Bengals Guenther lobbies for Geno Atkins as DPOY

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Coming off his against the on Sunday, Houston's remains front and center in the battle for Defensive Player of the Year. There's no debate in this race -- or is there? defensive coordinator Paul Guenther went to bat this week for his own space-eating, quarterback-wrecking lineman, telling reporters that tackle deserves more attention for his outstanding campaign."Maybe we haven't talked about it enough, but I said earlier in the season ," Guenther said of Atkins, per ESPN.com. "He's done nothing not to be in there."Said Guenther: "You ask anybody on (an opposing) offense, any offense that we play. The first guy when they turn the tape on Monday morning and they look at the tape to prepare for us, they George Gervin Jersey  say, 'Oh s---, we better have a plan for this guy."Guenther isn't wrong. Atkins leads all interior lineman with eight sacks and trails only Carolina's in hits on the quarterback, per Pro Football Focus. The metrics site also has Atkins ranked as the third-best run-stuffer at his position. Watching him on tape reveals a whirlwind at the line of scrimmage, a terrifying night vision of NFL guards and centers come to life.on Chris We seling's list of candidates for Defensive Player of the Year behind Watt, and , Atkins was praised by Guenther for his complete skill set, with the play-caller saying: "He's a threat in the running game and he's a threat in the pa sing game. That's a handful for an offense in there. I'm glad he's on our side."The kind words serve as a major turnaround for Guenther, who flamed Atkins last January as after a 2014 season that saw him notch just three sacks in his return from ACL surgery.Next on Geno's hit list: The , a run-challenged team that hasn't seen a back gallop for more than 50 yards in a game since Week 4.As for Watt, he'd need to be stolen away by an angry swarm of space aliens to slow his charge toward a third DPOY award in four seasons. Trophies aside, the are much more than and his high-powered offense. This defense is consistently more disruptive than last year's unit, and Atkins is the core reason why.  Devin Vassell Jersey