NaVorro Bowman unfortunately had his 2013 season end negatively after suffering a torn ACL and MCLwhile making another highlight reel play. While he didn’t get credit for a forced fumble and recovery the NFL did admit later that the call on the field was incorrect. While the officials blundered an even bigger injustice occurred when Luke Kuechly got named Defensive Player of the Year and Bowman didn’t receive a single vote.
Not to take anything away from Kuechly he just didn’t measure up to Bowman, Robert Mathis, Robert Quinn, Richard Sherman and J.J. Watt.
Mathis led the NFL in sacks with 19.5, recorded 59 totals tackles, forced eight fumbles and notched five stuffs, Quinn wasn’t far behind with 19 sacks, 57 tackles, seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 12 stuffs, Sherman led the NFL in interceptions with eight including one returned for a touchdown, 16 passes defended and in on 49 tackles and Watt continued to wreak havoc on offensive linemen recording 80 tackles, 10.5 sacks,four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, seven passes defend and 15 stuffs.
While each one of the four are deserving of the award, Bowman stands out the most including when it comes toKuechly. The San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker recorded 145 tackles, five sacks, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions including one returned for a touchdown, nine passes defended and six stuffs.
Here’s a look at Bowman’s numbers compared to Kuechly’s:
| Name | Total Tackles | Solo Tackles | Solo Tackles Percentage | Sacks | Forced Fumbles | Interceptions | Touchdowns | Passes defended | Stuffs |
| Bowman | 145 | 120 | 82.7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 |
| Kuechly | 156 | 93 | 59.6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
The numbers do not lie in this circumstance Bowman had more solo tackles, sacks, forced fumbles, touchdowns, passes defended and a higher percentage of solo tackles. Meanwhile Kuechly was only ahead in three categories total tackles, interceptions and stuffs. Meaning that there’s really no question on who the Defensive Player of the Year Award winner is and it’s definitely not Kuechly.