Patriots Mid-Season Awards

The Patriots play five of their next six games on the road before finishing the season with back-to-back home games. It will be a difficult stretch that defines the 2017 Patriots and either reinforces or changes everything we think we’ve come to know about this team.

There’s no question, the 2017 Pats were hit hard by injuries and departures and got off to one of their slowest starts in years. Of course, we’re all well aware by now that it’s not the start that matters but the finish.

But by now the half season has played out in a way slightly different than we’ve come to expect. All teams are unique, but the 2017 Pats version is in many ways a new variation. The deep passing game is suddenly a viable weapon. There are four running backs who can do it all. And then there’s the defense, with many new faces up front leading the way, while the expensive veteran secondary looked lost and uncoordinated through much of the first eight games.

Let’s break the first half of the season down in everyone’s favorite way — handing out awards!

MVP — Tom Brady

Not a lot of debate about this one, and we might as well get Tom out of the way at the top because he’s easy to take for granted at this point. He has 16 touchdowns, just two interceptions and is on pace to throw for over 5000 yards. Simply put, there’s been no dropoff for Brady this year and if anything, his game has added another dimension with the deep passing game. Brady has 34 passes of 20-plus yards in 2017, ahead of his 45-in-12-games of 2016. How does the GOAT keeping getting better at the age of 40? It’s a marvel. The Patriots will never be out of the Super Bowl favorite conversation because they have Tom Brady.

Honorable Mention — Trey Flowers, James White

LVP — The Secondary

We could kill specific members but football is a team sport and the secondary as a whole has been the weak link of the 2017 Patriots. All of them have had their terrible moments, and while it might be easy to kill the new guys Stephon Gilmore, the fact is that it’s far more disappointing to see this kind of bad play out of McCourty, Chung and Harmon. Those three safeties had to lead the way as the front seven underwent significant turnover, instead they were blowing coverages left and right for much of September. They’ve looked better in recent weeks. Maybe it’s just a veteran Super Bowl hangover kind of thing. Regardless, they were all disappointing in the first half.

Best Rookie — Dietrich Wise

Wise immediately stood out in training camp as a guy who just looked like an NFL player. He got a concussion in preseason and that might’ve played a factor in the Pats bringing him along slowly, but now he’s firmly entrenched as the right defensive end starter. He’s had his ups and downs, but his length and strength have consistently made him a pass rush factor. The team badly needed someone to step up to replace the loss of three defensive ends from 2016 and Wise has been leading the way. He looks like he’ll be a foundation piece up front next to Trey Flowers.

Best Free Agent — Brandin Cooks

Usually we all hold our breaths when it comes to free agent wide receivers, but Cooks is one of the few who came in and immediately delivered. It wasn’t perfect right out of the gate, but it seems like each week Brady is finding Cooks for big plays in big moments. In the last four games he has 30 targets and is on pace for over 1000 yards receiving. Cooks’ speed was a much-needed addition in making up for the offense the Pats lost when Julian Edelman went down.

Comeback Player of the Half-Season — Dion Lewis

I admit it, even I, a card-carrying Dion Lewis superfan, had started to lose faith. Lewis was a barely-used rotational piece early in the season. He had just 17 touches in the first four games and I started to wonder if Lewis would never show the same electric playmaking ability he had in 2015. But then, Lewis exploded. In the last four games, Lewis has 51 touches and is averaging 4.89 yards-per-carry. His impressive burst is back and now we’re all just hoping we can get one playoff run with this dynamic version of Lewis.

Most Improved — Kyle Van Noy

With Dont’a Hightower done for the season, Van Noy is our all everything linebacker. Before the season that would’ve scared my shitless, and early this season, Van Noy still looked like just a guy on defense. But in recent weeks Van Noy has suddenly settled in on defense, coming through with big plays like fourth-down, goal line stops. Maybe the game is slowing down for him, it sure looks like he’s getting really comfortable. He already had 3.5 sacks and 46 tackles, both career highs.

Biggest Concern — Nate Solder

Dante Scarnecchia praised Solder’s play over the last two games, but he was a focal point for the protection breakdowns early in the season that saw Tom Brady take a ton of hits. Is Solder getting healthier? Or is he rapidly declining? Only the second half of the season will tell, but if his play takes a turn for the worse the Patriots could be in trouble against a good pass rushing team.

Biggest Surprise — Johnson Bademosi

Okay, maybe I’m driving the Bademosi hype train a little too fast. With Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe looking healthy, Bademosi could very well find himself back to a special teams-only role as soon as this weekend. But still, I think Bademosi has all the traits that the Patriots love in their cornerbacks and, second to Malcolm Butler, I’d say Bademosi is the most Patriots-y cornerback. If he continues to see time on defense we’ll know the Patriots feel the same way, but either way I’d bet an extension is coming for him, especially with Butler due for free agency this offseason.