The AFC North may not have lived up to its preseason hype in terms of results, but the division certainly proved itself through adversity in 2023. The only division to send three teams to the postseason did so largely with backup quarterbacks. It’s no surprise that the players and coaches in the AFC North dominated last night’s NFL Honors Awards, then.
Of the eight Associated Press awards, the division earned five of them. Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson topped the list with his second MVP Award. The Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett won the Defensive Player of the Year Award—and T.J. Watt earned it.
Browns QB Joe Flacco won the Comeback Player of the Year Award while head coach Kevin Stefanski and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz also won the coaching categories. The only awards the division didn’t win were Offensive Player of the Year and the rookie categories.
San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey won for Offensive Player of the Year. The Houston Texans earned Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year Awards with QB C.J. Stroud and EDGE Will Anderson. The Steelers found their representation in Cameron Heyward, named the Walter Payton Man of the Year.
The latter is the only non-Associated Press award that most people pay attention to. That also makes it six of the nine major awards that earn press going to AFC North players and coaches. Watt also won the Deacon Jones Sack Leader Award. Though not a “serious” award, RB Najee Harris also won Angry Run of the Year.
Having said all that, none of these teams are competing in the Super Bowl. The Ravens advanced to the AFC Championship Game but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers and Browns both earned playoff berths but lost in the Wild Card Round. With Mason Rudolph and Flacco at quarterback, respectively. Both Rudolph and Flacco led them, as third-string quarterbacks or worse, to those berths down the stretch.
Jackson is the second player in division history to win the MVP Award multiple times. Browns RB Jim Brown won three times, his last in 1965. The Steelers’ Terry Bradshaw is Pittsburgh’s lone winner. Cincinnati Bengals QB Ken Anderson won in 1981. Each of the past four recipients have been repeat winners.
Stefanski earned his second Head Coach of the Year Award in just four seasons. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has never won it in 17 years. John Harbaugh of the Ravens won in 2019. Paul Brown and Marvin Lewis both won for the Bengals, while Forrest Gregg gives the Browns the most in division history. Bill Cowher is the Steelers’ lone recipient, in 1992.
