“I thought two guys who played really well down the stretch and helped their defense play better — it clearly played better — were Ninkovich and Brandon Spikes,” said Cosell, who serves as the producer for ESPN’s “NFL Matchup.” “I thought he played real well, particularly down the stretch,” Cosell said of Ninkovich, one of only two NFL defenders to finish the regular season with at least six sacks and two interceptions. “I think Ninkovich, he became a really versatile player. He’s not a dynamic, explosive playmaker, play after play. I don’t think he’s a guy who offenses say, ‘We better account for Rob Ninkovich.’ But I thought he played really well down the stretch.”

As for Spikes, Cosell has been an advocate of his for a long time, writing on Twitter that the Florida product is a dynamic presence against the run who is a unique player in this day and age. “I’m a huge Spikes fan, for what he is. I’m not going to ask him to run with Jimmy Graham, but for what he is, I think he’s really good,” Cosell said. “There aren’t many guys in the league like him who play downhill. He takes on blocks with violence. That’s a dying breed in the NFL. A passing league, a spread league, now, you have linebackers that run around blocks. He took on blocks this year, and he usually won.”