We treat the first split of any season like its the most important stretch of the year. Week 1 of the NFL season feels more important than Week 7, a players first start feels more important than his fifth, and outside of perhaps the final quarter of the year, the first quarter of the season even feels most meaningful -- still-hopeful fantasy owners nod -- even if its all but forgotten by the time December rolls around.I like giving out awards for each quarter of the season for a couple of reasons. One, handing out awards is fun. That part is easy. The other reason is that its useful to look back and view perception at a given moment in time. When I wrote this column after four weeks last year, I gave Aaron Rodgers the MVP award in the middle of what looked to be another dominant season. Rodgers had 11 touchdowns against no picks then. He threw 20 touchdowns against eight picks in the ensuing 12 games.With that in mind, Ive gone through and made my picks for the seven key NFL awards through the first four games of the season. These are the players I would pick given the way the league has voted for these awards in years past; in other words, even if I think Joe Thomas deserves Offensive Player of the Year, Im not going to pick him because the league doesnt value offensive linemen for awards that way. These also arent the players I necessarily think will win these awards at the end of the year, but the players who have earned it as of right now for the first four weeks of the season.Lets start with a player who I have to admit I had written off in my head, which makes him a perfect candidate for the trophy hes receiving ...Comeback Player of the Year: Jimmy Graham, TE, SeahawksThis seems like a straightforward award to start. Little was expected from Graham after he tore his patellar tendon on Nov. 29 last year, an injury that has dramatically impacted careers more than any other injury in years past. Victor Cruz, who has made a modest return from his own patellar tear this season, took nearly two full years to recover from his injury and the subsequent problems that popped up during his rehab.And yet, after a slow start, Graham has posted consecutive 100-yard games in the past two contests for Seattle. Thats as many as he mustered across 27 games in 2014 and 2015 combined, and the first time he has hit triple digits in consecutive weeks since a stretch of four such games in September 2013. There are still plenty of comebacks on their way, and I could see arguments for Cruz or even Melvin Gordon, but Grahams return to form this soon after a patellar tear is unprecedented.Defensive Rookie of the Year: Jalen Ramsey, CB, JaguarsIt was an ugly first month of the year for debuting defenders. Joey Bosa, the leagues top-drafted defensive player, never suited up, one of four first-round defenders to miss the first four games because of injury. Players such as Robert Nkemdiche, Karl Joseph?and Myles Jack struggled to get on the field for defensive snaps for part or all of the month, while Eli Apple and DeVondre Campbell were sidelined with injuries before the month was finished. Just eight rookies have suited up for 200 defensive snaps or more through four games.As a result, while the Offensive Rookie of the Year award might be the toughest choice to make, this one is the easiest. With apologies to Xavien Howard, the clear choice is Ramsey. While he has drawn headlines for feuding with Steve Smith Sr., Ramsey has been the best player on the much-improved Jaguars defense through four weeks. (The Jags are 11th in defensive DVOA after finishing 26th, 20th, 28th and 28th over the past four seasons.) Although he initially seemed to figure in the Jacksonville lineup as a slot corner when teams came out with an extra wide receiver, the fourth overall pick has played every snap each of the past three weeks. When Prince Amukamara returned from an injury last week, it was expensive free agent Davon House who went to the bench, not Ramsey. For all the veterans Jacksonville has imported, its the young guns -- Ramsey, fellow rookie Yannick Ngakoue, Dante Fowler Jr. and Telvin Smith -- who currently stand out for the Jags.Offensive Rookie of the Year: Dak Prescott, QB, CowboysOh boy. This one isnt fair. Linemen have no hope of winning this award, sadly, but Joe Thuney and Cody Whitehair have been effective interior linemen from the jump. Sterling Shepard has been a promising second banana to Odell Beckham Jr. Will Fuller has been even better, terrifying teams who are otherwise occupied with DeAndre Hopkins with his speed and making the most of the space he subsequently has been afforded. Hes on pace for nearly 1,300 receiving yards. Fuller has a return touchdown, but Tyreek Hill might already be one of the best return men in football.And yet, all of those guys arent even close. Its a three-person race right now between Prescott, his teammate Ezekiel Elliott?and Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. I think you could make a case for and against each of the three candidates, so lets do that, starting with Elliott. Dallas first-round pick leads the league in rushing yards with 412; after a couple of slow performances to start the season and a costly fumble against Washington, he has produced games with 138 and 140 rushing yards in consecutive weeks. And while the argument was always going to be that Elliott would be a product of his offensive line, those two big games have come without star left tackle Tyron Smith, and starting guard Lael Collins missed Week 4 before going on injured reserve.But I cant bring myself to pick a running back -- even an excellent one -- over a quarterback playing at a high level. That leaves Wentz and Prescott. Wentz has been steady as can be over his first three starts, avoiding turnovers altogether while taking sacks on just 3.8 percent of his dropbacks. Wentzs opponent-adjusted QBR of 67.7 is eighth in the league, and his numbers would look even better if the former North Dakota State stars receivers would offer any help: 6.9 percent of Wentzs passes have been dropped, the second-highest rate in the league behind Matthew Stafford.At the same time, though, Wentz is excelling in the same low-risk system Alex Smith enjoyed in Kansas City. His average pass has traveled just 7.0 yards in the air, 26th in the league. His receivers are second in terms of yards after catch, which hasnt been a repeatable skill for quarterbacks, suggesting its mostly random. The best pass defense he has played through three weeks is that of the Bears, who are 12th in DVOA. Wentz is doing an excellent job, and his ability to read defenses and quickly find his hot receiver for easy short-to-intermediate gains is going to ensure a high floor.Prescott has just been a tiny bit better, especially when you consider that he has been without his franchise left tackle for two games and was missing Dez Bryant last week. I was concerned that Prescott was going to be a checkdown artist given how he played in the preseason, but the fourth-rounder has been able to throw downfield once the Cowboys started creating deeper routes for him over the middle of the field. QBR isnt a be-all, end-all statistic (even before a small sample), but it tries to encapsulate all that a QB does, and Prescott is 16.2 points ahead of Wentz and third in the NFL so far this season.Even if you want to argue that Wentz has narrowly been the better passer this season -- and passer rating and NY/A suggest that he has been -- Prescott has added far more value as a runner (which QBR measures). Excluding kneel-downs, Wentzs six carries have produced 27 yards, but with as many fumbles as first downs (one of each). Prescott has carried the ball nine times for 64 yards, and those runs have produced six first downs and two touchdowns without any fumbles. In a close fight, thats just enough to push the needle Prescotts way.Coach of the Year: Gary Kubiak, BroncosI wouldnt blame anybody for picking Mike Zimmer here, and theres an argument for Doug Pederson, who has pushed Philadelphia forward after the end of the Chip Kelly era. Theyve all been great. I think were also collectively underestimating what Kubiak has done, though. Yes, Pederson has had to bring along a rookie quarterback, and Zimmer has built a suffocating defense and won with Sam Bradford, who is playing the best football of his career.Kubiak is winning with Trevor Siemian at quarterback. Wentz was the second overall pick. Siemian was the 250th. The Broncos also have beaten a pair of playoff teams in the Panthers and Bengals, and while they did win it all last year, Denver is doing this without eight of the players who started in the Super Bowl, nine if you include the injured DeMarcus Ware. Some will be biased against Kubiak because of how his time in Houston came to a close, but the former Broncos backup deserves credit for what hes doing with a team in transition right now.Defensive Player of the Year: Von Miller, BroncosKeeping the Broncos theme going, Miller seems like the obvious choice as Defensive Player of the Year after four games with J.J. Watts reign sadly coming to an end. Its fair to say that he is surrounded by great players in Denver, but Miller also is the most productive Bronco of all. He leads the league in sacks (5.5), is tied for third in knockdowns (eight), and has a forced fumble for good measure. And if there were any argument that Miller might be in part a product of having Ware (and before him Elvis Dumervil) around in the lineup, Miller has produced 4.5 sacks in his three most recent games, during which Ware played a total of 18 snaps.After Miller, theres a pool of players in the discussion. Aaron Donald continues to do Aaron Donald things, leading the league with 12 knockdowns when nobody else has more than nine. He also has four tackles for loss on run plays. Carlos Dunlap has been freakishly effective batting down passes, as he has five and nobody else in the league has more than two. Harrison Smith might attract some attention as the star player on Minnesotas devastating defense. Right now, though, the line starts with Miller.Offensive Player of the Year: Derek Carr, QB, RaidersLast year, Cam Newton won both the AP MVP award and the AP Offensive Player of the Year trophy. On one hand, that makes sense: Of course, if a quarterback is the leagues most valuable player at any position, hes also the leagues most valuable offensive player. At the same time, though, the AP voters have spent most of their time voting for one offensive player as MVP and another one as Offensive Player of the Year. Im going to stick with that.Without getting to my MVP vote quite yet, were left with a few Offensive Player of the Year candidates. The rule for this award, at least with me, is that a running back or a receiver has to be head and shoulders above the competition to overcome the positional value of playing quarterback. The best running back in the league in terms of combining volume and efficiency is probably Isaiah Crowell, but realistically, a running back for the 0-4 Browns isnt winning player of the year. Neither Elliott nor Crowell stand out from the pack.At receiver, Julio Jones is coming off of a 300-yard game and leads the league in receiving yards, but he had just 188 yards in his three previous contests. With 488, Julio is just 6 yards ahead of Marvin Jones and 20 ahead of A.J. Green. Is Julio really outplaying his brethren to the point where he stands out as the best offensive player in football? I dont think that would be an accurate statement. Another 300-yard game, maybe ...So then, it comes down to a quarterback. I think theres an argument for Russell Wilson, given that hes playing behind a porous offensive line and is down to one leg and is still managing to post a passer rating within one point of 100. The downside is that the ankle and knee injuries have extinguished Wilsons ability to run, as he has just 15 rushing attempts for 28 yards this year. What Philip Rivers has been able to accomplish missing as many as the top four targets of his arsenal has been remarkable, as hes posting a 104.5 passer rating with seven touchdowns against one desperate fourth-and-long pick, but he has been doing that for years and never received real consideration for this award. Ben Roethlisberger doesnt have the numbers, and Bradford doesnt have the volume.Which all leaves Carr, who has had a remarkable start to the year. His breakout season was 2015, but Carr is breaking out again this year. His numbers in every notable category -- completion percentage, yards per attempt (and all its variations), interception rate and sack rate -- have improved again this year, in some cases dramatically. (The same guy who was completing 58.1 percent of his passes two years ago is up to 68.1 percent this season.) He has nine touchdowns against just one interception and already led two fourth-quarter comebacks for victories.The best arguments you can make against Carr are that he throws short passes and gets a lot of help. In a way, theyre true. Carrs average pass travels 7.0 yards in the air, no different from Wentzs and below the league average of 7.9 air yards per pass. He also benefits from playing behind a great offensive line, with the combination meaning that Carr has been pressured on just 16.5 percent of his passes this year. Only Drew Brees has been bothered less frequently. The flip side of that argument, though, is that Carr has gotten no help from his defense, which has allowed 39 points in the fourth quarter this season and gave up more than 500 yards in each of the first two games. He has been the second-most productive quarterback in the league in 2016.Most Valuable Player: Matt Ryan, QB, FalconsCarr just hasnt been Matt Ryan, who leads the league in every meaningful statistical category:You might argue that he wouldnt be atop all these leaderboards without Julio Jones, and maybe thats true. In Week 3, though, when the Saints tried to eliminate Jones and held him to one catch on seven targets, Ryan went 19-of-23 for 224 yards throwing to his other receivers. Ryan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have generally done a much better job of spreading the ball around this season; Jones has been targeted on 24.3 percent of Ryans passes this year, down from 33.1 percent last year, and thats even with new addition Mohamed Sanu limited by injury.Ryan hasnt been perfect; even last week, I noted how he struggled to find Jones when he was open for those deeper throws, and Ryan included a pick-six with another pass that should have been intercepted by Luke Kuechly. Theres no blow-away candidate this year through four weeks. Ryan, however, is playing the best football weve seen from him since the first month of the 2012 season, when he also was a viable MVP candidate. Falcons fans who reminisce longingly at that 13-3 season have to be excited to see Ryan and their team return to form. NFL Jerseys Outlet . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. http://www.wholesalejerseysnfloutlet.com/cheap-oakland-raiders-jerseys/ . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Cheap Tennessee Titans Jerseys . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. WASHINGTON -- The San Diego Padres three-city road trip didnt begin well. Earning their first series victory against the Washington Nationals since 2011 is helping to turn it around.Alex Dickerson and Ryan Schimpf hit back-to-back homers off Shawn Kelley in the eighth inning and the Padres added four runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth to beat the Nationals 10-6 on Sunday.Weve been on the road for a little bit, and its definitely good to come here against a team like this and get two wins out of it, said Schimpf, whose team suffered a four-game sweep in St. Louis before winning two of three in Washington.Ryan Buchter (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the victory.With the game tied at 6, Wil Myers drew a one-out walk off Papelbon and moved to second on a wild pitch before Yangervis Solartes RBI single. The Padres added two more singles to load the bases, setting up Alexei Ramirezs three-run double.Nationals manager Dusty Baker then relieved Papelbon (2-3), who was booed after giving up his first runs since June 12.Not to make excuses, I dont like to use my closer three days in a row and this is three days in a row for Pap, Baker said. But we didnt have a choice. The ball wasnt coming out today the way it had been since he came back from the injury.Papelbon, who hadnt pitched on three consecutive days since May 29-31, insisted he was not tired.I think just location, Papelbon said. Coming in there, a situation where weve got to preserve everything we can, and every pitch matters in that situation. One pitch away from getting out of that. Boiled down to missed location on Solarte and he was able to just get enough barrel on the ball to have that one drop right in front of (outfielder Michael A.) Taylor.The Nationals led 6-4 before Kelley, who entered to start the eighth, yielded consecutive home runs. It was the ninth home run in July for Schimpf, a Padres record for a rookie in a calendar month. San Diego also extended a franchise record with its 22nd consecutive game with a home run.Everyone played their part today and everyone came through, Ramirez said. The eighth inning was just as important as the ninth tying it and it allowed us to keep fighhting in the game.ddddddddddddWashington recalled top prospect Lucas Giolito before the game. The right-hander, making his third career start, gave up four runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings, then was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse along with Taylor after the loss.San Diego start Christian Friedrich gave up five runs and six hits in 3 innings. The Padres bullpen combined to allow three hits and a walk in 6 innings.You get a short outing from your starter and he didnt quite have his stuff today, and the bullpen comes up with six innings and gives up one run, Padres manager Andy Green said. It was a borderline-dominant effort from them.FORGETTABLE PLAYSan Diegos fourth-inning rally was halted when Washington catcher Wilson Ramos picked Derek Norris off first base with the bases loaded and one out. Norris established a big lead with the shift on, but first baseman Daniel Murphy snuck in behind him to take Ramos throw.Its no small thing, and honestly, its borderline embarrassing when things like that happen on a baseball field, Green said. Its not on him or any person in particular, but were better than that.GLOVER OPTIONEDWashington optioned RHP Koda Glover to Triple-A Syracuse. Glover pitched two scoreless innings for the Nationals last week in his first major league action.TRAINERS ROOMPadres: OF Melvin Upton Jr., a possible trade deadline target for contending teams, was not in the lineup. I think theres a lot swirling around him right now, and it just felt like the right time to put him down and let him have a day of rest, Green said.Nationals: The team said RHP Aaron Barrett, who underwent Tommy John surgery in September, suffered a right elbow fracture Friday and will have surgery Monday.UP NEXTPadres: San Diego begins the final stop on a 10-game road trip when it opens a three-game series against Toronto on Monday. Colin Rea (5-4, 5.01) faces the Blue Jays for the first time.Nationals: Gio Gonzalez (6-8, 4.53) starts Tuesday at Cleveland as Washington begins a nine-game road trip after playing 15 of its last 19 at home. 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