Ware for MVP?

EastDallasCowboy

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I've heard it mentioned a couple times today on talk radio, and decided to do a little research when I got home. Being relatively young (27) the idea of a defensive player as MVP seemed a little preposterous, so I wanted to check the past winners.

You can find the complete list here, but the last time a defensive player won the NFL MVP award was Lawrence Taylor in 1986, and before that Alan Page in 1971. So we've seen exactly two defensive players as MVP since 1971.

On a sidenote, what the hell did Mark Moseley (K-WAS) do to win the MVP in '82?

That said, this has been a down year for the league as far as marquee players go. From everything I've read/heard, Peyton Manning (335 completions for 3543 yards, 65.2 completion percent, 23 TD vs 12 INT, 90.3 rating), Kurt Warner (376 for 4290, 68.4%, 26 TD, 13 INT, 97.5 rating), and Adrian Peterson (320 for 1581, 4.9 YPC, and 9 TDs) are the front runners. I've also seen Drew Brees (353 for 4332, 64.7%, 28 TD, 16 INT, 93.9 rating) thrown in there due to his relatively gaudy numbers, though the Saints poor season would probably keep him out.

While all decent options, none of those players have turned in no-brainer MVP performances this season in the vein of Tom Brady last year, or LT, Shaun Alexander, or Peyton Manning the years previous. Which means there is a possibility this is the year a defensive player could win it. So then, who would be the candidates?

My suggestion to you would be that, should Ware break the single season sack record with 4 sacks over the final two games, he would garner strong consideration for the award. I figured the best place to start would be to look at Lawrence Taylor's 1986 stat-line (knowing that tackles wasn't an official stat then) and see how today's defensive players stacked up. Taylor had 20.5 sacks in 1986, but had zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles, and zero safeties, so he garnered the award solely on the merit of his dominance as a pass rusher.

So, I decided that we should stack up the defensive players whom would most likely be deemed candidates for the award, and narrowed it down to Demarcus Ware (DAL), Troy Polamalu(PIT), James Harrison(PIT), and Joey Porter (MIA) with Jared Allen (MIN) and John Abraham (ATL) as dark horses. Polamalu and Harrison do play on the NFL's best statistical defense as well as the team with the best record of the group which certainly would play into the voters consideration but isn't reflected in the stats. So how do they stack up?

Ware - 74 tackles, 19 sacks, 0 safeties, 2 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, 0 fumbles recovered, and 0 INTs.
Harrison - 94 tackles, 15 sacks, 1 SFTY, 3 PD, 7 FF, 1 FUM, and 1 INT
Polamalu - 65 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 SFTY, 4 PD, 0 FF, 0 FUM, and 7 INT
Abraham - 33 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 0 SFTY, 1 PD, 3 FF, 0 FUM, and 0 INT
Allen - 48 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 0 SFTY, 0 PD, 3 FF, 0 FUM, and 0 INT

So that's how they stack up. It seems to me that statistically Harrison would get the slight nod due to both playing on the better defense/team with the better record, and having a slight advantage in every statistical category except for sacks where Ware leads by four. That said, there are two games left in the season-and if Ware gets to 23 sacks and the Cowboys reach 11-5, I would think it would be a much closer battle than it is today.

My suggestion would be that if somehow one of those two players were to actually win the MVP, then the other would recieve Defensive Player Of The Year honors to balance it out, but instead my guess is they will be fighting for DPOY honors and one of the QBs will get MVP honors.
 

thssanders

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I'm not sure who i would go with this year. No one player has stood out like in previous years. Definitely wouldnt give it to brees because their record, and he played bad in a couple of those losses.

Right now i would probably go with peyton. The colts are the hottest team in the league and he is the reason why.
 

Batman

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Actually Ware is 26 years old. I think he turns 27 around July or August of next year.
 

EastDallasCowboy

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no no, i meant i was 27, so i couldn't remember the last time a defensive player had won MVP.

and statistically im really not sure Manning is overly deserving.
 

thssanders

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i agree his stats dont really jump out at you....but he has won so many close games. Against the steelers he drove them down for the win in the final minute. He did the same thing to beat the patriots too. Almost all their games come down the end and manning always comes up with the winning drive he has the chance.
 

EastDallasCowboy

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i think ware must break the record to get dpoy, otherwise harrison's team will get him the award imo.

and while i agree, manning is a stud, i think the award was Warner's to lose and he's doing that-manning is just the fallback choice. the reason i mention ware in the mvp talk is that if he breaks that record, i think the media atleast begins discussing it and by proxy that brings other defensive players into the mix. the media feeds on itself for awards. as an example, im not sure you see Florida in the ncaa natl championship game if there hadnt been weeks of winner of fla/bama will go to the game.

i really think there will be consideration for a defensive player this year if ware breaks the record on account of the average play from the leagues offensive players. if romo had done last year what he did this, he'd be a lock for it.
 

casmith07

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last time a defensive player won MVP, it was Lawrence Taylor.

I don't see Ware getting it, but I definitely see him getting DPOY especially with Haynesworth out now. My guess is MVP is going to be a QB - Kurt Warner, Chad Pennington, or Brett Favre.
 

The Panch

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Not happening. Our record we'll be a wild card team at best and how bad we looked without Romo negates Ware. If he breaks the sack record, which I didnt think he had a shot at, I think he'll be DPOY ahead of Porter and Harrison. Especially if they continue to hold teams in check off the scoreboard.
 

dbair1967

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thssanders;2497687 said:
Right now i would probably go with peyton. The colts are the hottest team in the league and he is the reason why.

why? because they have some unimpressive victories over mediocre teams?

He isnt even having that good of a yr.
 

Rack

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EastDallasCowboy;2497583 said:
I figured the best place to start would be to look at Lawrence Taylor's 1986 stat-line (knowing that tackles wasn't an official stat then) and see how today's defensive players stacked up. Taylor had 20.5 sacks in 1986, but had zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles, and zero safeties, so he garnered the award solely on the merit of his dominance as a pass rusher.

You're on crack if you think LT had 20.5 sacks yet didn't force a single fumble.

LT is basically the guy that started the whole "Strip/Sack" move.
 

dbair1967

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EastDallasCowboy;2497583 said:
My suggestion to you would be that, should Ware break the single season sack record with 4 sacks over the final two games, he would garner strong consideration for the award. I figured the best place to start would be to look at Lawrence Taylor's 1986 stat-line (knowing that tackles wasn't an official stat then) and see how today's defensive players stacked up. Taylor had 20.5 sacks in 1986, but had zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles, and zero safeties, so he garnered the award solely on the merit of his dominance as a pass rusher.

I dont know where that stat line came from, but he cleaned up on forcing fumbles throughout his career. He was probably one of the 3 or 4 best ever at it. Pretty sure he had quite a few forced fumbles that yr.
 

thssanders

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dbair1967;2498318 said:
why? because they have some unimpressive victories over mediocre teams?

He isnt even having that good of a yr.

He has game winning drives over minnesota, new england, pittsburgh, houston, and san diego. Those are all decent to good teams, minus san diego. Not to mention he put up great numbers in a beat down over baltimore.

He started off the year bad i agree. But lately he has played lights out and if they need a drive he delivers. bottom line.

In other years i wouldn't think what he has done this year would be enough to win it. But nobody really stands out this year like in years past. He is the reason they are winning all these close games.
 

bootsy

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THis has to be the worst year I can remember for MVP candidates. When Kurt Warner(who really hasn't done anything special this year), Peyton Manning(arguably his worst year since his rookie year), and Chad Pennington, Chad Pennington? are the leading candidates you know it is bad
 

ajk23az

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Who said Chad Pennington was in the MVP race? I highly doubt that.

I kind of think it will go to Adrian Peterson, James Harrison, Peyton Manning or DeMarcus Ware.
 

Undisputed

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Like others have said, both DPOTY and MVP would depend on whether he broke the record or not. Man, I hope he does. But even for him, four sacks in two games is no guarantee.
 

EastDallasCowboy

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Rack;2498329 said:
You're on crack if you think LT had 20.5 sacks yet didn't force a single fumble.

LT is basically the guy that started the whole "Strip/Sack" move.

I doublechecked the stats through nfl.com and espn.com, but if i f-d it up somehow (i muddled through a lot of stats for this) by all means please correct me.
 

28 Joker

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You could make a strong case for DeMarcus Ware being the best player in the NFL.

I would vote for him, and I hope he wins it.

Enjoy watching Ware and Newman, folks. They just don't come around very often. When they come around, you have to be lucky enough to get them.
 

Rack

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EastDallasCowboy;2498579 said:
I doublechecked the stats through nfl.com and espn.com, but if i f-d it up somehow (i muddled through a lot of stats for this) by all means please correct me.


They probably didn't keep FF stats or something. I checked his career stats and it only showed that he RECOVERED 2 fumbles in his career. That seems incredibly off as well.

I guarantee you he forced a few fumbles in 86 though.
 
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