Through the first month of the season, there have been some strong standout performances from several notable defensive players in the league.
The NFL has announced on Thursday the Defensive Player of the Month award for both conferences with Chicago Bears defensive end Khalil Mack and Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt respectively earning those honors for their play in September.
In his short period of time with the Bears, Mack has made a tremendous impact on the team helping push them to a strong start out of the gate to the season holding a 3-1 record atop of the AFC North standings. He has been a huge factor against the pass that has pushed him to be tied for second with 5.0 sacks, four forced fumbles, three pass deflections, and an interception returned for a touchdown.
Mack has quickly put himself at the forefront in the early discussion for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award as he has been performing as the arguably the best defensive talent in the league over the first month. He has quickly made the Oakland Raiders look quite foolish for trading him while he has become the anchor of the Bears' promising defense.
Meanwhile, Watt has gotten back on the map as an elite talent after his 2017 campaign was abruptly ended by a broken leg as he is tied with Mack for second in the league with 5.0 sacks and four forced fumbles along with tallying 14 total tackles. He is coming off back-to-back highly productive games with all five of his sacks over the span including 2.0 sacks in the overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Heading into this campaign, there had been questions about whether he could return to playing at an elite level and he has silenced that chatter with how he has played over the first month of the season. This could all set the table for both Mack and Watt to receive serious consideration for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award by season's end.