One of the most underrated storylines heading into Monday Night Football was the battle for the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year award. The Steelers and Giants each lay claim to one of the best defensive players in the game and we knew the performances of T.J. Watt and Dexter Lawrence in primetime could shape the outcome of the DPOY race.
That appears to be the case. Heading into Monday Night Football in Week 8, Watt had +150 odds of earning Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Lawrence trailed narrowly behind in second place at +300 odds, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
This changed drastically after the results of the Steelers vs. Giants game in Week 8.
As the Steelers claimed the 26-18 victory in primetime and advanced to 6-2 on the season, the disappointing Giants dropped to 2-6 entering the halfway point of the 2024 season. As the team goes, so does Lawrence's chances of winning the DPOY award.
T.J. Watt increases lead in the DPOY race
Entering Week 9, Watt's odds of winning the DPOY award increased to +100 while Lawrence slipped drastically from +300 to +800 with the Giants' loss on Monday Night Football. Unfortunately for Lawrence, this was hardly his own doing.
Throughout the night, Lawrence was a game-wrecker -- tossing Steelers offensive players to the side and creating plays for his teammates. But as disruptive as he was, this didn't equate to much backfield production. The Giants star earned four tackles while failing to record a sack or a tackle for a loss.
Meanwhile, Watt was relatively quiet early in the game, but it's hard to keep an elite player down for long. The four-time First-Team All-Pro edge rusher finished the game with seven tackles, two sacks, two tackles for a loss, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Watt's signature play of the game was a timely strip sack late in the fourth quarter in which he recovered his own forced fumble and prevented the Giants from scoring.
This highlight performance was all it took for the winds of the DPOY race to shift entirely. When you combine this with a Steelers victory and a Giants loss, Watt may have just put the Defensive Player of the Year race out of reach for Lawrence.
Leapfrogging the Giants star in DPOY odds are Texans edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. (+450) and Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones (+550). Both players are the lead men on impressive NFL defenses and will have a shot at the award by the end of the season.
Dexter Lawrence might be the most disruptive defensive player in the NFL this year, but with T.J. Watt making the play of the game in primetime and the Steelers securing the win, it's Watt who firmly leads the DPOY race as Lawrence plummets.