Seahawks shut out of postseason awards. Again.

The Seattle Seahawks weren’t included in the NFL’s postseason awards once again, and they had plenty of candidates that could have won. 

Another year, and again the Seattle Seahawks are shut out of the league’s postseason awards. They’ve had one of the the most dominant four-year stretches in NFL history, but they’ve gotten no recognition for what they’ve accomplished.

So lets lay it out. The Seahawks didn’t win, but there are cases to be made for them in almost every category. Lets go through them one-by-one.

NFL MVP: Cam Newton

Seahawk it could have been: Russell Wilson

Who led the NFL is passer rating? That’s right, is wasn’t Cam Newton, it was Russell Wilson. Who set all sorts of pass record? Again Wilson. Who did all of this while playing behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines? yep, Wilson again.

Sure Cam had 45 total touchdowns. Sure he led his team to a 15-1 record with no receivers. Sure he completely carried his team offensively when no one thought they’d be good enough to make the playoffs. Blah blah blah.

Cam’s biggest contribution to this season was introducing everyone to “dabbing.” If that’s the case, then he certainly doesn’t deserve the league’s most coveted award.

Offensive Player of the Year: Cam Newton

Seahawk it could have been: Russell Wilson

See above. The same argument applies.

Defensive Player of the Year: J.J. Watt

Seahawk it could have been: Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett makes Seattle’s defense work. His ability to rush the passer, and be dominant in doing so, from anywhere on the line is a big part of the team’s success. Keep in mind it was Seattle’s defense, and not Houston’s, that led the NFL in defensive scoring.

Sure, Watt was dominant, but was he any more dominant than in past seasons? In order to continue to win the award, shouldn’t he have to keep surpassing the level of play he won it at before?

Besides, Watt already has two of these awards. It’s not like he needs a third, right?

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Todd Gurley

Seahawk it could have been: Tyler Lockette, Thomas Rawls

Gurley was good, but he compiled almost all of his stats in a six-game stretch around midseason. He really faded down the stretch and wasn’t much of a factor for the Rams for much of the season.

Plus there is the whole knee injury thing. Do they have to show it every time the Rams play? It’s seriously kind of disturbing to see his knee bend like that.

Rawls was better than Gurley as a runner, and led the entire NFL in yards per carry. Unfortunately a broken ankle ended his season before he had a chance to surpass Gurley statistically.

Tyler Lockett was a first team All-Pro (as a special teams player), and contributed at a high level all season. Plus his name is super fun to say. Lockett. Lock-it. Lock and Load it!

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Marcus Peters

Seahawk it could have been: hmmm…

Kelcie McCray? Nope, he was just new to the Seahawks. DeShawn Shead? Nah, he was just new to the starting lineup. What about… no… Oh, Frank Clark was a rookie! Too bad he wasn’t close to being worthy.

Ok fine, we’ll just concede this one to Peters. At least he was a Husky in college. It feels a bit like Seattle won, even if they didn’t.

Coach of the Year: Ron Rivera

Seahawks it could have been: Pete Carroll

Rivera coaches a team that everyone thought was “done” when their star wide receiver got hurt in the preseason. All they did was go 15-1 and roll over almost every opponent they faced.

There’s two major problems with him winning this. First, they didn’t play anyone. 14 of their 16 games were against the NFC South, AFC South and NFC East. That’s 14 extremely easy games.

Second, they lost to Atlanta. The Falcons were terrible. Seriously, that should disqualify him right there.

Pete Carroll, on the other hand guided a team with a major Super Bowl hangover back into the playoff. While the Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin to injury, the Seahawks had to deal with injuries to Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, Thomas Rawls, and Paul Richardson.

And then there is the whole Kam Chancellor situation. Any coach that can negotiate those waters and get the team safety to the other side deserves some serious kudos.

Comeback Player of the Year: Eric Berry

Seahawk it could have been: Me

Hey, I came back to 12th Man Rising after being gone for a year and a half. That counts, right?

In reality though, Eric Berry was the obvious choice. He kicked cancer’s ass and then returned to play at an All-Pro level.

I’ve got nothing but admiration and respect for Berry. I’m not sure there’s ever been a more deserving candidate. I won’t even try to make a joke here. Sorry, not going to happen.