NFL Honors 2012: Terrell Suggs Steals Defensive Player Award from Jared Allen

If given the choice between the following two defensive player players, which one would you choose?

Player A: 66 tackles, 22 sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception

Player B: 70 tackles, 14 sacks, seven forced fumbles two interceptions.

The better player on paper is obviously Player A, and he’s also the better player on the field.

Player A is Jared Allen, and Player B, Terrell Suggs, stole his Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The Minnesota Vikings defensive end had a monstrous season and came within .5 sacks of tying Michael Strahan’s NFL record. He tried his damnedest on a terrible team and never gave up, even though most of his teammates did and they went 3-13 on the season.

Suggs might have some impressive stats as well, but when you delve into them, they hold less meaning.

According to Jamison Hensley at ESPN, most of the Raven linebacker’s stats came from three games against the Steelers, 49ers and Colts. He picked up nine sacks and six forced fumbles in those three contests.

That means he contributed just a single forced fumble and five sacks in the other 13 games his team played in 2011-12.

Another reason he did not deserve the award is that he’s not even the leader of the team.

When people think about the Ravens' hard-hitting, take-no-prisoners defensive unit, they think of their captain, Ray Lewis. Lewis is the emotional leader on that team and wills them to be dominant. Suggs is a by-product of his intensity.

Allen, on the other hand, is the star of the Minnesota defense. He pumps the crowd and his teammates up. He knows he is the best player the Purple People Eaters have and that he has to step up every single time they take the field. He always answers the call, as you can tell by his 22 sacks, even when the postseason is out of reach.

Allen is a man amongst boys out there, and he deserved to be the Defensive Player of the Year.