The Patriots’ Mr. Underrated: Rob Ninkovich

Ninkovich has six sacks and five forced fumbles. Sunday’s sack, fumble forced, and fumble recovered trifecta was a play that has summarized the fantastic season Rob Ninkovich is having. Outside of Vince Wilfork has there been a more consistent performer on the Patriots defense this season than Ninkovich? In a defense full of question marks you’d be hard-pressed to find a better answer. The fourth year Patriots defensive end/outside linebacker out of Purdue is in the midst of his best NFL season. Through ten games Nink has 6.0 sacks and an incredible five forced fumbles which has him tied for third in the NFL. Even more is the consistency with which he is doing it. It’s not like he has done all of his damage in one or two games – Ninkovich has logged at least 0.5 sack in six out of the last seven weeks. Here’s a look at his sack and forced fumble production by week: Week 1 - Week 2 – 0.5 sack Week 3 - Week 4 –  1.0 sack, 1 forced fumble Week 5 – 1.0 sack, 2 forced fumbles Week 6 - We...