We're halfway through the NFL season and suffice to say it's been a surprising nine weeks.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs are relevant again, while the Dallas Cowboys have self-destructed. The Cowboys, who many picked to be the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium, are 1-7, with starting quarterback Tony Romo, most likely out for the season and head coach Wade Phillips looking for a new job as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the yearly Brett Favre saga got even stranger, with the 41 year old quarterback accused of sending naked text messages to a former New York Jets' employee.

The season's biggest story so far has been the proliferation of helmet-to-helmet hits, which has resulted in a number of concussions, as well as fines for players deemed to be tackling dangerously.

We've got eight more weeks of action to decide who makes the playoffs. Here are the BackPageLead mid-season awards:

Pleasant surprises

AFC - Oakland (5-4): Suddenly, it's fun to be a Raider fan again.

NFC - Tampa Bay (5-3): The NFL's youngest team is one of its most exciting.

Biggest disappointments

AFC - Cincinnati (2-6): T.O. + Ochocinco = Not that much.

NFC - Dallas (1-7): San Francisco narrowly avoided winning this one.

Best teams

AFC - Pittsburgh (6-2): Steelers class of the AFC, along with Baltimore, New England and the New York Jets.

NFC - NY Giants (6-2): Have been dominating opponents lately.

Worst teams

AFC - Buffalo (0-8): Several heartbreaking losses, but the record doesn't lie.

NFC - Carolina (1-7): John Fox needs to start updating the resume.

Best divisions

AFC East: The Jets and Patriots are among the NFL's best, and Miami's not bad.

NFC South: Atlanta, Tampa Bay and New Orleans are all good teams.

Worst divisions

AFC West: Broncos are terrible, and Chargers are underachieving as usual.

NFC West: Seattle and St. Louis tied for first with 4-4 records.

MVPs

AFC: Tom Brady, New England: Could also make a strong case for Phillip Rivers.

NFC: Matt Ryan, Atlanta: Eli Manning would be a good choice too.

Coach of the half year

AFC: Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh: Didn't have his star quarterback for the first four games, but he kept the team together (and winning).

NFC: Tom Coughlin, New York Giants: Has taken a team many thought would finish 3rd in the NFC East and made them a Super Bowl contender.

Biggest distraction

Brett Favre, Minnesota: This soap opera has been running for three or four years. Favre's toughness can never be questioned, but his selfish mentality and tendency to gamble in crunch time have hurt the Vikings this season.

Biggest fool

Randy Moss, New England/Minnesota: After asking to be traded from New England, Moss wore out his welcome in Minnesota by loafing on the field and launching a profanity-laced tirade at local restaurateurs who were feeding the Vikings lunch.

Biggest little man

Danny Woodhead, New England: The 5'9" running back from tiny Chadron State College, was reluctantly released by the Jets. Wily Bill Belichick picked him up and he's been a superb contributor to the Patriots' running game.

Strangest coach's decision

Mike Shanahan, Washington: The Redskins' head coach benched starting quarterback Donovan McNabb in final minutes of a loss to Detroit. Initially, Shanahan said that Rex Grossman was better at running the two-minute offense. Then he claimed that McNabb did not have the "vascular stamina." It's looking more and more like McNabb had issues with Shanahan's son Kyle, the offensive coordinator.

Best Aussie

Sav Rocca, Philadelphia: None of the Australian punters are having particularly great years, and Chris Bryan was let go by Tampa Bay a month ago. But Rocca, who was in a training camp battle to hold his job, seems to be rebounding from a less-than-stellar 2009.

Worrying trend

Blackouts (literally and figuratively): Teams like San Diego, Oakland and Jacksonville are not selling out their home games, thereby ensuring a TV "blackout," so local fans can't watch. The other "blackout" is scarier: the NFL is having to take a long, hard look at how it polices tackling, after a season in which concussions seem almost commonplace.