The NFL season hit its unofficial midway point this week, and CBS Sports marked the moment Thursday by unveiling midseason award predictions from a panel of 15 writers, along with fresh playoff projections, two days after the league's quietest trade deadline day since 2020.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow emerged as the clear MVP frontrunner, collecting 11 of the 15 votes. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence received two votes, while Packers quarterback Jordan Love and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy earned one apiece. The panel noted the race could still shift if Burrow gets swept by the Steelers or Cincinnati fails to beat a team with a winning record.
The other major awards were far more split. Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba led Offensive Player of the Year voting with six votes, ahead of Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker, who had four each. Browns receiver Denzel Boston topped Offensive Rookie of the Year balloting with seven votes, followed by Broncos running back Jonah Coleman with three, and Titans receiver Carnell Tate and Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza with two each. Giants coach John Harbaugh led Coach of the Year voting with seven votes, with the 49ers' Kyle Shanahan at four and the Bears' Ben Johnson at two.
In the playoff projections, analytics expert Stephen Oh simulated the remainder of the season. His model has the Bills, Jaguars, Broncos and Bengals winning AFC divisions, with the Chiefs, Steelers and Patriots taking the wild card spots. The Texans and Browns project to just miss out, with New England edging Houston for the seventh seed on conference record despite both teams finishing 9-8.
The NFC projection produced a potential first: all four NFC North teams reaching the postseason. The 49ers, Lions, Giants and Buccaneers are the projected division winners, with the Bears, Vikings and Packers as wild cards, leaving the Seahawks and Rams out. A division has never sent all four teams to the playoffs since the format expanded to 14 teams in 2020. The model also picked the Bills to win the Super Bowl, which would be the franchise's first title.
The projections arrived after a deadline day that saw only five trades completed Tuesday. Former NFL agent Joel Corry identified three more deals he believed should have happened, starting with Colts running back Jonathan Taylor going to the Giants for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-round pick, with a 2028 sixth-rounder also heading to New York. The Giants offered a package for Taylor, but Indianapolis held out for more.
Corry also argued the Rams, missing injured receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, should have sent a 2027 second-round pick to the Jaguars for Brian Thomas Jr. His third proposal had the Titans sending running back Tony Pollard to Green Bay for a conditional 2027 fourth-round pick that would become a third-rounder if the Packers reach Super Bowl LXI and Pollard leads the team in rushing after the trade. The Packers own the league's worst rushing attack and expect Josh Jacobs to miss the next few weeks.
Week 10 opens Thursday night with the Commanders visiting the Giants in a rematch of their Week 5 tie, a game that ended when Jayden Daniels failed to spike the ball before the overtime clock ran out. Washington, now 2-5-1 and three games behind the 5-2-1 Giants, is expected to lean on Rachaad White, Austin Ekeler and Daniels on the ground with Jacory Croskey-Merritt out for the season. J.J. McCarthy is set to make his first home start for the Giants against a Washington defense allowing 240 passing yards per game, third most in the league.
Elsewhere in Week 10, the Lions face the Patriots in Munich, the Bengals host the Steelers after returning from a game in Madrid, and the Chiefs visit a Falcons team that traded safety Jessie Bates III to the Jaguars at the deadline and has lost consecutive games by at least 16 points. The Texans, who lead the NFL with 29 sacks, host the Browns and Deshaun Watson, who has been sacked a league-high 33 times this season.
