There are years in which it’s tough to determine which rookies on each side of the ball are the best and most valuable players.

This was not one of those years.

For the first time since 1981, when New Orleans Saints running back George Rogers and New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor (you may have heard of him) did it, St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford(notes) and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh(notes) won the Associated Press Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year awards having been picked first and second overall in the draft. There were other outstanding rookies on offense and defense in 2010, but Bradford and Suh earned these awards as much as any rookies have in the past.

For Bradford, it was his ability to take a team that had won just six games in the previous three years and help the Rams to seven wins, a near-division title, and a near-playoff berth. Bradford was the first quarterback ever taken first overall to win the award, and he did it by throwing (590) and completing (354) the most passes by any rookie quarterback in NFL history, as well as throwing for the second-most passing yards among all NFL rookies (3,512) and the fifth-most touchdowns (18) to just 15 interceptions.

With offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur at the helm for the Rams in 2010, Bradford threw an inordinate number of short passes, averaging just 5.95 yards per attempt. But with former New England Patriots offensive coordinator and Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels in charge of St. Louis’ passing game going forward, look for Bradford to display more of his freakish downfield accuracy.

“It means a lot to me when you look at this award and see who has won it in the past. It reflects what we were able to do as a team this year,” Bradford said of the award.

Suh was even more dominant, establishing himself as one of the truly great interior linemen in the game as he developed through his rookie season. He ended his year with 10 sacks, the second-most by any first-year interior lineman, and was the only rookie elected to the All-Pro team,

Incredibly, for all their recent futility as a franchise, the Lions have the most AP Rookies of the Year of any NFL team – a grand total of seven. Suh joins RB Mel Farr (1976), CB Lem Barney (1967), WR Earl McCullough (1968), DE Al “Bubba” Baker (1978), RB Billy Sims (1980) and RB Barry Sanders (1989) as prior winners.

“It is a great honor and one of the highest honors I can receive on the defensive side of the ball,” Sun said after the award was announced. “I really, truly can’t thank my family, friends, teammates and coaches enough. They have been a huge part of it and the main reason I was able to be honored with this.”

Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who has been in the league for decades, has said that Suh is the best defensive tackle he’s ever seen, and the only draft prospect ever to receive a perfect grade in his rating system.

Related: Ndamukong Suh, Sam Bradford, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, New York Giants, St. Louis Rams

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—The Tennessee Titans have interviewed their first candidates outside of their own building in the search for a new head coach, talking to Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

The Titans confirmed Friday they completed formal interviews with Mularkey and Fewell. The team is not commenting any further until they conclude the search to replace Jeff Fisher.

Mularkey is the first candidate interviewed by Tennessee who has been a head coach. By interviewing Fewell, the Titans satisfied the Rooney rule by talking with a minority candidate.

This is the second head coaching job Mularkey has interviewed for this year. He interviewed with the Browns before they hired Pat Shurmur, though he also canceled an interview with Denver.

Mularkey went 14-18 with Buffalo from 2004-05 before resigning in 2006 due to philosophical differences with the head office. He started coaching in the NFL in Tampa Bay before moving to Pittsburgh for eight seasons, the last three as offensive coordinator, where he mentored Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox.

He has been in Atlanta the past three seasons grooming quarterback Matt Ryan(notes) to the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2008. Ryan led the Falcons to a 13-3 record and the NFC’s No. 1 seed this season.

This is Fewell’s fourth interview this offseason for a head coaching job, after he talked with Carolina, Cleveland and Denver.

The 48-year-old coach spent 2010 as defensive coordinator with the Giants. He had been defensive coordinator in Buffalo under Dick Jauron until he was fired, and Fewell was interim head coach of the Bills for the final seven games, going 3-4.

The North Carolina native started coaching in college and is familiar with Nashville from his stint at Vanderbilt, where he coached the secondary from 1995-97.

Tom Coughlin hired Fewell in Jacksonville in 1998 as his defensive backs coach, and he stayed in that job through 2002. Fewell coached St. Louis’ secondary in 2003-04 and was with Chicago in 2005, when the Bears had an NFC-best 24 interceptions with Pro Bowl selections in Nathan Vasher(notes) and Mike Brown(notes).

Fewell went to Buffalo as Jauron’s defensive coordinator in 2006, running the Bills’ 3-4 defense. It allowed only 14 touchdown passes in his last two seasons, and the Bills tied for fifth in the NFL with 33 takeaways. That’s a category the Titans struggled in this season.

Coughlin hired Fewell again in January 2010 as his defensive coordinator.

The Titans started the search by interviewing offensive line coach Mike Munchak, considered the top candidate for the job, and offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger earlier this week.

LANDOVER, Maryland (Reuters) – The New York Giants squeezed past the Washington Redskins 17-14 on Sunday but saw the back-door route to the NFL playoffs slammed shut with Green Bay’s win over Chicago.

New York and Green Bay finished the season 10-6 but the Packers won the NFC wildcard tie-breaker by defeating the Giants 45-17 on December 26 at Lambeau Field.

“We won 10 games,” said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. “We did our part and that’s what we came here to do.

“Unfortunately, Green Bay won so there’s no playoff opportunity for our players and I feel badly for them for that.”

New York quarterback Eli Manning completed 17 of 29 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown and Brandon Jacobs added a two-yard rushing score to lead the Giants’ attack.

“What you try to do is make the best of situations that you’re in,” said Manning. “All we could worry about tonight was going out here and trying to win this game.

“We knew we needed some help from Chicago. It didn’t happen. I’m pleased with the win tonight in doing what we could but I guess it’s a little late.”

The Giants appeared a lock for a postseason berth before losing to Philadelphia on December 19, blowing a 31-10 lead in the final eight minutes.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES

A blowout loss to Green Bay the following week had the Giants needing some help to extend their year.

“We had better opportunities early in the season, the two weeks prior to this, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities,” Manning told reporters.

“We came out, we played to the very end. Got a win tonight but it was just not enough. I’m disappointed. I thought we were a playoff-caliber team.”

New York seized control early in the third quarter when Manning found Mario Manningham for a 92-yard touchdown pass to give the Giants a 17-7 lead before a crowd of 76,189 in suburban Washington.

Manning tossed the ball over the outstretched arm of cornerback DeAngelo Hall and Manningham raced untouched into the end zone for his ninth touchdown reception of the year.

Washington’s Rex Grossman hit Anthony Armstrong on a 64-yard scoring pass with under six minutes left to pull the Redskins to within 17-14.

But the Giants’ defense stiffened and the Redskins were unable to mount a game-winning drive.

With two minutes left, Green Bay’s victory was revealed on the FedEx Field scoreboard, allowing Redskins fans to taunt their NFC East rivals by shouting, “Packers won, Packers won.”

Washington (6-10) committed four turnovers against the NFC’s second-ranked defense and have now lost to the Giants six successive times.

With Redskins coach Mike Shanahan choosing to keep Donovan McNabb on the bench, Grossman hit 26 of 44 passes for 336 yards and two scores but he fumbled twice and threw an interception.

“We sure had our opportunities during the game but any time you have four turnovers and you are still in the game at the end, you did some good things throughout the game,” Shanahan said after concluding his first season in Washington.

“I was disappointed we couldn’t finish.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue and Peter Rutherford)