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It's beyond time for Brandon Graham to get his due. For so long he has been one of the NFL's more overlooked defensive linemen, but it's about time he received more of the national accolades he richly deserves.

Graham, 32, is having perhaps his best season in his 11th year in the NFL. He is, arguably, the most impactful player on what is arguably the league's premier defensive line, and is worthy of the kind of recognition that Pro Bowl status conveys. Frankly, if he keeps doing what he's doing in the second half of the season, he should be on the All Pro team. He really is that good.

Graham doesn't seek the spotlight. He is never one to campaign for himself. He doesn't seek a high profile within the game, or outside of it. But he is a beloved teammate who has helped the Eagles foster a unique culture on their defensive line and he has played a pivotal role in them developing a host of linemen and outside linebackers over the years, many of whom receive riches elsewhere as free agents thanks in large part to the impact Graham had on them as people and players.

He has been a constant as the Eagles have dealt with injuries to this group for years, with Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson missing time. And Graham has been nothing short of a menace in terms of collapsing pockets, harassing quarterbacks and excelling in the run game, too. The defensive end is shining each week at a time when many of the edge players in the NFC who have drawn heavy accolades in recent years are either hurt or less effective than they've been in the past (Chandler Jones, Nick Bosa, Danielle Hunter, Za'Darius Smith, Chase Young, Cam Jordan). The Pro Bowl is trending as a must. The All Pro team should be within reach, too.

Graham's 33 pressures, per Pro Football Focus, rank tied for seventh in the NFL; Aaron Donald, Stephon Tuitt, Myles Garrett and Joey Bosa are the only ends with more. I came up with a metric, pressures per drop back, in which Graham is getting a pressure on 15.28% of the pass drop backs he was on the field for. Only Tuitt (18.2%), Donald (17.5%), Bosa (17.4%), Montez Sweat (17.2%), Romeo Okwara (16.7%) and TJ Watt (16.6%) had a higher rate among all defensive players in the entire NFL. Graham is third in the NFL with seven sacks, trailing only Donald and Garrett, who have nine. Graham has also been credited with 22 quarterback hits, which ranks seventh in the NFL.

Graham has been a factor in every game he has played this season and has more than paid his dues. So many of these awards become a popularity contest, and a little politicking can go a long way. That's not Graham's style, but it shouldn't be held against him anymore. To be doing what he's doing, week in and week out, at this stage of his career, is truly impressive, and that defensive line is going to lead Philadelphia to the NFC East title and at least one playoff game.

Graham is already a legend in Philly, for life, for his crucial sack in the franchise's lone Super Bowl title. He is perhaps playing at an even a higher level right now. His time is now.

Buckner key to Colts' defensive uprising 

Speaking of defensive linemen, I cannot get over the impact DeForest Buckner has had on the Colts defense. It's pretty amazing. His presence has turned that unit into one of the most stout in the NFL (and, yeah, the 49ers could desperately use him right now). He is a stud and I have long considered him the best defensive tackle in the league not named Aaron Donald.

Man, is he living up to it.

The Colts are quietly 5-2 and look like the best team in the AFC South. Buckner is a huge reason why. The offense is pedestrian at best, and that's probably being too kind. They lack skill players who are making an impact and are riding that defense to what could be an interesting playoff run.

The Colts' secondary is doing some special stuff, don't get me wrong. But a large part of that is because Indy does not have to utilize manpower to attack opposing quarterbacks. They are doing just fine bringing four, which allows coordinator Matt Eberflus to get tricky with his unit playing coverage and dropping guys back (the Colts are in zone 73 percent of the time, in the top five in the NFL, and still have 18 sacks). Buckner has 24 pressures on 214 opponent drop backs, placing him in the top five of all defensive tackles.

Buckner's presence is the key to it all. The Colts' turnaround cannot be overstated.

And they are absolutely suffocating opponents in the run game. They are allowing 79.9 rushing yards a game, second best in the NFL and a full 20 yards better than a year ago. Pretty shocking. Getting healthier at linebacker has helped, too, but don't discount for a minute the impact of Buckner. Wanna go heavy and test the Colts on the ground with multiple tight ends in the run game? They're second in the NFL, allowing just 2.29 yards per carry. So spread 'em out and run out of 3-5 receiver sets? Um, no. Fourth best in the NFL stopping those runs as well (4.07 yards per carry).

This keeps up, and we may be looking at Defensive Player of the Year consideration. 

Giants' problems not on D, but at QB

The Giants have actually started to fix their defense, which didn't look possible in recent years. They are making real strides and hats off to coordinator Patrick Graham. They are playing hard and playing smart and several individuals are thriving under him at all levels of the defense. They gave Tom Brady all he could handle Monday night and played more than well enough to win the game. But the Giants have a serious quarterback problem. It's been quite a while since anyone could argue that Daniel Jones was trending in the right direction, the turnovers are more woven into his DNA than they even were for Eli Manning, and if they make a move at GM, which plenty of people around the NFL expect, you can't help but wonder if this is another situation where the new guy goes and gets his own QB. I would, especially if the market is flooded with young and old quarterbacks again, which I fully expect at this point.

Bench Cam? His legs are all Pats have going for them

Everyone calling for Cam Newton's ouster, go check out New England's rushing stats. It's all they have going for them and Newton is the primary (only?) reason why. Take away moving around the mesh points and having to defend the QB in the ground game and you are left with nothing. They have to be able to control the ball on the ground to even hang around in games with the dearth of offensive talent and all the offensive line issues. Newton ranks second in the NFL (to Dalvin Cook) in the PFF metric Team Offensive Total Rushing Expected Points Added at 14.60. It essentially quantifies what that player adds to that part of the game. Remember, the Pats have zero downfield passing game and no pass catchers who win in the passing game yet are top five in so many key running metrics. Because of Cam. Take that away and put in Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer and you are left with a fairly dire situation. The only chance of winning involves an elite rushing attack -- the defense is not very good, either -- and Newton makes that go.