There's no more convincing required: Khalil Mack is the NFL's top defensive player.
The Raiders' third-year edge rusher was named The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year on Saturday night at the NFL Honors in Houston, capping a season in which he continually showed off his unique, multi-faceted talents.
Mack did not attend the awards ceremony in Houston and was not available for comment.
Mack becomes the first Raider since cornerback Lester Hayes in 1980 to win the NFL's top defensive award and adds this one to similar honors he earned this season from the Professional Football Writers of America and the Sporting News. The AP's award is widely viewed as the most prestigious, with voting coming from a 50-person panel of national broadcasters and writers.
The two-time first-team All-Pro selection led the NFL with 96 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He also tied an NFL single-season record with sacks in eight straight games, leading to an 11-sack season that included 73 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, three fumble recovers and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.
Mack's top competition for the award came from Denver linebacker Von Miller, the reigning Super Bowl MVP who finished with 13{ sacks. Mack received 18 votes to edge Miller (17) for the award.
New York Giants safety Landon Collins was third in the balloting, followed by the Los Angeles Rams' Aaron Donald, Dallas' Sean Lee and Kansas City's Eric Berry. Surprisingly, NFL sack leader Vic Beasley of the Atlanta Falcons did not receive a vote.
While Miller and had more sacks, Collins and Berry were both game-changers in the secondary and Donald and Lee were stellar in their own right, Mack put together another standout season in which he regularly showed off his pure dominance.
The eight-game sack streak included a dynamo of a performance in a 35-32 win over the Carolina Panthers. He gave the Raiders a 24-7 lead just before halftime when he scored his first career touchdown with a 6-yard pick-six against 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton. When the Panthers rallied back after Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr injured his pinkie early in the third quarter, Mack helped close out the victory when he sacked Newton on Carolina's final possession and forced a fumble that he scooped up himself.
A week later, Mack pulled off a similar game-closing feat. The Raiders led the Buffalo Bills by 14 points on their penultimate possession when Mack strip sacked Tyrod Taylor and recovered it to help the Raiders run out most of the remaining time on the clock.
Mack's five forced fumbles this season were nearly double his previous career total of three and tied him for third in the NFL, behind only Beasley and Raiders teammate Bruce Irvin. His three recoveries also tied for third in the league and were the first fumble recoveries of his career.
With this award in tow, Mack could soon see his paycheck rise significantly. The 2017 season is the last year of his four-year rookie contract and he's now eligible to negotiate an extension. As a first-round pick, the Raiders could exercise his fifth-year option for 2018 to ensure he's locked up the next two years. But general manager Reggie McKenzie has said he wants to lock up both Mack and Carr, who also is entering the final year of his contract, sooner rather than later and this award could help push Mack toward a deal averaging $20 million per season.
He'll earn that salary not just because of his edge rushing skills that typically what draw the attention and statistics, but because Mack is also a force defending the run. It's that well-rounded skill set and his hard-working attitude that draws the most praise.
"Khalil is a rare combination because he's a supremely gifted athlete, but he's got terrific work ethic," Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said late in the season. "This guy comes out and busts it every day for us. He's a great teammate. He's humble. He can bring it and he brings it every day."
Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. was one who constantly defended Mack's production when he had just one sack in the first five games _ chatter that looked silly after his 10 sacks over that eight-game streak _ and he spoke in December to Mack's versatility.
"Khalil is never surprising," Norton said. "The kid is amazing. He's fast. He's strong. He's that basketball player that fills out the stat sheet. Everybody just sees the sacks, but he's in meetings early. He's a leader. He's a guy that the young guys can really lean on to teach. He's always improving. He practices hard. He's the player that everyone loves to coach."
Carr also earned an award Saturday when he was named the Castro Edge Clutch Performer of the Year. He was a four-time winner of the weekly clutch performer award and finished with seven fourth-quarter comebacks this season and became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw five game-winning touchdown passes in the fourth quarter or overtime in a single season.
Del Rio finished fourth in the Coach of the Year award voting that went to Dallas' Jason Garrett, earning four votes.
