V2 awards season

Lets have your votes for;
MVP
DPY
OPY
OROY
DROY
Coach of the year
Game of the year
Play of the year

A little reasoning wouldn't go amiss either, will do mine later. If any awards missed just say!

MVP: Tom Brady, HM Peyton Manning
Peyton had an all time great season, but he also had a great supporting cast. Brady and Belichick took a lacking and injury hit roster to a #2 seed.

OPotY: Peyton Manning, HM LeSean McCoy
Perhaps the greatest single season by a QB ever, Manning set single season records for passing yardage and TDs as the Broncos became the most prolific offense ever.

DPotY: JJ Watt, HM Richard Sherman
Quietly as the Texans imploded, Watt was just as impressive, if not more, than his previous campaign. Shame the rest of the defense was terrible.

ORotY: Split Vote, Keenan Allen and Eddie Lacy
I can't pick between them, Allen developed into Rivers #1 target down the stretch and was nigh uncoverable, while Lacy put GBs offense on his back when Rodgers got hurt.

DRotY: Desmond Trufant, HM Sheldon Richardson
While Sheldon Richardson was perhaps more impressive, I plumped for Trufant who starred at a position thats much harder to make the transition to at the NFL level. Bright light in a lost season.

Coach of the Year: Bill Belichick, HM Chip Kelly
Stacked with candidates this year, so much so that a guy like Mike McCoy isn't a great candidate imo. The Patriots roster lacked talent, Aaron Hernandez got arrested, key players hit IR and yet the Patriots reinvented themselves multiple times and picked up a #2 seed. Perhaps his best year coaching. It came down to Chip vs Reid for the 2nd spot, and in my maybe biased opinion Reid inherited much more than he left.

Executive of the Year: John Elway, HM Dave Gettleman
Welker was the big name pickup, but Terrence Knighton, DRC and Vazquez all had crucial roles in Denvers season coming in from FA.

MVP
Peyton Manning
I get the idea of Brady having had the better season given the support (or lack thereof), but in reality you can't look past Mannings record breaker... he's won the award before whilst doing a lot less.

DPY
Luke Kuechly.
A born leader and tackling machine on a team which turned it around this year. I didn't watch much of Carolina this year, but when I saw them he was outstanding.

OPY
LeSean McCoy (To avoid picking Peyton Manning again)
I often fail to see the point of this one as the MVP always goes to the offence and I figure if he is the MVP, why should he not be OPY?
Ignoring that I'm going with McCoy. He is a very effective multi dimensional threat who suits Chip Kelly's offence perfectly. He put up plenty of yards and was the key cog in turning around the Eagles. Plus his effort in the snow game was exemplary.

OROY
Eddie Lacy
Its a bit of a homer pick, but one I think I can argue. The pack were dead in the water mid season when Rodgers went down and as GSC said, he put the team on his back and kept us in the hunt. This despite being behind an average O-Line with defenses increasingly keying in on him in light of our dodgy pass game. He might even have restored some credibility to Alabama running backs despite the best efforts of Ingram and Richardson.

DROY
Sheldon Richardson
If i'm honest, defence is where I struggle to really pull out great performances when I watch. I also haven't seen much of the Jest because... well I hate them... however he is universal the consensus for this award, so i'll stick with him rather than throw in a wildcard.
I will throw in some credit to Tyrann Matthieu, who was a later round pick, performed well and was unlikely to get hurt... I genuinely expected him to fade into nothing in the pros after his shenanigans at LSU, so well done.

Coach of the year
Bill Belichick
This one I can definitely give to Bill. The team is a bit of a mess, yet there number two seeds and almost make it look easy.

Game of the year
Detroit @ Philadelphia
Maybe not the best game in terms of pure football, but it had a decent amount of drama and a heck of a lot of snow. Never in my life have I found it so funny to watch a game in which teams could barely do anything in the first quarter... what wonders a snow storm can do for you.

Play of the year
Steelers last Second Lateral Attempts vs Miami
Off the top of my head, this was the most "wow" moment of the year. In a week that produced ridiculously good games despite atrocious weather, this was a great finish. Pittsburgh needs a TD to win having to hurry to the line to get the final play off with 2 seconds of a running clock and 75 yards to go... and they would have done it but for the slightest hint of Antonio Browns shoe on the white lines. Great drama.

Selections in bold

MVP
Three candidates for me Tom Brady, Jamaal Charles and Peyton Manning. Peyton has had a fantastic year, stats wise, but as GSC stated he is surrounded by very good offensive talent in Denver. For me, the former two of Brady and Charles were more 'valuable' to their team though and contributed more to the success of their teams this year. Brady just sneaks it. Not he best year in terms of numbers but when you look at the Patriots injuries and receiving corps they should have been nowhere near 12-4 and the AFC Championship game.

OPY
Absolutely no doubt on this one. It has to be Peyton Manning by a long way. 55 TDs, 5477 yards in the regular season speaks for itself.

DPY
Plenty of candidates from Robert Mathis, JJ Watt, Robert Quinn, Vontaze Burfict, NaVorro Bowman, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Calais Campbell. 19 sacks in the NFC West is pretty good going.

OROY
Another category with a few candidates. Keenan Allen has looked like the receivers everybody thought his was this time last year. Eddie Lacy has just got better and better of the last few months. Gio Bernard has been consistent all year. Cordarrelle Patterson was 2nd in the league in all-purpose yards. Jordan Reed would have been close if he hadn't got injured. I think Allen just shades it ahead of Lacy.

DROY
A straight choice between Kiko Alonso for started the season very well for the Bills and finished 3rd in the league in combined tackles and joint 11th in interceptions, and Sheldon Richardson who has been a pretty solid DT for the Jets. I would go for Alonso just of the impact he had in the first half of the season. Eric Reid, Kenny Vaccaro, Alec Ogletree, Star Lotulelei and Tyrann Mathieu all deserve mentions too.

Coach of the year
Andy Reid turned the Chiefs around from the worst team in the league into a playoff team and the last unbeaten team. Chip Kelly took the Eagles to the playoffs in his first season. Bruce Arians also turned things around in Arizona with a tough schedule and was unlucky to miss out on the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

Game of the year
Patriots 34-31 Broncos. Brady vs Peyton, comeback win in OT on SNF, what more do you want?

Play of the year
Steelers lateral passing vs the Dolphins.

MVP: Peyton Manning, HM Tom Brady
One of the greatest seasons in NFL history and some are picking Brady? Seriously?

OPotY: Jamaal Charles, HM LeSean McCoy
An elusive runner and, I would say, the only player that is a home-run threat each time he touches the ball.

DPotY: Robert Quinn, HM Lavonte David
This year's sack master, he was absolutely unreal and he just got stronger as the year went on. David is the most underrated player in the NFL. Homer pick, I know.

ORotY: Keenan Allen, HM Eddie Lacy
Allen became a bonfide number one receiver and was productive on both deep and intermediate routes. Lacy is a very hard runner that helped transform Green Bay's offense.

DRotY: Sheldon Richardson, HM Kiko Alonso
A fantastic run defender gets his dues. Alonso tackled a lot but was exposed quite frequently.

Coach of the Year: Bruce Arians, HM Ron Rivera
He kept the defense as one of the best in the NFL but will his additions on offense, this team was deserving of a playoff spot.

Executive of the Year: John Elway, HM David Gettleman
Was this in doubt? Elway has built a stacked roster with one of the best offensive units in NFL history. Gettleman had a fantastic draft to take Carolina to the playoffs.

Game of the Year: Another homer pick but I have to choose the Bucs topping Miami on MNF. I was there, Sapp got put in the Ring of Honour and got his HoF ring and it was the first time I got to see my Tampa Bay Bucs win.

Play of the Year - AJ Green catching the hail mary pass.

MVP
Peyton Manning. NO one even comes close (and certainly not Timmy Brady). Blah blah stacked roster blah blah. He had the greatest single season in NFL history two years removed from possible career ending neck surgery.

DPY
JJ Watt. Quinn had the sacks but Watt was still as destructive as ever. He was the only bright spot on a very poor Texans season.

OPY
Peyton Manning. Honourable mentions to Jamaal Charles. Put da team on his back.

OROY
Keenan Allen. First year receivers rarely make an impact but he was excellent all year. He got open easily and was a reliable target for Rivers as well as making spectacular plays - hurdling the defender against the Broncos (I think?) for a TD.

DROY
Sheldon Richardson. So destructive. He was very stout against the run, getting penetration and throwing off blockers. Needs to work on his pass rush but he's only a rookie and it's not as if he got zero pressure. He even made plays on offense and is a locker room leader already, which I love.

Coach of the year
Chip Kelly. That's a sneakily poor roster he's got there. No way they should have made the playoffs but he moulded his offense to fit the players and got the very best out of McCoy, Foles, Cooper and Jackson.

Game of the year
Vikings 26-29 Ravens. Unbelievable play after unbelievable play. Just when you thought the game was over, boom, another TD. Loved it.

Play of the year
Off the top of my head, Gio Bernard TD run where he avoided a tackle for loss and reversed the field to score. You just don't see plays like that in the NFL.

Spoiler:

I'd just like to point out that I got all of the player awards right...

Manning MVP.
Manning OPY (My comment points out I avoided picking Manning twice on purpose)
Kuechly DPY
Lacy OROY
Richardson DROY

Forgot about Riverboat Ron. He would have been my pick for coach of the year.

Luke Kuechly being named Defensive Player of the Year is so wrong. I could name 5 LB's that were more worthy, never mind players like JJ Watt or Robert Quinn. In fact, I think Thomas Davis had an excellent year and perhaps trumped Kuechly.