Miami Dolphins (4-3)
Cameron Wake
Cameron Wake leads the Dolphins with 5.5 sacks. Two of them came in Miami’s 33-20 win over the Patriots in the season opener, and he’s had at least one in the last three games.
The Dolphins have won the last two to get back over .500 for the first time since Week 1 and become playoff contenders. They rank seventh defensively and thanks to Wake they’re in the top 10 with 21 sacks.
Pro Football Focus ranks Wake as the No. 1 4-3 defensive end and credits him with 20 quarterback hurries, third among the position group. Wake also is one of eight players tied atop the league with three forced fumbles. He strip-sacked Jay Cutler and recovered the fumble with the Dolphins leading the Bears 21-7 early in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins won the Week 7 matchup at Chicago, 27-14. And they won at Jacksonville, 27-13, on Sunday.
Minnesota Vikings (3-5)
Harrison Smith
There are a few candidates here, all on the defensive side of the ball.
Rookie linebacker Anthony Barr returned a fumble for the game-winning touchdown in overtime Sunday, but the Vikings shouldn’t have needed overtime the beat the woeful Bucs.
Everson Griffen is third in the NFL with eight sacks and the Vikings are tied for second in the league with 25. But Griffen has been inconsistent.
Safety Harrison Smith has done just enough of everything to be the Vikings’ midseason MVP. He leads the team with three interceptions, including an 81-yard pick-six in the Vikings’ 34-6 win at St. Louis in the season opener. He also has a sack and a forced fumble this season and is tied for second among safeties in the NFL with six pass breakups.
New England Patriots (6-2)
Tom Brady
Jimmy Garoppolo jersey sales likely have slowed down in New England over the past month.
The rookie came in for mop-up duty in the Patriots’ 41-14 loss at Kansas City in Week 4. Brady threw two interceptions in that game, but hasn’t thrown one since.
Since then, the Patriots have won four in a row and Brady has thrown 14 touchdown passes with no picks. He has 18 touchdown passes this season, and his two interceptions are the fewest among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 150 passes.
Brady completed 30 of his 35 passes on Sunday to lead the Patriots to a 51-23 pounding of the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium. He threw five touchdowns and his 85.7 completion percentage was the second best of his career.
Not bad for a 37-year-old. If Brady can out-duel 38-year-old Peyton Manning Sunday in Foxborough, he’ll have the inside track on his sixth Super Bowl appearance.
New Orleans Saints (3-4)
Jimmy Graham
The Saints’ All-Pro tight end caught 32 passes with three touchdowns through the first four games. But that dizzying, 128-catch trajectory was altered when Graham hurt his shoulder in Week 5 against Tampa Bay. He had just two catches in that game and none after the bye week in the Saints’ 24-23 loss at Detroit.
Graham was held without a catch in the first half Sunday night at home against the Green Bay Packers, but he caught five passes in the third quarter to help the Saints break a 16-16 halftime tie. He caught two straight passes for 20 years immediately before Drew Brees flung a 50-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks that gave the Saints a 23-16 lead. Then with 2:13 left in the quarter, Graham provided an insurance touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Brees.
Graham has led the Saints in receptions in each of the last three seasons. He’s second on the team right now with 39. Cooks has 40. But as long as Graham’s shoulder holds up, expect him to be Brees’ top target the rest of the way as the Saints try to overcome their 1-3 start.
New York Giants (3-4)
Eli Manning
Since throwing four interceptions in the Giants’ first two games of the season, which were both losses, Eli Manning has thrown 11 touchdown passes with one interception in the last five games.
Running back Rashad Jennings and tight end Larry Donnell have had their moments this season. Jennings gained 176 yards with a touchdown in a Giants’ first win of the season, a 30-17 victory over the Houston Texans. He’s averaged 4.4 yards per carry, but he’s missed the last two games with a knee injury. Donnell caught three touchdown passes in the Giants’ 45-14 win at Washington in Week 4, but he had just one catch over the next two games before his seven receptions in a Week 7 loss at Dallas.
Rueben Randle leads the team with 34 receptions and rookie Odell Beckham Jr. has three touchdown passes since being activated three weeks ago. If one of them can help the Giants overcome the injury to Victor Cruz, they’d be team MVP candidates for the season.
New York Jets (1-7)
Muhammad Wilkerson
There was a time when the Jets won a game this season. Back in those halcyon days of early September, the Jets defeated the Oakland Raiders, 19-14, in the season opener. You could say Wilkerson had a hand in the victory.
The Jets led, 13-7, early in the fourth quarter and had the Raiders backed up to their own 6-yard line. Wilkerson tipped two straight Derek Carr passes, and the Raiders eventually had to punt. The Jets still could have handled the winless Raiders without Wilkerson’s disruption on that drive. But he picked the right spot for two of this three pass breakups this season.
The Jets’ pass rush has been an oasis in a barren desert this year, and Wilkerson leads the way with 4.5 sacks.
Oakland Raiders (0-7)
Stefen Wisniewski
At least the Raiders are doing a good job protecting the future of the franchise.
Derek Carr has been sacked seven times this season. No quarterback with at least 150 pass attempts has been sacked less than that.
Stefen Wisniewski centers that offensive line and has allowed just one of those sacks this season, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s also yielded one quarterback hit and four quarterback hurries.
Picking an offensive lineman as the midseason MVP isn’t glamorous. Then again, neither are the Raiders.
Philadelphia Eagles (5-2)
Jeremy Maclin
After missing the 2013 season with a torn ACL, Jeremy Maclin has more than made up for DeSean Jackson’s departure in the offseason.
Maclin leads the team with 39 receptions, 632 receiving yards and six touchdowns. None of those numbers rank him among the NFL’s elite receivers. However, all but one of his touchdowns have come in the second half, and the first three came in the fourth quarter to help the Eagles get off to a 3-0 start.
The Eagles came back from a 17-0 halftime deficit to beat the Jaguars, 34-17, in Week 1. And Maclin’s 68-yard touchdown reception from Nick Foles gave them the lead. In Week 2, Maclin’s six-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter tied the game, 27-27. And the Eagles won, 30-27, at Indianapolis. In Week 3, Maclin caught a 27-yard touchdown pass to break a 27-27 tie at home against the Redskins, and the Eagles won, 37-34.
Philadelphia had to hold off the St. Louis Rams’ late charge in a 34-28 win in Week 5. Maclin’s 24-yard touchdown grab made it 34-7 in the third quarter, providing the Eagles with the cushion they would need.
Maclin’s best game came in a losing effort on Sunday in Arizona. He caught 12 passes, two for touchdowns. His first one gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead. His second one, for 54 yards, gave them a 17-14 edge in the third quarter. The Cardinals ultimately won, 24-20. It wasn’t a terrible loss for the Eagles. Only the Broncos have defeated the Cardinals this season.
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)
Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger and his 522 passing yards showed he’s the best candidate for this award on Sunday.
Antonio Brown leads the NFL with 60 receptions and Le’Veon Bell has 1,087 yards from scrimmage, the most in franchise history through eight games.
But Roethlisberger shredded the record book in Sunday’s 51-34 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Heinz Field. He put up huge numbers, with six touchdown passes, 522 passing yards and 40 completed passes, carrying the Steelers to two games over .500 for the first time this season.
Roethlisberger has thrown 16 touchdown passes with three interceptions, and only one of those interceptions has come in the last six games. His 2,380 passing yards are second only to Andrew Luck, his counterpart in Sunday’s upcoming game.
San Diego Chargers (5-3)
Philip Rivers
Antonio Gates is among four players who share the league lead with nine touchdowns. Donald Brown was concussed against the Jets in Week 5 and Branden Oliver stepped in with 114 yards in a 31-0 victory. Oliver added 101 yards and scored the winning touchdown in the Chargers’ 31-28 win at Oakland the following week.
But Philip Rivers makes this offense go. Only Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck have thrown more touchdown passes than Rivers this season. Rivers has thrown 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. Three of those interceptions have come in the last two games, a 23-20 home loss to Kansas City and a 35-21 loss at Denver. But if he maintains his 109.9 quarterback rating, it would be a career high since becoming a full-time starter.
Rivers engineered two fourth-quarter scoring drives to lead the Chargers back from a 28-21 deficit in that game at Oakland. Had it not been for Rivers’ 17th career fourth-quarter comeback, the Chargers would have three straight losses, including an embarrassing defeat against the Raiders.
San Francisco 49ers (4-3)
Colin Kaepernick
A lot of players have helped the 49ers bounce back from their 1-2 start.
But it’s hard to find a player more valuable than a quarterback who is also the team’s second-leading rusher.
Colin Kaepernick has thrown for 1,719 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Nothing jumps off the stat sheet there. But he’s second behind Russell Wilson among rushing quarterbacks with 260 yards. He threw six touchdowns with one interception during the three-game winning streak that improved the 49ers to 4-2.
It looked like the 49ers would slip to .500 when they trailed, 14-3, at St. Louis on Monday Night Football in Week 6. But Kaepernick was undaunted on 3rd-and-6 from the 49ers’ 20-yard line with 27 seconds left in the first half. He threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Lloyd and added TD passes to Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree in the third quarter to fuel a 31-17 win.
A loss at Denver in Week 7 on Peyton Manning’s record-breaking night is forgivable, and the 49ers have had the bye week to lick their wounds.
Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
Russell Wilson
The Seahawks were in danger of losing their third straight game and falling below .500 for the first time since Week 1 of the 2012 season when Russell Wilson saved the day.
The Carolina Panthers led the Seahawks, 9-6, with less than five minutes remaining when Wilson drove 80 yards on nine plays. He capped it off with a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Willson with 47 seconds left at Carolina.
Wilson’s passing numbers are rather pedestrian. He’s thrown for 1,490 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. But he’s also the top rushing quarterback in the league with 362 yards and three touchdowns. He’s run for more than 100 yards twice this season. Combine that with Marshawn Lynch’s 482 yards this season, and the Seahawks are second only to Dallas with 148.4 rushing yards per game.
St. Louis Rams (2-5)
Austin Davis
Without Austin Davis, the Rams would likely still be searching for their first win.
Sure, one of their wins came against the hapless Buccaneers. But the other came against the defending Super Bowl champs.
Davis was an efficient 17-for-20 for 155 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 28-26 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7 at St. Louis.
Davis was signed by the Rams after going undrafted in 2012 and spending some time on the Dolphins’ practice squad. He was pressed into duty in the season opener when Shaun Hill was injured. Hill had replaced Sam Bradford, who tore his ACL before the season.
In his first career start, Davis completed 22 of 29 passes, including four of six on the game-winning drive to set up Greg Zuerlein’s 38-yard field goal with 42 seconds left.
Davis has thrown 10 touchdowns and five interceptions, and has amassed 1,680 yards. He’s earned the starting job for the foreseeable future. Considering the season the Rams have had, that’s enough to earn midseason MVP honors.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-6)
Gerald McCoy
The Buccaneers have the NFL’s worst offense and defense. It’s hard to find a midseason MVP on the last-place team in the wretched NFC South.
McCoy gets the honor because he set the tone in the Bucs’ only win of the season. He sacked Ben Roethlisberger on the first play from scrimmage. On the next play, Michael Johnson strip-sacked Roethlisberger. On the Steelers’ next possession, he batted down a pass, and the Bucs had a 10-0 lead five minutes into the game. They eventually won, 27-24.
The 6’4″, 300-pound McCoy leads Tampa Bay with 2.5 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s the top defensive tackle in the game. That includes both 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.
Tennessee Titans (2-6)
Delanie Walker
It’s hard sifting through the ruins of the Titans’ season to find someone deserving of a midseason MVP award.
But let’s give it a try.
It’s a neck-and-neck battle between tight end Delanie Walker and wide receiver Kendall Wright. Both have caught 35 passes this season with four touchdowns.
Walker gets the edge here because his receptions have gone for 475 yards and Wright’s have gone for 350. Walker hasn’t been as consistent as Wright, but he was more of a factor in the Titans’ most recent win.
Walker caught three passes for 57 yards in the Titans’ 16-14 home win over Jacksonville in Week 6. Wright had just one reception for six yards.
Washington Redskins (3-5)
Ryan Kerrigan
Ryan Kerrigan is fourth in the NFL with 7.5 sacks this season. Sure, four of them came against Jacksonville, and that offensive line has parted like the Red Sea for a league-high 33 sacks this season. But Kerrigan also has forced two fumbles this season and he also sacked Tony Romo for a 12-yard loss at the end of the first half in Monday night’s stunning 20-17 win at Dallas.
The Cowboys led, 7-3, and Kerrigan saw to it that they wouldn’t get any more points before halftime.
Alfred Morris is also a strong candidate, but he hasn’t been as effective without Robert Griffin III. He hasn’t rushed for 100 yards in a game this season. But he’s still sixth in the NFL with 513 rushing yards and leads the Redskins with four touchdowns. He’s run the ball 133 times this season. No other Redskin has run it more than 30 times.
Morris gave the Redskins a 10-7 lead with a five-yard touchdown run in Monday night’s stunning 20-17 win at Dallas.
Kerrigan, however, has been consistently coming up big in key spots when called upon—making his impact felt throughout the season.