NFL Awards Watch: The MVP case for Cardinals QB Carson Palmer

Before we start to talk about how great Carson Palmer has been this year, a disclaimer: I still think Cam Newton is the NFL MVP.

Newton has done a remarkable job all season, and just because his Carolina Panthers lost one game shouldn’t mean too much. If you thought Newton was the MVP at 14-0, it’s illogical to say he’s not at 14-1.

But there is a rational argument to be made for a few other players, including Palmer. I don’t think he’s the MVP over Newton, but he does have a case.

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Palmer’s consistency has been his greatest strength. He has posted a 100 rating in 11 of 15 starts and a 98.1 in another. He hasn’t been below 80 in any game. The only game in which he didn’t throw a touchdown was at San Francisco, and he ran in the winning touchdown in that game. He has been anywhere from good to great every week. That’s impressive. He’s the main reason the Arizona Cardinals are 13-2.

Perhaps if there are some extreme results in Week 17, with Palmer having a huge game in a win and Newton struggling badly in a loss, there would be an even better case for Palmer over Newton. Though, I still have Brady ahead of Palmer, too. That doesn’t say anything bad about Palmer, who has been great, only that it’s a really strong race for the MVP this year.

There’s still a week to go, so there’s still a chance to make a statement for the award. I’d still go with Newton. But it’s not because there aren’t others who have a great argument for it.

MVP ballot

1. Newton — Don’t get too wrapped up in recency bias. Just because Newton’s worst game this season was his most recent one, it doesn’t erase everything else he’s done. He’s still the clear top choice.

2. Brady — Brady vs. Palmer is an interesting debate. The core numbers are very similar. Palmer has a much higher yards per pass, but Brady makes up for that with a few more total yards and a better touchdown-to-interception ratio. And I think Palmer is getting more buzz now because we’re so used to talking about how great Brady is and maybe there’s fatigue there. But Brady is an all-time great player and he’s having an unbelievable season.

3. Palmer — If nothing else, he’s probably the most obvious comeback player of the year winner in recent memory.

4. Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson — The Seahawks lost last week, but it wasn’t too damaging (not like the terrible Pittsburgh Steelers loss) and it wasn’t like Wilson was terrible.

5. Houston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins — This is where it gets difficult, because the candidacies of Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown took some hits last week. I touched on Hopkins before in power rankings, and here’s my argument: There has to be some reason that the Texans have overcome all these injuries to be on the verge of winning the AFC South. J.J. Watt is a huge reason of course, but even he hasn’t been quite the same with a broken hand (totally understandable, of course). If you’ve watched Texans games, you know that Hopkins makes at least one “Whoa!” play a game … and you also will comment on how awful his quarterback is. Hopkins has 104 catches, 1,432 yards and 11 touchdowns catching balls from Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden. Houston lost Arian Foster, their other star on offense, long ago. Hopkins has had an impact in just about every Texans win this season, and they’re almost assuredly going to win the division. Hopkins has been their entire offense. Sounds pretty valuable to me.

Defensive player of the year: Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman gave up a few big plays last week to Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones, and we’re not used to seeing that. But the big plays just came in Norman’s zone; the Panthers predominantly run a zone defense. Per NFL Films’ Greg Cosell, the first time Norman matched up with Jones in man coverage was with 2:41 left in the fourth quarter. Your opinion of Norman as defensive player of the year comes down to how you value corners who play mostly zone. I don’t necessarily downgrade them. Someone like Norman or Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman impacts plenty of games in a zone defense. Norman is still my DPOY.

The ballot: 1. Norman, 2. Houston Texans DE J.J. Watt, 3. St. Louis Rams DT Aaron Donald

Coach of the year: Rivera is still No. 1, though if the Panthers blow the No. 1 seed in the NFC it might need to be reevaluated. What about Bill Belichick at No. 2? His decision to kick off against the New York Jets backfired terribly, and that has to be considered. But Belichick had his reasons, it just didn’t work. Coaches make many decisions each week and not all of them work out. This was just a high-profile one. This has been a great year for coaches, because coaches like Todd Bowles and Bill O’Brien can’t crack the top three, and they’ve been fantastic. 

The ballot: 1. Rivera, 2. Belichick, 3. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid

Offensive rookie of the year: An 85-yard game by a running back isn’t usually a reason to celebrate, but when you do it with no passing game to help out and do it against the Seattle Seahawks in a win, it’s noteworthy. Todd Gurley has had some great games and some quiet ones, but when it all gets added up he has 1,108 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns after doing practically nothing for the first three weeks. But Jameis Winston has played well as did Marcus Mariota when he was healthy. This is a really tough race to handicap, and it’ll come all the way down to the end. Even with Gurley playing well last week, I’m sticking with the same top three this week. But the difference between No. 1 and 3 is razor thin. Fun category.

The ballot: 1. Mariota, 2. Winston, 3. Gurley

Defensive rookie of the year: Marcus Peters of the Kansas City Chiefs has given up more yards and touchdowns than Buffalo Bills cornerback Ronald Darby, but Peters has also made more big plays. Peters has also been a key part of a really good Chiefs team. Peters getting another interception, his third in two weeks, in last week’s close win gives him the top spot heading into Week 17.

The ballot: 1. Peters, 2. Darby, 3. New York Jets DE Leonard Williams

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab