Tag: NFC defensive player of the month

Dak Prescott, DaRon Bland win Player of the Month awards for November

From @ToddBrock24f7: After dropping the first game of the month, Prescott and Bland made up for it with award-winning performances the next three weeks.

November got off to a rough start for the Cowboys, with the team falling to the Eagles in a true game of inches just a few days after the calendar page had turned. Things turned around quickly on both sides of the ball, though, with three blowout wins, and now the league has recognized both an offensive and defensive playmaker for their stellar contributions over the last four weeks as a whole.

Quarterback Dak Prescott was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month, and cornerback DaRon Bland was similarly honored as NFC Defensive Player of the Month. It’s the first time ever that the Cowboys have had two Player of the Month winners in the same month.

Prescott sits at or near the top in several passing categories for the season as a whole, but he’s been on an entirely different plane in November. In Weeks 9 through 12, he’s gone 104-for-149 through the air- that’s a 68.4% completion rate- for 1,298 yards and 13 touchdowns… and only one interception, for a QB rating of 121.7.

Within the conference, Prescott placed No. 1 or No. 2 in three of those four weeks in passing yards, and he never finished outside the top 6 in QB rating. He led the NFC in passing yards and touchdown throws for November, and he’s considered a legitimate candidate for league MVP with six games left to play in the regular season.

Bland set a new NFL record on Thanksgiving by recording his fifth interception-return touchdown in a single season. He leads the league with seven picks, three of which have come in his last three outings (and two of those ended up in the end zone). He’s also added four defended passes and 20 tackles over the course of the month. The fifth-round draft pick is the highest-rated cornerback in the NFL this season in passer rating allowed when targeted and is in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year.

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This marks the first monthly award for either player. The Cowboys haven’t had an Offensive Player of the Month since 2014 (they had three that year). Defensively, Micah Parsons won the award for September; this is the first time in franchise history two Cowboys defenders have been so honored in the same season. Brandon Aubrey was the Special Teams Player of the Month in October.

Prescott and Bland have the opportunity to close out their award-winning month in style with a primetime battle against the Seattle Seahawks on the final night of November.

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Danielle Hunter wins NFC Defensive Player of the Month

Hunter terrorized opposing defenses all season long leading to his award

After terrorizing defenses in the month of October, Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Danielle Hunter won NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

The sack leader in the National Football League with 10.0 sacks, Hunter dominated opposing offenses in October. He recorded the third-most sacks in October with 5.0 and led the NFC with two forced fumbles. Hunter also notched 18 tackles with 5.0 tackles for loss.

Hunter was the catalyst of a Vikings defense that led the NFL in forced fumbles (7), third in yards per play (4.6) and yards per game (287).

After being a potential trade piece at the trade deadline, Hunter stayed with the Vikings and will be a really important piece moving forward.

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Cowboys LB Micah Parsons named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

From @ToddBrock24f7: Add another award to the trophy case for the third-year hybrid LB. He’s the fourth Cowboy to win the monthly honor.

Micah Parsons had himself quite a September.

Through three games, the Cowboys hybrid linebacker has already registered 12 tackles, four sacks, 15 quarterback pressures, five tackles for loss, a defended pass, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He nearly tacked on a touchdown, too, but his fumble return against the Jets was called back after it was determined he had been contacted while on the ground.

And for all of that, Parsons has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

It’s his first time winning this particular award; Parsons won NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his Week 2 performance in the team’s 30-10 win over the Jets. He was also the NFC’s Defensive Rookie of the Month twice in 2021.

“Rightfully deserved,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of this latest accolade for the two-time All-Pro. “I think he was definitely Defensive Player of the Year of training camp, too. So he’s really stepped it up. I’m very very pleased with the way Micah has attacked the season so far.”

Cornerback Trevon Diggs won the NFC Defensive Player of the Month award in September 2021, while defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence earned the nod in September 2017. Linebacker Sean Lee won it twice- once in September 2011 and again in October 2013.

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Parsons has recorded 30.5 sacks through 36 games played in his pro career. Franchise leader DeMarcus Ware needed 46 outings to reach the 30-sack milestone.

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Eagles’ LB Haason Reddick named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

After a dominant month of football, Philadelphia Eagles star pass rusher Haason Reddick has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month

The Eagles are the NFL’s No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and they’ll have the defensive player of the month for the final time this season.

The league announced Haason Reddick has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Month after logging eight sacks, five tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and two fumbles recovered during Weeks 13-18.

Reddick had a three-game stretch with consecutive multi-sack performances, becoming the first Eagles player since 2011 to accomplish the feat.

Reddick is now just the third NFL player since 1999 to produce 16.0+ sacks, 5+ FFs, and 3+ FRs in a season, joining T.J. Watt (2021) and Chandler Jones (2019).

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Za’Darius Smith named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

Smith picked up some more hardware on Thursday

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Just a day after winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week for week eight, Za’Darius Smith picked up some more hardware as he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October.

His month of October was excellent. Over four games, Smith torched defenses. He had 12 tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven sacks and PFF credited Smith with 22 pressures.

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The success of Smith should come as no surprise. The only real question came from his injury history. After two injury-plagued seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Smith has found a way to stay healthy.

His pairing with Danielle Hunter has been the catalyst of his success. Teams are paying so much attention to Hunter that Smith has destroyed offensive linemen in one-on-one matchups.

The kicker is that Smith is only a $3.16 million cap hit for the Vikings and $11.424 million on the Packers cap.

Smith has set himself up for a potential All-Pro season as he is currently tied for the league lead in sacks with 8.5.

Bears OLB Robert Quinn named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

Bears OLB Robert Quinn had an impressive November, which garnered him NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors.

Bears outside linebacker Robert Quinn looks like a completely different player after his disappointing debut for Chicago last season. Not only does Quinn look every part the dominant defender the Bears believed they were signing, but he’s making a strong case for Comeback Player of the Year.

Quinn has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, which is made even more impressive by the fact the Bears played just three games.

Quinn had 5.5 sacks and 5 tackles for loss in three games during November, and that was all without outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who landed on season-ending injured reserve with a foot injury.

Quinn has 11 sacks through 11 games, which is tied for the fourth-most in the NFL behind the likes of Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt and Matthew Judon. Quinn has been one of the Bears’ best defensive players this season and a huge part of the success of Chicago’s pass rush, which ranks second in the NFL with 32.

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