Thank you Associated Press voters...we now have our next mini non-controversy controversy of Super Bowl week. Actually...this is a somewhat controversial issue. Troy Polamalu has been awarded the AP's Defensive Player of the Year award...an award many had penciled, if not inked, Clay Matthews' name to. While the vote was 17 to 15 in favor of Polamalu, it's still questionalble at best. Let's not get too detailed in this analysis as that would be too professional and not what you'd expect from us but we'd like to at least compare a few details.
Both CMIII and TP had one interception returned for a touchdown...though Clay's was 62 yards compared to 45 for Troy's. But, we're not going to delve in to size as a touchdown is a touchdown but we just can't get past how, when speaking of gameplanning for the Packers Defense, it always started with how to deal with Clay Matthews. Yes, Polamalu was in the same category but Clay seemed to continue to produce despite the increased attention...or at least allow others on the Defense to excel. While we concede that Clay's numbers declined after sprinting out to a blistering start, he still created nightmares for opposing offenses throughout this season.
We just don't see anything special about Polamalu's season versus the season that Matthews has had but we're, of course, biased due to the fact that we've seen all of the Packers games and...well, not as many Steelers games.
Needless to say, hopefully this gives the fans and the media something to talk about besides the team photo garbage. Instead of getting back-to-back DPOY awards, the Packers have a first and a second with a chip on his shoulder.
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