BBC NEWS:The First Read: Unconventional midseason awards; plus, MVP rankings and Week 10…

The Ravens are the team with the most fear. Baltimore has appeared more impressive than everyone else in the league. With the addition of new coordinator Todd Monken, the offense is finally exhibiting the promise that Lamar Jackson brought with him. Jackson is playing at an MVP level. With the strength of a team that has emerged as the finest in the league, defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has developed into a rising star. Head coach John Harbaugh is undoubtedly one of the greatest coaches of his generation, having already won one Super Bowl. As if that weren’t enough, the Ravens are currently in complete control of their destiny. We can all agree that the two top teams in the NFC at the moment are Detroit and Seattle.

Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers has the most amazing coaching career. Given all of his accomplishments with the New York Jets when quarterback Aaron Rodgers was down, it’s hard not to choose Robert Saleh. Tomlin deserves some appreciation for his work in Pittsburgh; it just makes sense. The Steelers’ offensive is at best weak, and they are 5-3. Being outgained in all eight of their games, they are the 34th team in NFL history to do it. Moreover, they are the only ones in that questionable group to earn a winning record during such a dismal run of play. How do they accomplish it? Easy peasy: Their head coach is among the best in this league’s history. Aside from their preparation, nothing about the Steelers is scary.

QB Derek Carr of the New Orleans Saints has the best return on investment in the offseason (offense). In his first season with the Saints, Carr hasn’t been spectacular, but this team also didn’t need him to be. Carr has been providing exactly the kind of dependable quarterback that New Orleans has been looking for lately. The Saints’ first four games of the season saw them score just 62 points collectively, which was an exceptionally difficult start to the season. However, in their previous five games, they have averaged 26.6 points, with Carr having his finest offensive performance. In the Saints’ last three victories, which included a 24-17 triumph against Chicago on Sunday, he has completed at least 69 percent of his throws, totaling six touchdowns and zero picks.

The Seattle Seahawks’ Bobby Wagner, LB, has the best defensive return on investment from the offseason. Wagner’s return to the Seahawks has given them real value for their money. In the offseason, the 33-year-old linebacker inked a one-year contract at $5.5 million, indicating that his value would be derived more from his soft skills than from his on-field performance. Now look at him. Wagner is one of the league’s top tacklers. He’s in charge of a defense that had a terrible campaign the previous year, particularly against the run, and he’s helped turn it around so that it entered Week 9 ranked 11th in the league in terms of points allowed. He’s continuing to mentor younger players by modeling professionalism for them, just as he did during his first ten years with the Seahawks.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is the best offensive talent no one saw coming. Although Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud clearly seems set to give Nacua a serious push for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, it already feels like Nacua has a really good chance to win the award. Nacua has just accomplished feats that we haven’t seen first-year receivers accomplish. With 39 receptions and 501 yards in his first four professional games, he had the best start to a receiving career of any player in league history. Since Cooper Kupp returned from a hamstring injury, he hasn’t slowed down much. Nacua has 827 yards and 64 receptions following Sunday’s defeat in Green Bay.

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