Xavien Howard is in DPOY talks but he needs a big Sunday

Xavien Howard is in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion and a big game against K.C. will really help.

For the 2nd time this season, Xavien Howard will enter a game with a chance to get five interceptions in five games but this time its against K.C.

If Howard is going to bring a Defensive MVP award home to the Miami Dolphins, he will need to make a statement on Sunday against the Chiefs. Howard is on another four game interception streak and while he is getting national MVP attention, he still isn’t turning enough heads. Yet.

Tomorrow, Howard will have a shot at his 9th interception on the season and if the Miami Dolphins can beat the Chiefs and Howard can shutdown whoever he is covering, that national narrative is going to get a big wake up call.

Howard is clearly having the best year of his career but until the Dolphins become real contenders they won’t earn the respect around the league. That is just how it goes. Teams that are bad need to have a dominating player on the field that clearly stands out. In the L.A., the Rams have Aaron Donaldson who has won the award two of the last three years. Last year it was Stephon Gilmore.

The last Miami Dolphins to win the award was way back in 2006 when Jason Taylor took the award. Could Howard become the fourth player in team history to get the award. Dick Anderson and Doug Betters also took home the award.

While Howard has two four-game stretches this year, he has not recorded a multi-interception game yet. Could he do that tomorrow against the best offense in the NFL?