Buccaneers: Shaquil Barrett robbed of Defensive Player of the Week

After a four sack performance on Sunday, Buccaneers pass rusher Shaquil Barrett was robbed of his second straight Defensive Player of the Week award.

There may not have been a better signing all offseason around the National Football League than Shaquil Barrett to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a one-year, $4 million deal. Through the first three weeks of the season, Barrett leads the league in sacks with eight and is on pace to shatter the NFL record.

After his three sack performance in the Buccaneers’ win over the Carolina Panthers in the second week of the season, Barrett was named as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He followed this performance up with a four sack game that included a forced fumble in the devastating loss to the New York Giants on Sunday.

This time, however, Barrett was not named as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week despite upstaging himself this week. Instead the award went to Green Packers’ edge rusher Preston Smith, who recorded one less sack than Barrett did in a victory over the Denver Broncos.

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For whatever reason, the league has a preference for giving the awards to players who performed on a winning team as the only explanation for why Smith won the award over Barrett is because the Packers won and the Bucs did not. It will be hard to find a more dominant defensive performance around the league all season than we saw from Barrett on Sunday against the Giants.

Coming to the Buccaneers after four years with the Denver Broncos, Barrett is just six sacks away from matching his career total in just this year alone. Given the opportunity to start for the pewter and red this year, we suggested preseason that he could have the potential to get to his first ever Pro Bowl.

It is safe to say Barrett is well on his way to this All-Star game and more based on the torrid pace he is setting for himself this season. It is a shame that the league does not recognize individual performances like the one that Barrett put together on Sunday just because the Bucs did not come away with a victory.