Oh, what a difference a week can make.
Going into Week 15, Micah Parsons was the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. After an incredible performance on Thursday Night Football, however, Nick Bosa has now leapfrogged the Cowboys’ star for the top spot for that award.
Our friends at DraftKings had Parsons as the favorite going into Week 15 at -280. Bosa was firmly in second place at that point at +175. Then they played more football.
Bosa was a disruptive force on Thursday night, totaling three quarterback hits, six pressures, and notching sack number 15.5 on the year. He also caused Geno Smith to throw a pick-six that was called back due to a questionable roughing the passer call.
After the game? Bosa became the betting favorite at -125, with Parsons close behind at -105.
Steph Sanchez cast her vote on today’s Bully Ball podcast:
“Nick Bosa should be the Defensive Player of the Year. Through 13 games, he leads the league in sacks, pressures, quarterback hits, and penalties drawn. He’s second in pass rush win rate, and he’s third in pass rush productivity.
Everyone is finally seeing what we’re seeing. On Thursday Nick Bosa was playing with his hair on fire. That is undeniable. I think that’s because he didn’t get a sack the previous week on Tom Brady. He came so close, and you could just tell he was just itching for one.
I’m going to make a terrible analogy because I watch a lot of serial killer documentaries. Nick Bosa kind of reminds me when a serial killer hasn’t killed in a long time and they’re just itching to kill again. It’s just their instinct. They just have to, you know? They’ve got this innate urge to kill people. So the more time that goes by without them killing someone, that urge just gets worse.
That’s what Nick Bosa looked like to me on Thursday trying to get that sack. He was like a man possessed. I just hope that [Emmanuel Acho] was watching on Thursday and it was a moment of clarity for him, because I don’t know how anyone could watch that game and think that Bosa doesn’t deserve to be the Defensive Player of the Year.”
To be fair, Parsons had a good game himself on Sunday against the Jaguars, with 2 QB hits and a sack of his own. Unfortunately for him, however, Dallas’ defense gave up 34 total points and blew multiple two-score leads against the Jaguars.
Right now, Nick Bosa is the best player on the clear-cut best defense in the league. He’s making game-changing plays every week, all the while being double-teamed more than any other player in the game. It’s possible he may see a slightly reduced workload due to the fact that the 49ers have clinched the NFC West, but he made the most of his final prime-time appearance of the regular season.
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