Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes receives AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors

Mahomes earns his fourth career AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has earned the Week 3 nod for AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

This comes after a stellar performance on “Monday Night Football” against the Baltimore Ravens, where Mahomes dismantled what was at the time considered the top defense in the NFL. Mahomes completed 31-of-42 passes for 385 yards and four passing touchdowns, en route to becoming the fastest player in NFL history to 10,000 career passing yards. He also rushed for another touchdown on the ground, bringing his total to five.

USA TODAY SMG – Coley Cleary

This is Mahomes’ fourth career AFC Offensive Player of the Week in his career. He earned back-to-back recognition in Week 1 and Week 2 of his first season as a starter back in 2018. He only earned the award once last season after facing the Oakland Raiders in Week 2.

I have a feeling that Mahomes is happy to get the win and isn’t worrying too much about the weekly awards. This stuff could matter if he’s to make a case to become league MVP later this season. Look across to the NFC conference and one of the early MVP front-runners, Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, was also recognized as the Offensive Player of the Week for his conference.

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Lamar Jackson wins yet another AFC Offensive Player of the Week award

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson torched the Cleveland Browns for the best performance of Week 1, earning him the AFC OPOW award

I should probably just save a draft of this and change out the base information, huh? After yet another dominant performance, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the AFC’s Offensive Player for his effort in a Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

Jackson completed 80% of his 25 attempts for 275 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also had seven rushes for a team-high 45 rushing yards. While there was stiff competition, Jackson’s 152.1 passer rating led the NFL in Week 1.

Jackson won the award five times last season en route to winning the NFL’s MVP award. This season, Jackson is starting off on the right foot with another masterful performance in which he made further improvements as a passer. If he can keep up this pace, he’ll not only beat his franchise-record-setting performance from last season, he’ll post one of the best single-season passing efforts in NFL history.

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The Ravens and Jackson will turn their attention to the Houtson Texans in Week 2 as they look to continue their undefeated streak this season. With playoff implications in this matchup as well, look for Jackson to have yet another top performance worthy of praise.

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Gardner Minshew receives AFC Offensive Player of the Week nomination

Gardner Minshew was nominated for yet another award, but this time it was for the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

After his surgical performance against the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II has been nominated for the NFL’s AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award.

Minshew’s performance comes after the team went all in on him by trading veteran Nick Foles and electing to not spend an early draft selection at quarterback. With the Jags also parting ways with veterans Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye, Marcell Dareus, and Leonard Fournette, many assumed the Jags were gearing up to enter the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes, but Minshew silenced that with a historically accurate performance against Indy.

If Minshew can win the nomination it will be one of many pieces of hardware he’s collected since entering the league. As a rookie, he was able to win the Pepsi Rookie of the Week Award seven times. He was also named Snickers Hungriest Player of the Year, too.

Minshew not only put up the crazy aforementioned stats Sunday, he made history in the Jags’ record books, too. He joined former Jags Mark Brunell and David Garrard as the only players in franchise history to throw for at least three touchdowns on kickoff weekend.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

 

Lamar Jackson wins 5th AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors

It’s the fifth time Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has won the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award, tying for the most in a season

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been having a season to remember. In Week 15, Jackson broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record for quarterbacks, while throwing for another five touchdowns. While Jackson was already the frontrunner for the NFL’s MVP award, it’s added to his resume for the season, likely locking him in.

But with the MVP decision coming in a few weeks, Jackson will have to make do with just another AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

It’s his fifth of the 2019 season, tying Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the only players to ever have this many in a single season, according to Penn Live’s Aaron Kasinitz. But with two more games remaining (potentially only one for Jackson if the Ravens clinch the No. 1 seed this week), Jackson has a chance to surpass some of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in yet another mark.

Against the New York Jets in Week 15, Jackson went 15-of-23 (65.2%) for 212 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions — equalling a 134.4 passer rating. Jackson also gained 86 yards on eight carries.

Through 14 games, Jackson has completed 66.2% of his passes (ninth), for 2,889 yards, 33 touchdowns (first) and just six interceptions. It’s given him a 112.8 passer rating, which is good for third in the NFL. Jackson has also rushed for 1,103 yards (eighth) and seven more touchdowns (10th) on 159 carries this season, averaging a league-best 6.9 yards-per-carry.

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Lamar Jackson wins his 4th AFC Offensive Player of the Week award of 2019

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has won the weekly award four times this season, including three times in November.

At this point, the NFL might as well start engraving Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s name on the MVP trophy. For the fourth week this season, Jackson was named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week. This time for his performance in a Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Going up against the Rams’ talented defense, Jackson once again picked apart a team en route to a lopsided, 45-6, victory. He completed 15-of-20 passes for 169 yards, five touchdown throws, no interceptions and a 139.4 passer rating. In addition, he added 95 rushing yards on eight carries including yet another insane run. And he did all this while playing little more than three quarters before getting pulled in favor of backup Robert Griffin III with the game already out of control.

It was a November to remember for Jackson, winning the award in three of the four weeks of the month. The only game he didn’t win — Week 11 against the Houston Texans — Jackson very well could have after throwing four touchdown passes and running for 79 yards during Baltimore’s 41-7 victory.

Jackson becomes just the 11th NFL player to win the Player of the Week honor at least four times in a single season. The last time it was done was 2015 when Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton won it five times before winning the MVP award that season.

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Should Colts start worrying about playoff hopes?

Indy has a tough stretch of games coming up.

Just a few weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts were being viewed as the likely candidate to win the AFC South division and enter the playoffs. Now, there is a very real chance they could miss out on making the playoffs entirely.

While the return of quarterback Jacoby Brissett from an MCL sprain could help turn things around, Mike Jones of USA TODAY believes the Colts are among a handful of teams that should begin worrying about the potential of missing the playoffs.

With or without Jacoby Brissett, the Colts should have been able to beat the DolphinsBut they didn’t. Indianapolis suffered its second straight defeat and now is 5-4. When they beat the Texans and the Chiefs earlier this year, the Colts seemingly signaled that they belonged in the dark horse conversation. But Indianapolis suddenly is trending in the wrong direction.

Though Brissett’s return could help spark this group, the team has the slimmest margin for error. The Colts aren’t built to blow teams out. They instead do it in grind-it-out fashion, narrowly outscoring their opponents this year 194-193. That only further magnifies their problem at kicker, where Adam Vinatieri has missed six extra-point attempts and five field goals.

The division is still wide open and getting healthy could boost the Colts in the coming weeks. But they have a crucial and difficult schedule coming up—and there is a chance it determines their playoff hopes.

The next three games for the Colts are all against divisional opponents. They follow that up with a trip to Tampa Bay and New Orleans. It’s a tough stretch of games that is likely to determine the fate of their season.

There is still a chance for the Colts, but it starts with a home matchup against the Jaguars on Sunday.

Lamar Jackson wins second straight AFC Offensive Player of the Week award

Lamar Jackson’s perfect passer rating and spectacular rushing won the Ravens quarterback his third weekly award of the 2019 season.

For his work in Week 10 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson earned another AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. It’s his second consecutive week winning the honor and his third of the season through just nine games.

Jackson completed 15-of-17 passes for 223 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, marking his second perfect 158.3 passer rating this season. Jackson also dazzled on the ground, adding 65 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven attempts, including a highlight-reel 47-yard scamper.

Jackson continues to pile up AFC Player of the Week awards, which has him in the mix for the NFL’s MVP award this season. With Baltimore sitting atop the AFC North standings and holding the No. 2 overall seed in the AFC playoff picture at 7-2, Jackson has helped put the Ravens at the top of the league. If he continues to play like he did in Week 10 against the Bengals, this won’t be Jackson’s last award this season, though he might have to miss the NFL Honors ceremony to prepare for Super Bowl LIV.

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