Barmore the Beast: Should Patriots' DL Make Pro Bowl?

After a dominating performance highlighted by a three sacks, a forced fumble and a key fourth-down stop, New England Patriots' defensive lineman Christian Barmore deserves a berth in the Pro Bowl.

It wasn't just the uncanny two touchdowns in a six-second span. Not the fact that quarterback Bailey Zappe had five pass completions of at least 20 yards (forcing Mac Jones to wish the NFL had a transfer portal). And not even that the New England Patriots won a Christmas Eve road game against an opponent desperately trying to make the playoffs.

No, the most impressive aspect of the 26-23 upset of the Denver Broncos was the dominant play of defensive tackle Christian Barmore. Already having a standout season on a downtrodden team, the prime-time performance thrust himself into consideration for not only the Pro Bowl but also a contract extension.

Barmore produced three sacks in the third quarter, a forced fumble, eight tackles (two for a loss), drew a holding penalty and stuffed an early Broncos' drive with a fourth-down tackle at New England's 4-yard line. The last defensive tackle to have three or more sacks, eight or more combined tackles and five or more solo tackles in a game was future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald in 2018.

On a 4-11 team that obviously hasn't quit on likely lame-duck coach Bill Belichick, Barmore is playing hard and, now, playing as well as any tackle on any NFL defense. Fan voting for the Pro Bowl ended Christmas night, with only punter Bryce Baringer as the only Patriots player leading his position.

That should change when players and coaches cast their votes in the coming weeks, as Barmore has been a shrouded star all season.

"I had a little injury last year that slowed me down," Barmore said after the win. "So I said to myself, 'I don't want to go through that again, so I gotta work 10 times harder.' I took the offseason really seriously, trained every day, talked to my (position) coach (Demarcus Covington). He was always contacting me, 'You doing your thing?' 'Yes sir.' Just focusing on being the best player I can be for my team."

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Belichick, too, credits Barmore's offseason with translating to his superior regular season.

"It was by far his best offseason," Belichick said. "He's continued to train really hard, which has, I think, kept him a little healthier. He's played a lot of football, but he's been able to maintain that health and conditioning. I think the offseason training has really helped him with his conditioning and his explosive power. The experience has helped him. He did a good job tonight. We set up a few things that worked well and he was able to take advantage of. I thought overall, our pass rush was disciplined."

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