Green Bay Packers: Week 14 MVP and other Awards

The Green Bay Packers did just enough to win against the Washington Redskins, so who gets weekly awards for getting them to the win?

Offensive MVP – Aaron Jones

Following some lackluster weeks, the Green Bay Packers found ways to get the ball in the hands of their backfield playmaker, Aaron Jones. He got over 15 carries for only the third time this season, and added six receptions for a total of 22 touches. His touch numbers need to be similar to that every week from now on if this team wants to keep winning.

On his 16 carries, he gained 134 yards, an average of an absurd 8.4 yards per carry and a touchdown. His six catches netted him 58 yards, giving him 192 total yards from scrimmage on the day. His biggest catch of the day was a 25 yard reception on 3rd and 14 to pick up a huge first down deep in Green Bay territory. He’s become a certified go-to guy and should get the touches of one every week for the rest of the season.

Defensive MVP – Adrian Amos

Contrary to what you’ve heard from any Chicago Bears fans, Adrian Amos is a playmaker. He has had clutch pass knock-downs in big spots in multiple games and has been a sure-handed tackler stopping the run up in the box or in the open field. This week he took it to another level.

Amos had the second most tackles on the team with seven, six of them solo. That’s just scratching the surface, though. He had an interception to stamp out a Redskins drive at the end of the half that may have saved a field goal and a big sack earlier in the game. He also totaled two passes defended for the game. He has been a reliable leader for the back-end of this Green Bay Packers’ defense and on Sunday he was the guy making the big plays, all while wearing his purple cleats for his I’m Still Here Foundation, raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease.

Special Teams MVP – Tyler Ervin

The Green Bay Packers have positive punt return yards! After an absolutely atrocious first 12 games in the return aspect, Tyler Ervin brought some much-needed stability to the position. He did what most fans always scream at the punt returner to do, run forward. He didn’t do any dancing around and returned four punts for 51 yards, an average of 12.8 yards per return with a long of 18 yards.

Ervin did his job well, but something that might have been lost in the shuffle was that Jaire Alexander was playing on punt coverage. One of the best corners in the league at shadowing a receivers movements was out there for the purpose of shadowing a gunner and not letting him get past him and to the returner. Alexander hadn’t played a special teams snap since week eight, and having him out there showed, as Ervin consistently had much more space than any Packer punt returner has had all season.

Blocks of the Game – Mercedes Lewis and Jake Kumerow

Mercedes Lewis has made a career as a great blocking tight end, but Jake Kumerow has made multiple impressive blocks on the interior this year to open up holes for the running backs. On this play, Aaron Jones was sprung free for a 42-yard gain by the guys both doing their jobs very well.

Kumerow motions behind the tight ends and, when the ball is snapped, attacks Landon Collins, one of the best run stuffing safeties in the league. He shows no fear of a physical guy like Collins and drives him about three yards up the field and completely out of the play. Lewis also goes up to the second level to get an inside linebacker and pushes him back as well, and Jones runs right between the two men and explodes for a huge gain.

Jake Kumerow didn't have a catch on Sunday but this was an awesome block on Landon Collins. Helped create a 42-yard run for @Showtyme_33 pic.twitter.com/OfQxamco9b
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) December 9, 2019

Best Cleats – Marquez Valdes-Scantling

My Cause My Cleats may be the best week in the NFL season. It combines a lot of really great creative designs with great causes. Multiple Green Bay Packer players designed cleats for this week and a lot were great.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling stood out among the rest because of his design and message. His cleats were a full of different color combinations and crazy designs that were eye-catching to anyone. This may be the most subjective award I’ve ever given out, but I thought they were quite stylish. They were for the cause of increasing awareness of mental health issues and had the message, “it’s okay, to not be okay”. Regardless of how you felt about the crazy colors and designs, it’s a great message for anyone going through tough times, especially mental issues which can be tough to articulate and cope with.

Celebration of the Week – Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang

Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang? Neither of them play for the Packers anymore what are they doing on this list? Well they were at Lambeau Field this Sunday after Sitton officially retired as a Green Bay Packer and they had the most Wisconsin celebration anyone could think of: Drinking a beer.

Beer has always been a staple of Wisconsin culture, but it really took off in the Milwaukee Bucks season last year when David Bakhtiari impressively chugged a few beers, followed by an embarrassing showing from Aaron Rodgers and a solid chug from Christian Yelich.

The beer drinking celebration is here to stay and may be mandated by state law for any Wisconsin professional athlete attending any game of a different sport in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, since Sitton and Lang are no longer with the Green Bay Packers, I have to put them at the bottom of the ranking.