NFL Midseason Awards: Peyton Manning, Todd Haley Earn Make-Believe Hardware

Arian Foster was not even supposed to be the Houston Texans’ starting running back. Despite a strong finish to the 2009 season, in which Foster carried 39 times for 216 yards and three touchdowns in Houston’s final two games (both victories), the Texans appeared to be committed to Steve Slaton and 2010 NFL Draft pick Ben Tate atop the team’s running back depth chart.

Slaton continued to disappoint and Tate went down with a season-ending injury, and a little over two months later, Foster is the NFL’s leading rusher half-way through the 2010 regular season.

When Terrell Owens signed with the Buffalo Bills on March 7, 2009, most people believed that he’d officially reached the twilight of his NFL playing days. Voluntarily signing with the Bills, not-so-proud owners of the NFL’s longest streak without a playoff appearance, appeared to be the swan song to his illustrious, Hall of Fame-worthy career. So when Owens signed with the Cincinnati Bengals a little over a year later, it was not met with the same level of buzz that T.O. was accustomed to.

In just eight games, a lot has changed. Owens has proven in his half-year with Cincinnati that he remains one of the NFL’s most dynamic playmakers at age 37 (which he’ll be on December 7).

In a 2010 NFL season full of good, but not great, teams, we’ve nonetheless seen plenty of down-to-the-wire contests between playoff contenders with lots of talent. The best game of 2010 to date, however, featured the only NFL team that remains winless.

The Buffalo Bills - 0-5 heading into this contest, now 0-8 overall - traveled to Baltimore to take on a then 4-2 (now 6-2) Ravens team most consider to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Needless to say, the Ravens were overwhelming favorites playing on their home field.