In a week where the Rams missed a 47-yard field goal and came up short on a fake punt, they still had a special teams player win an award. Johnny Hekker was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance on Sunday against the Cardinals, his first time winning the award this season.
Hekker punted it four times, pinning three of them inside the 20-yard line. It was a fairly typical game by Hekker, but with few NFC special teams players standing out in Week 17, he took home the honor.
It’s the third time in his career that he’s won player of the week in the NFC, and the first time since Week 10 of 2016.
Hekker was having somewhat of a down year in 2019 before turning it on late. He still had the fifth-most touchbacks of any punter, but he averaged 42.4 net yards per punt, which ranked seventh among all punters. Through the first 13 weeks, Hekker was 17th in that stat.
His 22 punts downed inside the 20-yard line this season ranked 24th.