Matt Ryan's slipped out of contention, and I’ll be hugely surprised if Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers doesn’t wind up NFL MVP.
All year I’ve thought the idea of J.J. Watt, or any defensive player, winning the MVP award was beyond a long shot.
But I have come to this: If a guy having the disruptive season Watt is having doesn’t win it, I wonder if we will ever see a defensive player win more than defensive player of the year again.
(Mike Sando's most recent MVP Watch had Watt fifth.)
Against the Titans, Watt had a sack, a batted ball and a tipped pass that resulted in an interception. Those three pass disruptions give him a league-high 30.5 drop-backs disrupted this season. Watt has disrupted 6.0 percent of opponent drop-backs, also the best mark in the NFL.
With 15.5 sacks and 15 deflected passes, Watt’s done something never done before -- and there are still three games remaining.
Gary Kubiak said what Watt’s doing is “off the charts.”
At that pace, he’ll finish with 20.5 sacks and 20 batted passes.
Those are giant numbers. They aren’t 4,669 passing yards (which Manning is on pace for) or 38 passing touchdowns (the pace of Manning and Rodgers), though, and they probably won’t result in more than defensive player of the year honors.
