#2 – QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
In an age of great QBs Aaron Rodgers has been arguably the best when completely healthy. The Green Bay Packers in 2014 were the only team to go undefeated at home – and a big reason for that was the fact that Aaron Rodgers played flawlessly in Lambeau Field. In 8 eights at home Rodgers threw 25 TDs and no INTs. He finished the season with 38 TDs and only 5 INTs – a 1.0% INT percentage that led the NFL and set a new career mark.
Rodgers led the Packers to their fourth straight NFC North division title by beating the Detroit Lions in the final game of the regular season – on an injured leg no less – and recorded 12 wins as a starter, 2nd as a starter and good enough to clinch the No. 2 overall seed in the NFC playoff picture.
Rodgers also finished just 1 point behind Tony Romo for the lead in passer rating with 112.2 – second best in his NFL career.
There is very little room for discussion as to which QB had more to do with his team’s success than Aaron Rodgers. And that will almost assuredly lead to a second NFL MVP award for the Packers star QB.
#1 – DE J. J. Watt, Houston Texans
Not since Lawrence Taylor has there been a defensive player who so completely dominates a game like J. J. Watt. He finished second in the league in sacks with 20.5, recorded an whopping 5 TDs – two on defense and three as a TE on offense – nearly 80 tackles, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and has been without a question the most dominant defender, not just in this year, but in perhaps the last 10 years or more.
With Watt overpowering defenses, the Texans made a 7-game turnaround from their previous season, winning 9 games in 2014 after going an NFL-worst 2-14 in the previous year that led to sweeping changes in the Texans front office. Watt became the centerpiece of the Texans organization, quickly becoming a celebrity in the city of Houston and the entire state of Texas. And his leadership helped the team’s defense improve from 24th to 7th without any major free agent pickups and losing their No. 1 overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney for most of the season.
There’s no debate: No player has contributed more to the success of their team than Watt. He probably won’t win the NFL MVP award, but people deserve to remember that this was the year of J. J. Watt.
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