The_Man
Footballguy
It seems that the NFL’s MVP Award is coming down to Brady and Vick, with Brady likely to take it. But the Defensive MVP Award seems pretty open. I’ve come up with five candidates. Add your own.
Clay Matthews
At mid-season, he seemed to be the front-runner with everyone mentioning his name for the Award. The Packers shut out the Jets, and then in their 45-7 thrashing of Dallas, Matthews he had a 62-yard return for TD of his only INT this season. He had 10.5 sacks through 8 games at that point. But he’s had only 2 sacks in 5 games since, and the Packers have struggled. They are not seen as elite defense now and Matthews has dropped out of the lead.
Troy Polamalu
In my opinion, Polamalu would be the clear choice right now, but will voters penalize him for missing the last 3 games of the season (as it now seems might happen)?
He is the signature player from the NFL’s best defense, and that often is enough to win the award. Plus his strip-sack of Flacco to let Pittsburgh beat Baltimore is the defensive play of the season. And then he followed that up with 2 INTs vs. Cincy (giving him 6, one off the NFL lead) including the great return for a TD.
Plus, it’s obvious from the Jets game that as good as the Steelers’ defense is, it’s not the same without #43.
James Harrison
The other anchor of the NFL’s best defense, Harrison is a force of nature that defined the first half of the NFL season with the helmet-to-helmet controversy. I think that hurts him in the vote totals. He has 10 sacks for the season and 6 forced fumbles, but only one sack in the last 4 games. And the success the Jets had running the ball with Harrison in but Polamalu out makes him seem less valuable than his teammate.
Haloti Ngata
It’s almost impossible for defensive tackles to put up the stats that win awards like this – Warren Sapp in 99 was the last tackle to win the award. Ngata has only 5.5 sacks and the Ravens aren’t the defense they used to be. Still, they rank in the top 5 for points allowed and rushing defense, and Ngata is the main reason why. He has made game-clinching plays the last two weeks: pressuring Schaub into throwing the game-ending INT at Houston and then batting Brees’s last pass into an INT vs. the Saints. He is impossible to block with one lineman and hard to double, but he might have to settle for being a perennial All-Pro and not a Defensive MVP winner.
Ndamukong Suh
Suh has 8 sacks and has played very well. He will walk away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, but probably won’t get that many MVP votes – he suffers from the same lack of stats as Ngata, the Lions’ D isn’t that good, and people inclined to vote for a Tackle are likely to go with the veteran Ngata and let Suh be content with the ROY Award.
Clay Matthews
At mid-season, he seemed to be the front-runner with everyone mentioning his name for the Award. The Packers shut out the Jets, and then in their 45-7 thrashing of Dallas, Matthews he had a 62-yard return for TD of his only INT this season. He had 10.5 sacks through 8 games at that point. But he’s had only 2 sacks in 5 games since, and the Packers have struggled. They are not seen as elite defense now and Matthews has dropped out of the lead.
Troy Polamalu
In my opinion, Polamalu would be the clear choice right now, but will voters penalize him for missing the last 3 games of the season (as it now seems might happen)?
He is the signature player from the NFL’s best defense, and that often is enough to win the award. Plus his strip-sack of Flacco to let Pittsburgh beat Baltimore is the defensive play of the season. And then he followed that up with 2 INTs vs. Cincy (giving him 6, one off the NFL lead) including the great return for a TD.
Plus, it’s obvious from the Jets game that as good as the Steelers’ defense is, it’s not the same without #43.
James Harrison
The other anchor of the NFL’s best defense, Harrison is a force of nature that defined the first half of the NFL season with the helmet-to-helmet controversy. I think that hurts him in the vote totals. He has 10 sacks for the season and 6 forced fumbles, but only one sack in the last 4 games. And the success the Jets had running the ball with Harrison in but Polamalu out makes him seem less valuable than his teammate.
Haloti Ngata
It’s almost impossible for defensive tackles to put up the stats that win awards like this – Warren Sapp in 99 was the last tackle to win the award. Ngata has only 5.5 sacks and the Ravens aren’t the defense they used to be. Still, they rank in the top 5 for points allowed and rushing defense, and Ngata is the main reason why. He has made game-clinching plays the last two weeks: pressuring Schaub into throwing the game-ending INT at Houston and then batting Brees’s last pass into an INT vs. the Saints. He is impossible to block with one lineman and hard to double, but he might have to settle for being a perennial All-Pro and not a Defensive MVP winner.
Ndamukong Suh
Suh has 8 sacks and has played very well. He will walk away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, but probably won’t get that many MVP votes – he suffers from the same lack of stats as Ngata, the Lions’ D isn’t that good, and people inclined to vote for a Tackle are likely to go with the veteran Ngata and let Suh be content with the ROY Award.
