Since we humble trolls spend most of our time obsessing over football with the same zeal of John Hinckley Jr. during a Jodie Foster film festival, baseball doesn't take up a lot of our mental space.

 

And since the NFL has long surpassed MLB as the King of Sports, we don't feel like we're missing much except tiresome debates about steroids, pitching changes and 65-year-old managers dressed in boys' uniforms.

 

But baseball does have at least one edge on the King: Their awards get a lot of attention. The Cy Young, the MVP, the elusive Triple Crown – these honors are talked about endlessly and debated with real passion.

 

NFL awards? Not so much. They garner little attention at the end of the year, and the reasons are various.

 

First, they're released at the beginning of the playoffs, when the league's attention is focused on more important things.

 

Second, they just don't seem to mean as much in the ultimate team sport.

 

Third, there's really nothing to analyze. Take MVP, for example. There are only 48 votes for NFL MVP, and each member of the panel just picks one guy – unlike baseball, which has several times as many votes and requires 10 ranked selections that provide plenty of room for debate.

 

Maybe that's why every Tom, Dick and Butkus with a laptop comes out with NFL midseason awards each season – because they know it's about the only time there can be any real interest the awards.

 

We don't want to be just another face in the crowd, so our votes come baseball-style, with ranked finishers in each category.

 

 

This award usually goes to a running back, as it has in nine of the last 10 seasons. It seems like a fitting consolation prize, since QBs are more likely to win the MVP. Tomlinson's numbers are spectacular (828 yards rushing, 323 receiving, 4.9 YPC, 14 total TDs), and you know that he'd be on pace for 2,000+ if the Chargers left him in at garbage time. Despite having arguably the best first five years by a running back in NFL history – including a 2003 campaign in which he caught 100 passes and ran for 1,645 yards – Tomlinson has never won an NFL award. He finished behind Chicago's Anthony Thomas for Offensive Rookie in 2001. Thomas's career is fizzling out in Buffalo, while Tomlinson is headed toward the Hall of Fame.

 

In guiding a team with a very suspect defense to an 8-0 record, he has thrown 17 TDs and just 3 INTs.

 

One interception all year? Unbelievable.

 

He has put the Chiefs on his back (459 yards and 7 TDs in the last three games).

 

He doesn't score TDs, but he does everything else and, with 1,112 yards from scrimmage, is poised for his second straight season above the 2,000-yard mark.

 

The Eagles never run the ball, and he hasn't had a great (sane) receiver to throw to, but McNabb always does the job (8.35 yards per pass, on pace for 32 TDs).

 

He's an average passer (79.0 rating, 21st), but how can you ignore the 576 yards rushing, the 8.2 YPC, or the 5-3 record with a bad defense?

 

Manning has a lot of support on offense, and left tackle Glenn may be the league's best lineman right now. He anchors an OL that has allowed just 10 sacks.

He's on pace to catch 130 passes for 1,604 yards. That's tough to overlook, even in Houston.

 

He's fifth in yards-per-pass (7.77), fourth in TDs (14) and has been sacked a league-low eight times. Following a dismal 2005 campaign, Brees has led the Saints to an NFC South-best 6-2 record.

 

The Chicago bandwagon is starting to slow down thanks to a suspect offense in recent weeks. But let's not forget that this defense is truly fearsome. And since Brian Urlacher gets the bear's share of the credit, our pick is weak-side linebacker Briggs, who has been at least as good, probably better. Briggs has 55 solo tackles to Urlacher's 47, six stuffs behind the line to Urlacher's five, and an interception for good measure. A free agent, Briggs is expected to fetch the biggest contract ever for a linebacker – despite playing on the weak side – which says what numbers can't.

 

With all that said, he's still pretty damn good.

 

He's doing it all as a hybrid LB/DE (7 sacks, 39 solo tackles) for a unit that leads the NFL in defensive passer rating and rushing YPC allowed.

 

The cornerback has six picks for a defense that boasts the league's No. 2 defensive passer rating (63.5).

 

Another former University of Miami star has taken over for Ray Lewis as the leader of the consistently strong Baltimore defense.

 

He won't be among the statistical leaders at season's end thanks to his suspension, but he did the job in the first half.

 

The defensive end is always a threat to make a game-changing play, having recorded eight sacks and two blocked kicks this year.

 

Opponents throw the ball all over the field against Denver – they've faced a league-high 295 attempts. But the passes to Bailey's side are usually regretted (five picks).

 

New England's defensive passer rating without him in 2005 was 91.5; with him in the lineup this year, it had been 73.2.

 

The Dolphins are bad, but the defense is good and Taylor has been totally dominant (eight sacks, five forced fumbles, one INT, one TD).

 

This one doesn't take a lot of brainpower. There's an undefeated team that's winning with offense and brains, and they have a brainy, offensive quarterback. It's Peyton Manning's world and we all just live in it.

 

Handicapped with a receiving corps of no-names, all he does is produce stats and victories better than any quarterback since Joe Montana. And he has been known to win a game or two late in the season.

 

 

You could argue that Tomlinson and Barber could be replaced by capable backups, but not Johnson.

 

He leads the NFL in yards receiving per game (105.2), and the two games he missed were Carolina losses.

 

The Cold, Hard Football Facts were the first media outlet to report that Saints rookie Marques Colston is on pace to set a new post-merger record for receiving yards by a rookie, and he would have to slump horribly in the second half to lose this award. But there's another offensive rookie who's having a spectacular season yet going unnoticed outside of his home market. McNeill, a 6-7, 337-pound behemoth out of Auburn, broke his hand in the preseason, but he has gone on to anchor the league's best line as a rookie. Tomlinson is averaging 5.5 yards a carry going to the left side, and the Chargers are fifth in negative pass plays despite a first-year starting QB in Philip Rivers. McNeill has truly excelled, yet it's a lead-pipe lock that he won't even get a mention at year's end.

 

His projections at the halfway point are even better than they were at the quarter pole: 88 catches, 1,400 yards and 14 TDs.

 

Maroney has run the ball well, excels as a kick returner and would be the frontrunner for the award in many other years.

 

He's on pace for 894 receiving yards and six TDs.

 

The little running back (5-6) has done a little of everything.

 

A good crop of rookie linebackers has garnered most of the attention, but the Baltimore defensive tackle has had the greatest impact. The Ravens switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 in the offseason, and have arguably the best defense in the league because of it. Ngata doesn't have the numbers (13 tackles), but he and Kelly Gregg are doing the dirty work for a defense that allows just 2.9 YPC, No. 1 in the NFL.

 

He's fourth in the NFL with 73 tackles. He also has 2.5 sacks and six stuffs ... but the Texans are 27th in scoring defense.

 

Same story: His 64 tackles are overshadowed by a bad defense (30th in scoring).

 

He has been a spot player, but his 7.5 sacks speak loudly.

 

The likeable rookie has 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

 

This award should be named "Coach Whose Team Exceeds Media Expectations," which is why the frontrunner will be the Saints' Sean Payton. However, our vote goes to the Colts' Tony Dungy, who has expertly managed a couple close games while dealing with several injuries on defense. He even outcoached Bill Belichick last Sunday, and that's no easy trick.

 

Their improvement has come from personnel more than leadership, but Payton deserves some credit.

 

Even with what seems like a down year for New England, only two teams in football have a better record, and he's leading a squad that will be feared at the end of the year.

 

Did anyone think they'd even win four games all year, let alone at the halfway mark?

 

He has Brett Favre under control and the offensive line in command.

 

Why this isn't an actual award, we have no idea – perhaps delving into special teams play would be a bit too complicated for the puzzled "pundits" of Planet Pigskin.

 

Our winner from Chicago is quietly having an unbelievable season. Gould is a perfect 22-for-22 on field goals (nine from 40+), and is on pace 180 points, which would break the NFL scoring record (Paul Horning, 176). Can't get much better than that.

 

The backup tight end has nine special-teams tackles for a team that's first in punt-return defense (5.7 yards per return) and third in kick-return D (19.4 yards per return).

 

3. Shane Lechler, Raiders
He's the Michelangelo of punters, and the all-time NFL leader in the category. He again tops the league in net average (43.4) and is second in gross average (48.5). Can he block?

 

He's sixth in the NFL on kickoffs and has missed just two field goals for San Diego.