Winner: J.J. Watt, Texans. Both Watt and fellow top contender Josh Norman slipped over the final month of the year, with Norman posting subpar games against Odell Beckham Jr. (it wasn't to Norman's credit that Beckham dropped that first-quarter TD) and
Julio Jones, while Watt struggled to make his usual impact while wearing a cast on his broken hand. Watt took the cast off Sunday and went back to his usual self, ripping apart the hapless Jaguars offensive line for 3.5 sacks, 4 hits and 2 pass deflections.
Norman was the best cornerback in football in 2015, but Watt is the best defensive lineman in football by a far greater margin. It's not that Watt won the sack title by 2.5 sacks; it's that he knocked down quarterbacks 50 times when second-place
Aaron Donald, at 37 hits, was as close to 11th as he was to first. Watt also led the league in tackles for loss on running plays for the third consecutive year. He's playing a different game than everybody else is.
from barnwell