REgardless of stats, Champ Bailey has been the best CB in the NFL for a few years, and it's not even close...other CB's are trying to mimic his style, playing with his back always to the sideline, but no one can manage it but champ...he is the king of CBs in this era...to argue otherwise is to be an idiot...he will also be the top choice on the All-Pro team.
That said, on the subject of Merriman, it's time for fans to stop trying to take him down as their defense of Ware...yes, they do different things for their team...yes, Ware is a great, all around LB...yes, Merriman gets to rush the QB more from both a standup LB position and as a DE with his hand on the ground in the four man line.
The bottom line is that Merriman is a beast as a pass rusher...that is a fact, and it has no bearing on the LB Ware is for us.
Merriman had 15&1/2 sacks with a game and a 1/4 left, after serving his suspension !!!
Call him a cheater, say he gets free runs at the QB, say any stupid thing you want to say, but he is a freakin' beast and perhaps the best pass rushing LB in the NFL according to everyone except Dallas homers.
We need to stop comparing the two by sacks alone, be thrilled with the player and man that we have in Ware, but face the simple facts and tip our hats to Merriman who is on par with the greatest pass rushers in the game, now or ever, based on his play so far.