year, but it might be too late in terms of them of them breaking into the the playoffs.** ****

Most S********urprising Team

For me, there’s no bigger surprise than the way Pittsburgh held up without their starting quartberback Ben Roethlisberger for the first 4 games. We all knew their defense would be fine, but with Charlie Batch, Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon as the relief QB’s, I definitely thought they’d be lucky to start out at 2-2. They went 3-1 instead, despite having ranking last in the league in passing yards. Pittsburgh just might be the best definition of the word “team” in all of the NFL. Now that all the pieces are back and assembled, the sky is the limit for how far the Steelers can go. 

**Honorable Mentions: **Kansas City, NY Giants, St. Louis, Oakland

Defensive Rookie Award

Ndamukong Suh is proving why he was the first defensive player taken overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. His 30 tackles and 6.5 sacks in his first 8 games have given the Lions some much needed instant help at their previously very weak defensive line. Add to that a forced fumble and a 20 yard interception returned for a touchdown and that’s just icing on the cake for him to be a lock for the Defensive Rook at the midway point. Suh could be the first of many defensive draft picks that have the Lions headed in the right direction to go along with a very threatening offense, which would put them back in playoff contention for the first time since the Barry Sanders days. 

**Honorable Mentions: **Earl Thomas, Nate Allen, Eric Berry, T.J. Ward

Offensive Rookie Award

Despite concerns over his injured shoulder, the Rams decided to take Sam Bradford #1 overall in the NFL Draft and it’s been paying dividends since the season began. He’s not putting up spectacular numbers, but he’s not looking like your usual rookie either. They already have more wins than all of last year and are tied for the lead of the NFC West. He’s been averaging 210 yards passing per game, making the best of the limited receiving weapons he has in St. Louis. The Rams are proving they made the right call at the podium on draft day.

Honorable Mentions: Mike Williams, Jahvid Best, Dez Bryant, Jordan Shipley, Aaron Hernandez

Defensive Player of the Year On a defense full of playmakers, including Charles Woodson who just won the award in 2009, Clay Matthews seems to always be around the ball and making things happen. Despite missing a game to injury, he still leads the league in sacks with 10.5, he’s racked up 31 tackles, 3 passes defended 1 interception for a touchdown and a forced fumble. Clay is carrying on the family name very nicely so far in his short career. 

Honorable Mentions: Osi Umenyiora, Lawrence Timmons, James Hariwon, DeAngelo Hall

Comeback Player Award

Yes, he has played less than 4 full games, but he really has made that much of a difference for the Philadelphia Eagles when he’s been on the field. Michael Vick’s career is officially rejuvinated and surprisingly, it’s been more because of his arm than his legs. He’s averaged 203 yards passing and just 52 rushing. Although he still shows he can turn on the afterburners when necessary, he’s been primarily a pocket passer and has yet to throw an interception. That’s 7 touchdowns and not a single pick for someone who was never known as a good throwing quarterback in the first place, then on top of that, went behind bars for quite a while for his crimes. 

Honorable Mentions: LaDainian Tomlinson, Terrell Owens, Troy Polamalu, Michael Turner, Chris Cooley

Offensive Player of the Year Many might have only heard of Arian Foster when the know-it-all in their fantasy football league was ranting about sleepers. Usually that guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but if he recommended Foster, you owe him a drink if your team wins this year. The Texans running back has come out of nowhere to give them the yards out of the backfield that they completely lacked last season. A league-leading 864 yards and 9 touchdowns including a 231 yard, 3 TD performance in the season opener against division rival Indianapolis. He’s also reeled in 315 receiving yards, giving Matt Schaub yet another weapon in the arsenal. Foster averages 5.5 a carry and 108 per game. For somebody very few heard of going into the season, this choice was an easy one.

Honorable Mentions: Darren McFadden, Peyton Hillis, Clay Matthews, Lawrence Timmons, Josh Freeman

Best Coaching Award

As mentioned before, there’s no bigger surprise team than Pittsburgh with the way they held up in the first 4 games before Roethlisberger’s return. And much of the credit has to go to head coach Mike Tomlin. Just allowing the Steelers to go with their strengths and run the ball and play amazing defense helped them go 3-1 in those first 4 and 6-2 at the halfway point. Tomlin doesn’t get much credit, probably because the team hasn’t changed much since he took it over after Bill Cowher’s retirement, but he’s been smart enough to not try and fix what’s not broken and that’s why he already has a Super Bowl ring in his very young coaching career.

**Honorable Mentions: **Tom Coughlin, Mike Smith, Todd Haley, Rex Ryan, Steve Spagnulo, Jeff Fisher, Tom Cable, Mike McCarthy, Andy Reid

Most Valuable Player

There’s a reason The General has won MVP of the regular season a record-breaking 4 times. He’s without a doubt the most important player to his team, and this year has been no different. He’s thrown for 2,479 yards through 8 games which comes out to 310 each time he takes the field. An average of 96 rating means he’s no slouch, he’s had a rating of no lower than 108 in half of his starts. He’s also thrown 16 scores and just 4 picks. Sometimes he is known to make some wild throws, but he’s clearly cut down on that this year. In 6 of 8 games he has thrown at least 2 TDs. To top that off he’s also right on average with a 65% completion percentage. Oh by the way, he’s done all this with injuries to Dallas Clark, Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez. I wouldn’t say it’s a run-away victory at all at this point, but if today were the day to hand out the MVP trophy, Peyton would be putting one more next to the 4 already on the mantle.

**Honorable Mentions: **Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster