NFL season review: Alvin, Agholor, and injuries galore
The dust has settled over the city of Philadelphia in the wake of the Eagles' thrilling Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, giving KweséESPN time to reflect on the season.
Fans only need to find ways to wait out the 21 days till the NFL combine, 36 days till free agency, 80 days till the NFL draft, and 212 days till the start of the 2018 regular season.
Let us take up 20 minutes of that time as we look at five notable points, both African and not.
1. The redemption of Nelson Agholor
Heading into the season, we highlighted Nelson Agholor as a player in need of a comeback season, and what a season he had.
It began with some adjustments and changes, like a position switch to slot receiver and a jersey number change to 13 from 17. Add in a ton of work in the off-season and Agholor was set on the path to repaying the faith of his head coach Doug Pederson had in him.
Finishing the regular season with 62 receptions for 768 yards and eight touchdowns, Agholor added nine catches for 84 yards in the Super Bowl. The majority of those nine catches happened in the second half of the big game as Agholor came up with huge receptions for his Super Bowl MVP, backup quarterback Nick Foles.
A lot of important pieces came together for the Eagles' Super Bowl run and Agholor's redemption season was a major factor.
2. The Saints discover the Zoom to their Boom
The Saints came out of a three-year rut with an impressive 2017 season. Apart from an improved defense, the discovery of the potent combination of veteran Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara in the backfield helped propel the Saints to 11-5 and an NFC South title.
Kamara and Ingram became the first running back duo to surpass 1,500 yards from scrimmage individually as they led the NFL in yards per rush (4.7) and rushing touchdowns (23).
Liberian-American Kamara, on his way to the NFL offensive rookie of the year award, took 120 carries for 728 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, while catching 81 passes for 826 yards and five touchdowns.
As noted by ESPN's Mike Triplett, Kamara's 7.7 yards per touch were the most in NFL history by any player with at least 200 touches of the ball and the rookie also led the league with 6.1 yards per rush.
With quarterback Drew Brees recently turning 39 years old, an increased reliance on the Boom and Zoom duo will help ease the burden on him while also giving the Saints another opportunity to win the division next season.
3. The Jaguars rediscover their claws
The Jacksonville Jaguars' return to the top of the NFC South began with the addition of former New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin to the Jags front office in January 2017.
Doug Marrone, in his first full season as Jags head coach, became the conduit between Coughlin's methods and the players, and it showed in the results on the field right from week one.
Second year defensive end Yannick Ngakoue was a big part of the turnaround. Ngakoue, improving on his impressive rookie performance in 2016, grew into an even more dangerous pass rusher in 2017, alongside veterans Calais Campbell and Malik Jackson, as the Jags defense led the way.
Following up on their 10-6 record won't be easy. As ESPN Jaguars beat writer Michael DiRocco mentions in his recent story on the Jaguars culture change, if Marrone and Coughlin don't approach their second season the way they did their first, things might be great in August and September, but there could be issues come November and December -- the two most critical months of the season.
4. Adding injuries to injury
Each season invariably brings hand wringing about the amount of injuries to star players, but in 2017 there did appear to be an alarming uptick in big knocks to big names.
At quarterback, electric rookie DeShaun Watson of the Houston Texans saw his season end in November, while Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer, and Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz followed suit.
At receiver, Odell Beckham of the New York Giants and Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots held it down for the All-Injury team, while running back Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals All-Pro running back David Johnson were sidelined as well.
On the offensive line, two of the best left tackles in the game in Cleveland Browns' Joe Thomas and Philadelphia Eagles' Jason Peters saw their seasons derailed, while on the defensive front, Houston Texans All-Pro J.J. Watt and teammate Whitney Mercilus joined the injury team early on.
Add in various Seattle Seahawks - Defensive End Cliff Avril, Safety Kam Chancellor and Cornerback Richard Sherman - as well as Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry, and the All-Injury team became a veritable list of who's who in the game.
The injury nadir came when Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered a spinal injury late in the season against the Cincinnati Bengals.
5. Super Bowl hosting curse continues
More than half a century of Super Bowls (LII, to be exact) have come and gone and still no host city has ever played in the big game.
The Minnesota Vikings appeared to be on the path to changing that as they pillaged through the season and finished with a 13-3 record. A miraculous finish against the New Orleans Saints gave fans even more reason to believe that this would be the year.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, the trip to Philadelphia to play in the NFC Championship game turned out to be a disaster as they lost 38-7 to Nick Foles and company, and the host city would once again watch outsiders play on its home field.
Per ESPN Stats and Information, the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1979 Los Angeles Rams were the closest any hosting team has come to featuring as both California teams participated in Super Bowls in their home state... but not their home stadium.
The Atlanta Falcons will be the next team to try to buck the trend as they welcome the Super Bowl to the Mercedes-Benz stadium next February.
