DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: MONTEZ SWEAT

The Washington Football Team won five of its seven regular season games and a division championship because the defense largely carried the load.

- Chris Russell

It wasn’t just one guy. Many players contributed to that success, including defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and his staff (largely coach Ron Rivera’s guys from Carolina).

But one must win our Warpath Defensive Player of the Year award and that’s Montez Sweat.

Chase Young came on very strong down the stretch to push Sweat, winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month and NFC Defensive Player of the Month in December, but this is a year-long award. While you can make reasonable arguments for others, the second-year defensive end from Mississippi State was too impactful from start to finish.

Sweat made 45 combined tackles in the regular season and nine sacks, to lead Washington’s defense. Add 20 quarterback hits (No. 1 on team) and led Washington with 12 tackles-for-loss, an interception for a picksix, six passes defended and two forced fumbles.

Sweat iced the win in Dallas on Thanksgiving while rushing from the left side of the defense, he used his frame to knock an Andy Dalton pass in the air, intercept it and rumble home for his first career touchdown that set off a raucous celebration on the Washington sideline.

The next game, a Monday evening affair against undefeated Pittsburgh, Sweat thrice altered or knocked down passes by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s short passing attack.