Steelers LB T.J. Watt named Week 18 Defensive Player of the Week

T.J. Watt had another huge game in Week 18 with two more sacks.

Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt was named Defensive Player of the Week for Week 18 of the NFL season. Watt finished with six tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss as the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 to help push the Steelers into the playoffs.

Watt finished the season with a league-leading 19 sacks. That is the third time in four seasons Watt has led the league in sacks. No other player has accomplished since the league started tracking sacks as an official stat.

In a somewhat related story, Watt was snubbed by both Pro Football Focus and the NFLPA for their All-Pro teams. It would be an interesting twist if Watt lands his second Defensive Play of the Year Award in his career but fails to be named an All-Pro.

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Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey campaigns for Jevon Holland to win Defensive Player of the Week

The CB wants the Snowman to get some hardware.

With the Miami Dolphins playing their game against the New York Jets on Friday, the players had the weekend off and were able to spend it however they saw fit.

For cornerback Jalen Ramsey, that meant watching the rest of the league. And, in the middle of the Sunday night game between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers, the cornerback took to social media to make a statement regarding his teammate, safety Jevon Holland.

In Friday’s win, Holland recorded five tackles, a pass defensed and a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half.

The pick-6 was much more important than just the result, however, as it came after Tua Tagovailoa had thrown his second interception in as many drives, and the Jets were shifting the momentum before the Hail Mary attempt.

Instead, Holland found the end zone, made it 17-6 and kept New York really ever getting close again.

Ramsey may be right. That type of impact may be deserving of some recognition from the league.

Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Miami’s top CB earns some hardware for his performance vs. the Raiders.

The Miami Dolphins earned a win on Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders, and they wouldn’t have been able to do so without the impressive performance by cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Ramsey was targeted seven times on Sunday, allowing just two receptions for 23 yards. He also recorded a pass breakup and two interceptions, including one that sealed that game for Miami.

For his efforts, Ramsey was awarded AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

This is the second time in his career that the cornerback has received this award, with the first time coming back in 2016 when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Cornerback Xavien Howard was the last Dolphin to win the honor back in 2021 when he had five tackles and a forced fumble that he picked up and returned for a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens.

Miami is racking up the Player of the Week award this season, as he’s the fourth Dolphin to do so this season. Tua Tagovailoa, De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert all received the offensive version of the same honor earlier in the year.

49ers’ Nick Bosa named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after dominant performance vs. Jaguars

Add reigning Defensive Player of the Week to Nick Bosa’s already decorated list of accolades.

While Brock Purdy bounced back with a three passing touchdown performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10, the San Francisco 49ers snapped their three-game losing streak on the back of their new-look defensive line.

The 49ers’ front seven dominated the game, causing havoc in the trenches around Trevor Lawerence. Nick Bosa led the way with a relentless effort on Sunday. Alongside his former college teammate Chase Young, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year notched three tackes, 1.5 sacks, a pass deflection, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Bosa was the fourth member of the 49ers to record a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and pass deflection in the same game since 2000.

Following his dominant performance on Sunday, Bosa was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Via @NFL on Twitter:

This is the fifth time Bosa was named Defensive Player of the Week in his career.

49ers linebacker Fred Warner has also notched a Defensive Player of the Week award this season for his work in Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys.

This post originally appeared onĀ Niners Wire! Follow us onĀ FacebookĀ andĀ Twitter!Ā 

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What Raiders teammates, coaches said about Maxx Crosby following his DPOW performance

What Raiders teammates, coaches said about Maxx Crosby following his DPOW performance

Monday Night the Raiders stepped on the big stage and no one shined quite as bright as star edge rusher Maxx Crosby.

The Pro Bowler was in the Packers’ backfield all day disrupting plays both in the run and the pass which led to him having a sack, a QB hit and four tackles for loss.

His performance earned him the Defensive Player of the Week Honors for Week five.

Robert Spillane and Amik Robertson grabbed some of the spotlight for their interceptions in the game. Spillane in particular had two of them. Here is what he had to say about Crosby after the game.

ā€œThat dude lives possessed. Everything he does is at full speed. At practice, walk-thru, gamesā€¦so, I just admire his work ethic and he shows up every time the lights come on, so Iā€™m just glad to be working behind him.ā€

“Yeah, teams always got to figure out what they want to do with Maxx Crosby. Do they double him? Do they triple him? And he still finds a way to get pressure on the quarterback, so the more that we could do that with four rushers, the better our pass defense will be.”

Robertson had the game-sealing pick in the end zone which preserved the Raiders 17-13 win and made Crosby’s efforts worth it.

ā€œHe gives us an opportunity of being able to get our hands on the ball,” he said of Crosby. “Maxx is making it hard on the quarterbacks week in and week out. We got to do our job as far as covering. We cover well, heā€™ll get home. If he get home, thatā€™s when we get picks. So, itā€™s like it kind of goes hand-in-hand.ā€

Despite having a former offensive coordinator as a head coach, the Raiders have yet to score more than 18 points in a game. Monday they got their second win of the season, both games having scored just 17 points.

Josh McDaniels knows how lucky he is and that without Crosby’s efforts, he would be looking at 1-4 right now.

“Consistency. Maxx [Crosby] does it every day with his effort, his work, how much he cares about every little detail relative to the football team, his teammates, his body, practice,” said McDaliels. “And then he gives it everything he has, every single time he’s out there. And he never comes off the field, as you know. So, tremendous leadership. . . then Maxx just creating problems, tackles for loss, sacks and pressures all game.”

Crosby is having a career year so far, which is saying a lot considering some of his great seasons. But he isn’t satisfied.

ā€œMore is required,” Crosby said of his performance. “For me I feel like Iā€™ve started off doing pretty well. But, like I said, I take it personal. I do this all year round, I want to be the best, and itā€™s an every day process. Next week I gotta be even better. I do it for my guys, I do it for all the people in my circle, I do it for the people I love most. I do it for them, not the people that doubt me. People have been doubting me forever, I do it for the people that believe in me. Every time I go out there I take it personal. Try to stay as level-headed as possible and take it one play at a time. I feel like thatā€™s translated onto the field.ā€

Raiders last opponent wins NFL Offensive Player of the Week, next opponent won DPOY

Facing the Raiders’ defense was just what Josh Allen needed to rebound and win OPOY. Next the Raiders offense gets to face the reigning DPOY.

By any measure, Josh Allen had a rough opening week to the season. He threw three interceptions and the Bills lost to the Jets in overtime despite losing starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the fourth play of the game.

All that turned around for Allen last Sunday when the Bills welcomed the Raiders to town. Allen then went on a tear, throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions while completing nearly 84% of his passes in a 38-10 route of the Raiders.

That effort has won Allen Offensive Player of the Week honors for Week two.

There was a similar experience with the Steelers, who were flattened by the 49ers in the opener 30-7, but who rebounded in Week two to pull out a 22-9 win over the Browns.

Only the Steelers resurgence came on defense.

This effort was led by linebacker Alex Highsmith who had a pick six and a forced fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

That effort earned Highsmith Defensive Player of the Week honors for Week two.

Highsmith and the Steelers’ next stop is Las Vegas as they are the Raiders’ opponent in their home opener Week 3.

Coming with him is TJ Watt, who leads the NFL in sacks (four) and QB hits (nine) in the first two games of the season.

The offense for the Steelers is an entirely different story. As they have easily the worst offense in the league right now.

So, it will be a battle between the Raiders defense which leads to OPOY winners against the NFL’s worst offense and the Raiders’ so-so offense against the Steelers elite defense.

Nick Bosa wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week

Nick Bosa followed up his Defensive Player of the Month for November with a Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of December.

Nick Bosa is on a roll. A week after being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first week of December.

The 49ers’ defensive end was the obvious choice for the Week 13 award (truth be told I’m writing this Tuesday night because I’m so certain he’s going to win). He racked up three tackles, seven pressures, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble that led to a touchdown in San Francisco’s 33-17 win over the Dolphins.

There simply wasn’t a more dominant defensive performer in the NFL, much less the NFC last week.

For Bosa the 3.0 sacks gave him a league-leading 14.5 for the season. Pro Football Focus has him No. 2 in the NFL in pressures with 62, and one behind Vikings DE Za’Darius Smith for the league lead. Bosa is the only player in the top five in pressures to have played 11 games. The rest of the top five have played in 12. Bosa is also first in QB hits (19) and second in pass rush win rate (24.8 percent).

A Defensive Player of the Month immediately followed by a Defensive Player of the Week should push Bosa firmly to the top of the Defensive Player of the Year conversation with five games to play.

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Cowboys’ Micah Parsons named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

Parsons’ five tackles, two sacks, and forced fumble helped seal a Cowboys win over the Rams, and he did it on just one groin. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Even on one groin, Micah Parsons outshone Aaron Donald in the Cowboys’ latest win.

The second-year linebacker tallied three solo tackles and was in on two more, recorded one tackle for loss, logged two quarterback sacks and three quarterback hits, and forced a late fumble that sealed Dallas’s 22-10 win over the defending Super Bowl champs. Amazingly, he did it all after suffering a groin injury that left him limping visibly between plays for the entire second half.

For that remarkable effort, Parsons was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week. It’s his second time winning the award; he also earned the accolade after last season’s Halloween night win over Minnesota.

Parsons is currently in a four-way tie for the league lead in sacks, with six. He’s notched two sacks in three different games so far this season.

Incredibly, Parsons could have easily done even more damage Sunday, as several blatant instances of being held by Rams linemen were not called by officials.

Parsons will reportedly be limited in practice on Wednesday as he nurses his groin injury, but is considered on track to play in Week 6 with the 5-0 Eagles on tap.

Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni has already said that Parsons would be “accounted for every single play” in the divisional clash Sunday night.

But the Rams likely thought they had accounted for him, too.

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Chiefs rookie CB Jaylen Watson earns AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors

In his first career start, #Chiefs rookie CB Jaylen Watson put together a performance worthy of AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

For the second consecutive week, the Kansas City Chiefs have a player taking home an NFL Player of the Week Award. Last week, it was QB Patrick Mahomes for his dominant performance over the Cardinals. This week, it’s CB Jaylen Watson for his game-changing fourth-quarter 99-yard interception returned for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2.

During his first career start, the seventh-round draft pick out of Washington State registered what is the longest go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown scored by a rookie in NFL history. He also recorded four total tackles and allowed just three receptions on eight targets into his coverage according to PFF. Watson said after the game that he knew he’d get an interception. Now he joins Mike Hughes and Marcus Peters (2015, 2016, 2017) as the only Chiefs cornerbacks to earn the honor in the past 10 seasons.

Watson is also the first rookie to win a Player of the Week Award for Kansas City since Tommy Townsend did it in Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season. He’s become just the fourth former Washington State defensive back to earn Defensive Player of the Week, joining the trio of James Hasty, Marcus Trufant and Brian Walker.

Watson has only played 84 defensive snaps in his NFL career and he’s already out here winning weekly awards. It’s still a bit early, but it’s beginning to feel like a safe bet to say that Kansas City has managed to get themselves a steal in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft.

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Former Wisconsin LB Chris Orr nominated for USFL Defensive Player of the Week

Former Badger LB Chris Orr nominated for the Week 2 USFL Defensive Player of the Week:

Former Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr has been making the most of his opportunity in the USFL and was one of four players nominated for this week’s Defensive Player of the Week.

Related: Jonathan Taylor was PFF’s highest-graded running back in 2021

After being waived from the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers in 2021, Orr was selected in the 27th-round of the USFL Draft by the New Jersey Generals. In the General’s victory over the Michigan Panthers on Friday night, Orr led the game with 10 total and three solo tackles.

It is outstanding to see former Badgers like Chris Orr and Garrett Groshek doing so well in the USFL, and if they continue to play so well, I would not be surprised to see them on NFL rosters in the fall.