It doesn’t have to be the holiday season to be reminded that the NFL is the gift that keeps on giving.
Each year, the league and its players dazzles us – or makes us facepalm – with its extraordinary talent, lackluster officiating, prime-time thrillers or head-scratching moments. There’s never an NFL Sunday, Monday or Thursday that won’t result in some kind of water-cooler talk. The gossip and debate typically won’t disappoint you, unlike the last few seasons of ‘Game of Thrones.’
That’s right. The NFL always delivers. (Well, except if you’re a Jets fan.)
But more simply put: This league.
To that end, 2024 has been another banner year for the Niffle. Stretching back to last season’s playoffs, there have been plenty of moments that have captivated fans: Group chats have been ignited with arguments, fantasy football managers have agonized over decisions and Taylor Swift’s partnership has nearly broken the internet.
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So, without further ado, here’s some of the best – and the not-so best – that the NFL in 2024 had to offer.
Catch of the Year
Winner: Garrett Wilson, Jets (vs. Houston Texans)
This one has to go to Wilson for his leaping, full-extension, one-handed effort against the Houston Texans on Halloween. On a third-and-19 play with the Jets trailing, the third-year receiver twisted his body around, secured the ball with one hand while falling backwards and managed to get his shin down in-bounds for the go-ahead touchdown.
More than a few fans compared Wilson’s grab to the famous Odell Beckham Jr. catch against the Cowboys in 2014 for its seemingly impossible difficulty. Which catch was better is up to the readers, but no snag this year – before or since – has surpassed Wilson’s in Week 9. – Jack McKessy
The ‘Get Off Me!’ Moment of the Year
Winner: T’Vondre Sweat, Titans vs. Bengals
Sometimes, you find yourself in a crowded space and simply need others to get away from you.
That happened when the 6-4, 366-lb. T’Vondre Sweat ripped the ball away from Joe Burrow and immediately took off.
The Tennessee Titans D-lineman stiff-armed offensive lineman Alex Cappa in a way you often see running backs stiff-arm safeties. There are few moments during an NFL game or season more electrifying than a massive defensive lineman rumbling downfield on a return.
Sweat added plenty of flair on the run, when his palm connected with Cappa’s facemask. He likely said to himself, ‘get off me’ in the process, but it definitely resulted in the best stiff arm of the season. – Tom Viera
The ‘How Did They Miss That?’ Call of the Year
Winner: Sam Darnold missed facemask on ‘Thursday Night Football’
Look, officials have a lot to monitor when they’re on the field, but missing the Darnold facemask was egregious. Case and point, the guilty party, Rams defensive end Byron Young, immediately acted as if he had just significantly cost his team, putting his head in his hands and shaking his head.
Despite this, no official on the ‘Thursday Night Football’ crew threw a flag. The play resulted in a safety and effectively ended Minnesota’s chances of making a comeback.
The call is now serving as one of the major impetuses for the NFL considering making facemasks reviewable in 2025. That’s when, as an officiating crew, you know you’ve screwed up. – Jacob Camenker
The ‘WTF?’ Moment of the Year
Winner: Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle
It didn’t take long for new Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley to spread his wings and soar.
During the Week 9 contest against the Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field, jaws around the world dropped when Barkley hit the bunnies and launched into a reverse hurdle over an attempting tackler. He made three defenders miss on the play, including burning one on a pristine spin move which preceded the backwards hurdle over a third defender.
The 2018 No. 2 overall pick is in the midst of putting together a highlight tape that paints the picture of an MVP candidate, but no individual play of his or anyone else’s had everyone pause in awe and ask themselves, ‘WTF did he just do?’ – Tom Viera
The ‘Please Don’t Sue Us, Kyle Brandt’ Run of the Year
Winner: David Montgomery runs through the Seahawks in Week 4
Ford Field features several players that are ‘Built Ford Tough,’ and that is none other than David Montgomery.
Anything angry is automatically associated with these ferocious Lions, who fake fumbles, throw touchdowns to quarterbacks, bite knee caps, punch you in the mouth and won’t apologize for any of it. Montgomery’s season is likely over, but that doesn’t mean the running back is left out of this virtual award show.
The man nicknamed, ‘Knuckles’ made the Seahawks feel his wrath in Week 4, taking a checkdown pass from Jared Goff and turning it into a 40-yard highlight. He bulldozed Devon Witherspoon, who got up and tried to come back for seconds at the end of the run, ran through Tyrel Dodson and was, at one point, seemingly surrounded by 10 Seahawks.
Better yet, Detroit capped this drive with an Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown pass to Goff. Yes, you read that right.
Turns out, Seattle’s ability to tackle this Montgomery truck was about as nonexistent as their made-up bird. Better luck next time, Seahawks. – Nick Brinkerhoff
The Dan Skipper Award for Offensive Lineman Receiving Excellence
Winner: Dan Skipper, Detroit Lions
Nearly a year after his touchdown catch against the Cowboys was called off, Skipper managed to find the end zone for the first time of his career. Jared Goff threw a play-action bootleg pass to the backup offensive lineman and the big fella scampered into the end zone in what seemed like slow-motion.
At 6-10, Skipper is one of the biggest NFL players to ever score a touchdown. More importantly, he finally managed to erase the bad taste left in his mouth by the reporting issues he had in the late-season game against Dallas last season. Fans around the league had to have been collectively pumping their fists upon seeing him finally get his long-awaited touchdown. – Jacob Camenker
The Obligatory Taylor Swift Moment of the Year
Winner: Taylor Swift celebrates with Travis Kelce after the Chiefs Super Bowl 58 win
Since we care about only the things that truly matter, we present the Obligatory Taylor Swift Moment of the Year to … Taylor Swift.
Swift’s first year associated with the NFL ended with a ring, maybe not from Travis Kelce, but for the Super Bowl. The haters didn’t see her relationship fall apart with the Chiefs tight end and her fans might be slightly upset that didn’t lead to the creation of a new album, but 2024 was still another year of stacking wins for the pop star.
She kicked off the year by celebrating a Super Bowl victory in Vegas, sharing a moment with Kelce on the field after the game. This love story inspired a Hallmark movie, which did find itself in consideration, but ultimately fell short.
Now that her tour has come to a close, Swift will have all the time in the world to be at NFL stadiums the season winds down. The next logical step is a ring for marriage, but these lovebirds will probably settle for another Super Bowl version in February, followed by another offseason of Kelce retirement rumors. How sweet. – Nick Brinkerhoff
The Most Questionable Coaching Decision
Winner: Matt Eberflus, end of Bears vs. Lions
There has been exactly one decision in the 105-year history of the Chicago Bears that was enough to get a head coach fired in the middle of the season.
Congratulations to Eberflus, who managed to pull it off by inexplicably leaving a timeout in his pocket as the clock ran out on the Bears’ comeback efforts against the Lions on Thanksgiving.
At least his subsequent firing gave Bears fans something to be thankful for. – Jack McKessy
Best Celebration of the Year
Winner: Camryn Bynum’s ‘Raygun’ routine
With the pressures of emotional, monetary and fantasy football investment in the outcome of nearly two dozen Sundays, Thursdays and Mondays, it’s easy to lose sight of what makes football such a beloved pastime in America. It’s a game that so many of us played as children. It’s fun.
And players celebrating a touchdown, turnover, sack, or game-sealing play are a joyous reminder of the fun in this sport.
Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season saw a surprisingly close game between the 6-2 Minnesota Vikings and 2-7 Jacksonville Jaguars. Up 12-7 with less than two minutes left in regulation, Vikings safety Camryn Bynum made a game-sealing interception and treated football fans to a rendition of one of the biggest memes from the 2024 Paris Olympics: Australian breakdancer Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn’s routine.
Bynum later admitted he’s a big fan of Raygun and had been working on the routine for weeks ahead of time.
“I’m a big fan. She went out there and had fun, and that’s what I do on the field,” he said after the game.
Honorable mentions include Bynum and teammate Josh Metellus’ rendition of a dance from ‘White Chicks’ and Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown hitting a headstand after a touchdown. – Ayrton Ostly
Worst Celebration of the Year
Winner: Every player to drop a ball short of the goal line, but especially Jordan Battle
There have been three of these in the last two months alone, and two even happened in the same week (Week 15)! How in the world is this something that keeps happening in A.D. 2024?
The first instance this year was when rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley had his first career touchdown overturned by replay review for dropping the ball behind him and in front of the pylon.
The same thing happened twice more just six weeks later. First, Bengals safety Jordan Battle fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone on what should have been a fumble recovery touchdown.
Just a few hours after Battle’s mistake, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor erased what would have been his first rushing touchdown since Week 8 when he celebrated his ‘score’ by dropping the football behind him and short of the goal line.
Battle gets extra recognition for his blunder here since it was a chance to score a defensive touchdown, which is a rare opportunity.
An honorable mention also goes to Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts in this category. He may have fumbled the ball short of the end zone in a Week 8 game but got lucky with the lack of video evidence to get his touchdown overturned. – Ayrton Ostly
Game of the Year
Winner: Super Bowl 58
In the 2024 calendar year, no NFL game meant more than the Super Bowl to decide last year’s champion.
Super Bowl 58 was especially notable because it was the second ever to be decided with an overtime period – the first since the Atlanta Falcons fell to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 51.
It was also a game that set multiple records and included some ‘firsts.’ Here’s a recap of some of the most notable events and significant notes:
- Super Bowl 58 was the most-watched United States broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
- Super Bowl 58 was also the longest Super Bowl in history with 74 minutes and 57 seconds of playing time.
- Jake Moody set the record for longest made field goal in Super Bowl history with a 55-yarder in the second quarter.
- Harrison Butker broke Moody’s record for longest made field goal in Super Bowl history in the same game with a 57-yard kick one quarter later.
- Wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw the first touchdown pass in the game. He caught a touchdown of his own later on.
- Super Bowl 58 was the first overtime postseason game since the 2022 rule change that allows both teams to possess the ball in overtime during postseason games, rather than ending on a first-possession touchdown.
- After the game, several 49ers players admitted they were unaware of this rule change. Ultimately, the rule change did not come into effect, since the 49ers kicked a field goal to end their first possession.
- Quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ game-winning touchdown throw to Mecole Hardman was the first time in Super Bowl history a lead changed hands on the final play of the game. – Jack McKessy
The ‘Who Wants a Pancake?’ Block of the Year
Winner: Quenton Nelson, Colts (vs. Packers)
Playing offensive line is a tough business. A decent chunk of players end their careers with misshapen fingers, phantom pains and memories of tireless battles in the trenches that give some the 1,000-yard stare.
Needless to say, ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’ aren’t words typically in an offensive lineman’s vocabulary. Doubly so on gameday.
Enter Quenton Nelson.
The Colts offensive lineman earned headlines earlier this season, though not for a destructive block. Rather, Nelson got some run for a gentle shove that had the force equivalent of a glasses-wearing geek running into a brick wall in a direct-to-streaming slapstick comedy.
While the former All-Pro is used to serving up restaurant-quality pancakes, the respect and fairness on this light letdown is more-than worthy of the award in 2024. – Joe Rivera
The Best Press Conference Quote of the Year
Winner: Keon Coleman’s fashion advice
The rookie arrived in western New York after being selected with the No. 33 pick in the draft and immediately made himself at home. Rocking a yellow jacket, the receiver wasn’t here to talk about catching passes from Josh Allen or what round the Bills will be eliminated in the playoffs this year, but rather dish out some fashion advice. Some unsuspecting reporters in Buffalo failed to guess the fit came from Gimbels old rival, Macy’s.
‘Nah, Macy’s. What you mean?’ Coleman asked. ‘They be on sale on the rack. All the colors, $79, $89. Nice little deal. You can get the trench coat for like $100. I’ll take you there personally. I might go get some more colors. I need a blue one and another red one. I shop like my mom. I get my coats in the summertime. You’ve got to shop a season or two before just in case and it’ll be cheaper. You go at Thanksgiving, everybody go on Thanksgiving, you know what I’m saying?’
The rookie also had takes on chocolate chip cookies, Waffle House and Buffalo wings.
Maybe Coleman has a future career in broadcasting. For now, he’ll have to settle for this prestigious press conference award. – Nick Brinkerhoff
Play of the Year
Winner: Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary completion to Noah Brown (Week 8)
This play hurt the Bears so badly they still haven’t won a game since.
In a matchup between the previous two Heisman Trophy winners and first two overall picks in the 2024 NFL draft, it was Daniels who came out on top over Caleb Williams. With two seconds left and facing a three-point deficit, Daniels and the Commanders had the ball on their side of the 50-yard line. They needed a miracle if they wanted to beat Chicago.
A miracle is what they got – just a few months ahead of Christmas. – Jack McKessy