Kelly Finishes 4th For Coach Of the Year

Chip Kelly did a fantastic job turning the Eagles around from 4-12 bottom-dwellers in the NFC East to 10-6 division champs. But that wasn’t enough to earn him Coach of the Year honors.

Instead, Ron Rivera took home the award after helping lead the Panthers to a 12-4 mark in the NFC South. Andy Reid finished second, Bill Belichick was third, and Kelly was fourth, per the Associated Press.

If you want one man’s (probably unpopular) opinion, I would have voted for Reid. I know he had some talent on that roster, but 2-14 to 11-5 in one season is pretty much as remarkable a turnaround as you’ll see in the NFL. I would have had Kelly second and Rivera third.

The most convincing argument against Rivera is that he created his own mess. In other words, the team probably underachieved in 2012, so is he getting a bit too much credit for 2013? Reid and Kelly inherited their teams and sparked impressive turnarounds right away.

PETERS SECOND FOR ‘COMEBACK’ AWARD

Chargers QB Philip Rivers was named Comeback Player of the Year. Here’s how the award is defined:

The NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award is presented by the Professional Football Writers of America to the player in the National Football League (NFL) who shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, overcoming a severe injury, or simply a poor performance.

If you’re wondering what Rivers came back from, it was that last part – poor performance.

Jason Peters, meanwhile, finished tied for second. Peters came back from a pair of Achilles’ injuries, started all 16 games and earned All-Pro honors.

FOLES, McCOY GET RECOGNIZED

The Eagles did earn a couple honors though. Nick Foles earned the ‘Greatness on the Road’ award for his spectacular seven-touchdown performance against the Raiders.

Foles had a lot riding on that game after his struggles against the Cowboys. And he responded in a big way. The Eagles’ signal-caller said earlier this week that was the game that got the team really believing it could make some noise.

LeSean McCoy was named FedEx Ground Player of the Year. It’s the second time in three years he has won the award.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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