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We’ve now hit the quarter mark of the season so you’ll be flooded with the generic posts about awards like the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and so many other categories. So, instead of doing stuff you can find on any old website, I thought I would give out some new awards across the NFL for the first four games of the year:
Staying on Brand Award
Players work on things in the off-season and get better. They will add new moves or skill sets to showcase in the regular season. Some coaches will implement new plays or philosophies as they enter another season in the NFL. Bill O’Brien? Well, he’s stayed on brand with his coaching blunders entering year five and that’s pretty darn impressive. It seems like every young coach (McVay and Vrabel) in the game has talked about having somebody on staff that helps them with timeouts, challenges, etc., but not Bill. Bill is staying on brand and doesn’t care what you think about it because it’s not his job.
Runner-up: The Steelers horrible defense. We’re about two games away from Pouncey commenting on it.
I’ll Watch Your Game Award
Look, the Browns legit could be 4-0 right now. I know the "what if" game is horrible to play and you can’t assume anything in the NFL, but a decent kicker could have won games for the Browns. I’m not just saying this because of Hard Knocks, but this Browns team is hella fun to watch with Baker at QB. On Sunday I was more upset at the Texans going to overtime because it was eating into the Browns vs Raiders game. Baker has the ‘IT’ factor and I’ll enjoy it as much as I can before he is injured like every mobile QB ever in the history of the NFL.
Runner-up: Oakland Raiders. If you thought Texans football is bad, try the Raiders! It’ll give you a new appreciation for what we watch every Sunday here in Houston.
This Is For You, Roger! Award
We all have that one coworker that sucks up to the boss and does things where it’s only for his advancement and nothing else. That one worker in the NFL? The referee(s) that keep calling the horrible roughing the passer penalties against defensive players. Look, I get it, player, sorry QB, safety is important to the league, but some of these calls are just getting stupid. By the way, on Sunday after TY Hilton caught a pass and had a nice gain, he was tackled by McKinney who landed on him with his full weight. No penalty. I get it that it’s football and plays like that will happen, but the NFL sends the wrong message when defensive players aren’t allowed to do it to QBs, but they are to anybody else. I applaud you NFL Referee for staying true to the calls and making sure Roger Goodell notices how you’re protecting the league.
Runner-up: Clay Matthews on every sack. His is more out of spite, “THIS IS FOR YOU, ROGER! SCREW YOU!”.
You Make NFL Broadcasts Fun To Watch Award
I know our editor Fred Faour mutes games when he watches them, but this is the anti-Fred Muting Games Award. Monday Night Football is the go-to when we want to hate on a broadcast crew, but Booger McFarland has been awesome so far as the field analyst on MNF. His insight and passion for the sport has been tremendous so far in the season.
Runner-Up: Tony Romo. Yes, he’s still good in his second season.
Creepy Sports Media Award
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US WIN THIS AWARD FOR ALWAYS BRINGING UP SEAN MCVAY’S GIRLFRIEND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT HIS TEAM. STOP IT! WE HAVE TO STOP MAKING CREEPY COMMENTS WHEN WE SEE ATTRACTIVE WOMEN.
Runner-up: Raheel Ramzanali for his weird fascination with Sean McVay.
The Echo Chamber Award
Ties are never fun. In fact, the NFL might have a problem with ties this season, but you know what sucks more than a tie? A FREAKING LOSS. Coaches always say how hard it is to win in the NFL, but they always forget to say how easy it is to lose because of a bad decision. I know the media echo chamber right now is all about how ballsy and manly Frank Reich is for going for it on fourth down in OT from his own side of the field, but please let’s stop it. I know him backing his decision after the game really helped start this whole. “Frank’s right, guys!” discussion, but you have to consider the best case and worst case in every major decision. Reich’s decision was the ultimate fail because with that much time left and an offense that you’d slowed down, you could’ve avoided a loss, but instead you gave the Texans life and they ended you.
Runner-up: Aaron Rodgers week 1 performance. Yeah he played on a bum knee, but he’s still playing on it and maybe it wasn’t that crazy of an injury after all? It was an unreal performance and honestly you expect nothing less from A-Aron, but the folklore like retelling of that game is going to be so bad in a few years because people will forget that he didn’t miss any time with the knee.
Y'all Are Such Haters Award
This goes to all the people that thought Mike Vrabel was going to be a horrible head coach because he was the coordinator of a defense that had major injuries to every position group last year. The Texans were bad last year and the defense took a major stepback after Vrabel became the coordinator and in spite of all of that, teams still wanted to make him as head coach. Vrabel has now beaten two of the final four teams left from last year’s playoffs (including the champs, duh!) and his team has no quit in them. Props to him!
Runner-up: Everyone that was rooting for FitzMagic to fail so you could tell people that you knew this was a fluke the entire time. Yes, he is now back to being a journeyman QB, but the amount of people rooting against him was weird. If anything, we should all be rooting for the underdog to succeed.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.