Despite his relatively anonymous name, an up-and-down year for the Tennessee Titans, and defenses consistently stacking the line with 8 defenders charged with stopping him, the Titans' Chris Johnson wins again. The Associated Press named him the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year this morning.
Chris Johnson Runs Away With AP Offensive Player Of The Year
From the Tennessean:
Johnson became just the sixth player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He finished with 2,006 in a year that ended with 11 straight 100-yard games.Johnson received 38 1/2 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who received nine votes, was a distant second.
"I kind of realize what I did and I feel like I had a dream season," Johnson told the Associcated Press.
Johnson's goals next season are breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards and winning the NFL Most Valuable Player award.
"I didn't even get one vote at all (for MVP)," Johnson said. "Like the season I had, it seemed like, 'What more do they want me to do?"
Ahh.... Yes. The MVP. That brings us back to the kerfuffle from over the weekend, when SOMEONE had the audactiy to suggest that perhaps Chris Johnson deserved MVP consideration, as well. There hadn’t been a fight this contentious and irrelevenat since the Redskins started banning signs at home games.
But yes, for suggesting that Chris Johnson might have been worthy of a Most Valuable Player vote, I was called "retarded" a "joke" and "kind of a hack." Because... Well... Peyton Manning!
But look! Numbers! Courtesy of Football Outsiders, the Colts' defense allowed 307 points, while the Titans allowed 402. A pretty big difference, and if you swap the defenses, the football Pythagorean theorem has the Titans going 9-7, with the Colts just 8-8. What does this mean?
Nothing, really.
Peyton Manning had a phenomenal season, as did Drew Brees of the Saints, and Phillip Rivers of the Chargers. But in the eyes of voters for this award, at least, Chris Johnson's performance--which included 2,500 total yards and at least 25 plays that left fans in utter disbelief--was just a little bit better. Does that make him the most valuable player? Does it matter?
Regardless, Chris Johnson had one of the finest individual seasons that the NFL has ever seen from a running back, and if not the most valuable, we can at least say that this season, he was the most memorable.
Congrats, Chris Johnson. Now if he rushes for 2,500 yards and outruns Usain Bolt and a cheetah, maybe he’ll get a vote for the MVP. After all, it’s not like he’s a quarterback....
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