Wherever the football was, MLB Kwon Alexander could be found there. In the first half alone he recorded 7 total tackles (5 solo) and 1 pass defended. That was good for 4th best on the team. Which is pretty impressive since it took his other teammates a full game to get similar stats. For all the claims of him taking bad angles on tackles or missing them completely, he sure did make quite a few as he managed the middle of the field for the Bucs defense.
What spoke even more to his presence on the field was when he wasn’t able to be on it during the second half. Browns TE David Njoku, even though he was limited to just 52 yards and 1TD, made some crucial catches for the Browns to help them almost pull off a comeback in the second half. Want to guess where he made a few of those key catches? That’s right the middle.
In fact the Browns accumulated 21 of their 23 points in the 2nd half, and it was no coincidence that Alexander was not on the field. It is fair to argue if he is an elite or just very good MLB, but one thing is for certain he is one of the central leaders of this defense. When he was on the field Sunday he was playing lights out and so was his defense, and it showed. It was a stark contrast from the first 5 games of the season where the defense gave up ungodly amounts of yards and points (exact stats will go unmentioned here to not bring up past fan wounds).
Kwon Alexander was in a prove it year to show the front office the type of contract extension he deserves. Unfortunately for him he may not to prove that if he did in fact tear his ACL. Let’s hope not as this defense needs not just his talent, but his leadership in order to keep on turning this defensive ship around.
