Green Bay Packers: Week 14 MVP and other awards

The Green Bay Packers edged out the Lions 31-24 for another win this week, so let’s give some awards to the guys that made it happen.

Offensive MVP – Marquez Valdes-Scantling

Purely statistically, Davante Adams was the best offensive player for the Green Bay Packers again this week with seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. However, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had his best game of the year easily, making six catches for 85 yards and a score.

This was particularly good for MVS because he made most of his catches in intermediate depths down the field. For almost his whole career, he’s been a one-trick pony, that trick being running deep down the field and catching, or heartbreakingly dropping, the ball. This also included his touchdown catch on a back-shoulder throw that he hung onto with his hands, something that’s been historically difficult for him. If we keep seeing more of this MVS, this Packers offense becomes even scarier.

Defensive MVP – Kenny Clark

Multiple players performed well on the Packers defense this week, but Kenny Clark beats them out to take the award. He looked great in run defense early and was a huge part of the Lions averaging just 3.4 yards per carry. He had three stops in the run game, and while the pieces around him like Dean Lowry, Kingsley Keke, and Tyler Lancaster rise and fall each week, he is the constant in the middle.

He was also successful as a pass rusher against the Lions. He had one sack that sent the game to halftime, but it was his four total pressures that were the most impressive thing. When he’s wreaking havoc in the middle and allowing Za’Darius Smith and Rashan Gary to get 1-on-1’s on the outside, good things happen for this Green Bay Packers defense.

Best Block – Robert Tonyan

Marcedes Lewis isn’t the only blocking tight end on this roster, and Robert Tonyan showed that on Sunday. As Aaron Rodgers dropped back to pass, Tonyan gave Romeo Okwara a hefty shove, which sent him flying into two other Lions defenders. Sometimes, we refer to big strong players as bowling balls, but Tonyan pretty much made Okwara into a bowling ball that took out two of his own players and completely thwarted the entire Lions pass rush since the only other rusher was going against David Bakhtiari, and we all know how that usually goes.

While Aaron Rodgers makes his MVP case and Davante Adams makes his Offensive Player of the Year case, and Jaire Alexander, David Bakhtiari, and Kenny Clark all try to show they’re the best at their respective positions, Robert Tonyan has quietly become one of the best tight ends in the entire league. He’s not competing with Travis Kelce or George Kittle for number one…yet, but there’s definitely a case to be made that he’s top five and definitely top ten. For an undrafted guy to make plays every week and throw around defenders like this is a pretty great find for Green Bay.

Needs More Snaps Award – Kamal Martin

Kamal Martin has been, by pretty much any metric or analysis, the best Packers’ inside linebacker this season. He has great explosiveness and can do things that the other guys at his position just can’t. That is what makes it so frustrating that he spends so much time on the sidelines. Against the Lions, he had just one tackle but added a quarterback hit. However, he only had 12 defensive snaps to do anything with. In those twelve snaps, he managed to be the Packers’ second-highest rated defensive player according to Pro Football Focus. Number one is an honorable mention in this category, Vernon Scott, who made a couple of really nice plays and hopefully will get some more chances in the weeks to come.

When Kamal Martin first got to play in week seven after missing the first six weeks with an injury, he got to play 43 percent of the Packers snaps; in week eight, he played 81 percent, and ever since, it hasn’t been above 30 percent. It’s not quite clear what he did wrong to get on Mike Pettine’s bad side, but as Christian Kirksey and Krys Barnes took a combined 86 snaps on Sunday, Martin sat the bench for much of it. He needs to be on the field.

Celebration of the Week – Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers makes his third appearance on this award this year with the “I love gold!” celebration. It’s been talked about a lot lately as Rodgers brought it to light on the Pat McAfee show and Nathaniel Hackett’s love of the character Goldmember in Austin Powers.

After running it into the end zone on a crucial third down in the third quarter to take the lead, Aaron Rodgers gave a few high fives to his teammates, that frankly had a bit of an old guy vibe; he raised his arms to the air and yelled the immortal words, “I love gold!”. The “gold zone,” as the Packers have affectionately named the red zone, has been an area where the offense has been extremely successful this year, and it’s nice that they celebrate accordingly and make their offensive coordinator proud.

Celebration of the Year Leaderboard

1. Aaron Rodgers – Hingle Mccringleberry
2. Soul Train Line
3. Za’Darius Smith – Rest in Heaven Breonna Taylor
4. Aaron Rodgers – Michael Jordan Shrug
5. Adams and Lazard – Crowning of Rodgers
6. Aaron Rodgers – I Love Gold
7. Jamaal Williams – Being a complete goofball
8. Packers Defense – Hitting the Woah
9. Packers Defense – Love Don’t Cost a Thing
10. Chandon Sullivan – Lambeau Leap
11. Ifeadi Odenigbo – Premature Airplane

What Green Bay Packers’ players did you think were deserving of awards this week? Would you change any rankings in the Celebration of the Year leaderboard? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.