McDuffie's Stellar Season on Full Display on Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football brought plenty of storylines earlier this week: the Super Bowl LVII rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, two of the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks facing each other in Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, brothers Jason and Travis Kelce meeting on the field for the third time in their careers, and Travis' relationship with singer Taylor Swift.
Add to that the play of former University of Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie for the Chiefs in their rain-soaked 21-17 loss to the Eagles.
By halftime, McDuffie had a pair of sacks, the second of which was a strip sack and a tackle for loss. The forced fumble was his NFL-leading fifth of the season. He added a pass break-up in the second half.
McDuffie has made an impact in every phase of the game. Not only has he been one of the top cornerbacks in coverage this season, he's caused a lot of trouble for opposing quarterbacks in the backfield, too.
"The Chiefs blitzed a defensive back six times in the first half," Adam Teicher wrote on ESPN.com. "Hurts on those plays was 1-of-3 with an interception and three sacks."
More often than not that blitzer was McDuffie, who wouldn't let Hurts escape the pocket.
The Chiefs have also had one of the best pass defenses in the NFL this season, allowing just 1,708 yards and ranking behind only the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, McDuffie has been an integral part of Kansas City's defensive turnaround.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo deploys the former first-round pick in several different ways and, no matter where he's lined up, McDuffie finds a way to make an impact on the game. He's second in tackles for the Chiefs and usually finds himself across from the offense's No. 1 receiver.
Since 2010, a cornerback has won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award just once, when the New England Patriots' Stephon Gilmore was the 2019 recipient.
McDuffie's numbers should put him in the conversation this time. He'll have to compete with pass rushers Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and T.J. Watt, along with cornerback DaRon Bland, who has 4 pick-6s this season, but McDuffie continues to assert himself as one of the best defensive backs in the NFL every week.
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