A mid-season review of the 2011 NFL competitive lineup

Now that we are just past the midway point of the NFL regular season, it is time to hand out midseason awards to teams and players. Not all awards are positive, because, let's be honest, not everybody is a winner.

Best Team: Green Bay Packers, and it's not even close.

MVP: Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Not since Tom Brady in 2007 has there been such an obvious choice for the most valuable player. In a year of unprecedented pass offense, Rodgers has still managed to stand out with incredible numbers: 2869 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, only three interceptions. His passer rating of 130.7, if it stands, would demolish the previous best passer rating (Peyton Manning had a 121.1 in 2004).

Best team no one took seriously going into the year: San Francisco 49ers. With the usually moribund Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills playing above .500, this award has a great deal of competition. In the end, though, the 49ers have the second best record in the NFL at 8-1, and are on a seven game winning streak. Last year, the 49ers were unable to even win the historically awful NFC West, finishing 6-10, and firing their then-Head Coach Mike Singletary at the end of the season. However, new Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has inherited a supreme defense that, unlike last year, has been able to stay healthy. With quarterback Alex Smith making very few mistakes and running back Frank Gore continuing to run well, this is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Most disappointing team: Philadelphia Eagles. Remember when media pundits referred to the Eagles as the "Dream Team"? Well, they're 3-6 after quarterback Michael Vick has badly regressed and their linebackers might be the worst in all of football. Suddenly, longtime Head Coach Andy Reid's job is no longer safe. There is still some time to sneak into the playoffs, but it will take a virtually perfect second half to do so. Keep in mind, this team just lost to the lowly Arizona Cardinals at home.

Defensive player of the year: Jared Allen, defensive end of the Minnesota Vikings. Yes, the Vikings, at 2-7, are going nowhere near the playoffs this season. Don't blame Allen, however, as he has contributed about as much as any one defensive player can to his team. Through nine games, with Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield missing five of them, Allen has registered 41 tackles (32 solo), 13.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. If the Vikings had not been starting Donovan McNabb at quarterback for so long, maybe Minnesota could have actually won some games and been able to reward Allen's excellence this year.

Tanking award: Indianapolis Colts. The Colts lost star quarterback Peyton Manning for the season due to his third neck surgery in two years, certainly a devastating blow to the team. However, the Colts should not be THIS bad. Not only is the team 0-10 so far, they have given up a staggering 169 more points than they have scored this year. After competing at least a bit towards the beginning of the season, the Colts have clearly not given their all in recent weeks, including a truly embarrassing 55-point loss to the New Orleans Saints in prime time. Clearly, the Colts are only thinking about selecting star college quarterback Andrew Luck in next year's draft, as this season is long gone for them.

Most underwhelming individual performance: Chris Johnson, running back for the Tennessee Titans. Two years ago, Johnson set an NFL record with 2509 yards from scrimmage in a season, including running for 2006 yards in 2009. This year has been a completely different story, though. Even after his best game of the season against the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday, Johnson is averaging only 3.4 yards per carry, and has under 500 rushing yards in nine games played. For someone with his incredible speed, Johnson has had great difficulty breaking through the first line of defenders, with a season-long rush of only 25 yards.

Breakout player of the year: Jimmy Graham, tight end for the New Orleans Saints. Graham, who took over for the departed Jeremy Shockey, is having one of the best seasons by a tight end ever, yet very few even knew his name before the season began. Graham has 62 catches for 873 yards and 6 touchdowns in just 10 games. For a wide receiver, those numbers are phenomenal. For a tight end, they are simply historic.