Luke Kuechly Wins Defensive Player of the Year

Dec 15, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive end Robert Quinn (94) forces a fumble and recovers the ball from New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams defeated the Saints 27-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

As unhappy as Rams fans are going to be, there is nothing they can do to change the outrageous outcome of what went down Saturday night. It was announced that Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly won the defensive player of the year.

Here is a summary of the votes:

Luke Kuechly 19

Robert Mathis 11½

Earl Thomas 7½

Robert Quinn 6

Richard Sherman 4

J.J. Watt 2

Quinn won the PFWA defensive player of the year, giving Rams fans everywhere hope that he would for once, give the city of St. Louis something to cheer about, the AP had other plans however.

Kuechly is much deserving of the award as it takes an extraordinary player to win it, however many believe the AP made the wrong decision.

Kuechly has now won two major awards in as many season as he won defensive rookie of the year last season. This year he had 156 combined tackles this season, 93 total, 63 assisted, along with two sacks and four interceptions.

He also had one of the greatest single game performance by a defender in NFL history in week 16 against the New Orleans Saints. Kuechly made 24 tackles, which nearly tied the NFL single-game record of 25 set by Brian Urlacher in 2006.

Robert Quinn had a fantastic season, and not winning an award will not take that away, Quinn was second in the league in sacks, second in forced fumbles, first in tackles for loss, and was just a dominant force.

Quinn made other teams game plan around him which is why he should have won defensive player of the year, not taken fourth. The one thing that hurts Quinn is that he wasn’t on a winning team and it usually takes a player on a winning team to win these awards.

Quinn is a dominant force on the Rams defensive line and will be hopefully for many years to come. With new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, maybe Quinn can come out on top next season.

Other award winners included:

Offensive Player of the Year & MVP: Peyton Manning

Offencive Rookie of the Year: Eddie Lacy

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Sheldon Richardson

Comeback Player of the Year: Phillip Rivers

Coach of the Year: Ron Rivera