Tag: player of the game

Patrick Mahomes earns Chiefs Wire’s Player of the Game award in Week 12

For his magnificent performance against the #Panthers, Patrick Mahomes has earned #Chiefs Wire’s Player of the Game award for Week 12.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes put together a marvelous performance against the Carolina Panthers in Week 12 and helped lift the defending Super Bowl champions to their tenth regular season win.

For his outstanding effort in Kansas City’s latest victory, Mahomes has earned Chiefs Wire’s coveted Player of the Game award. B

His impressive showing was the difference between a win and a loss for Kansas City, and Mahomes’ 33-yard scramble on the game’s final drive stood out as the matchup’s defining moment.

The reigning Super Bowl MVP passed for 269 yards, completed 27 of his 37 attempts, and threw three touchdown passes without being intercepted by Carolina’s swarming secondary.

Mahomes achieved success against the Panthers despite his offensive line’s struggle to provide him with a consistent pocket from which to throw the ball. He was sacked five times in the game but compensated for his lack of protection by rushing for 60 yards on five attempts.

Commanders vs. Eagles Player of the Game: LB Frankie Luvu

Frankie Luvu is our Commanders’ Week 11 Player of the Game.

The Washington Commanders lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 26-18 on Thursday Night Football’s Week 11 edition.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, much of it in the second half, to lead Philadelphia to a huge NFC East win over Washington.

While Barkley was terrific for the Eagles, which player shined for the Commanders?

This week’s Washington Player of the Game is linebacker Frankie Luvu. Luvu finished with 10 tackles, behind Jeremy Chinn’s team-leading 12, and had two sacks.

Luvu was everywhere against the Eagles and was a catalyst in Washington’s success against Philadelphia through three quarters. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as Luvu and the defense wore down late in the second half

Luvu’s two sacks give him seven on the season, second only to linebacker/defensive end Dante Fowler Jr.

The Commanders look to get back to their winning ways next week when they return home to face the Dallas Cowboys.

Chiefs have unlikely hero from miracle win over Broncos

Leo Chenal is #Chiefs Wire’s Player of the Game for Week 10 after he blocked a field goal that lifted Kansas City to victory over the #Broncos

While many of the Kansas City Chiefs’ players made significant contributions to the team’s Week 10 win over the Denver Broncos, it was linebacker Leo Chenal who made the play of the game as time expired to seal the victory for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Chenal, who serves a crucial role on Kansas City’s defensive and special teams units, blocked a field goal attempt by Broncos kicker Will Lutz with zeroes on the clock in the fourth quarter.

The game-defining play was, without a doubt, the most important moment in the AFC West showdown, and kept the Chiefs’ perfect season intact for another week.

For his outstanding field goal block against Denver, we are naming Chenal Chiefs Wire’s Player of the Game for Week 10.

In addition to the blocked field goal, Chenal was also credited with four combined tackles in the game, which helped keep rookie quarterback Bo Nix at bay when the Broncos had possession.

This isn’t the first time Chenal has blocked an extra point. His last critical block came in Super Bowl LVIII earlier this year.

Commanders vs. Bengals Player of the Game: Jayden Daniels

Our choice for Player of the Game was easy.

In his third career NFL start, Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels entered Cincinnati as a 7.5-point road underdog against the desperate and winless Bengals.

How did he respond?

Daniels had a record-breaking performance, completing 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards with his first two career touchdown passes. Daniels remained lethal on the ground, too, rushing for 39 yards and another score.

Daniels’ performance helped lead Washington to a commanding 38-33 win over the Bengals. With that performance, he is our Week 3 Player of the Game.

The No. 2 overall pick made several big-time throws, including two to Terry McLaurin. One set up a touchdown run from Daniels, while the second one was a 27-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory with two minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game.

Through three NFL games, Daniels has completed a remarkable 61 of his 76 attempts, with two touchdown passes and three touchdown runs. He set an NFL record for the highest completion percentage for a rookie in a single game in NFL history.

https://twitter.com/NFL_beatwriters/status/1838413838485516740

If Daniels can remain healthy, more records will continue to fall.

 

Lions defense collectively earn Player of the Game honors for Week 3

It could have been Kerby, or Branch, or Hutchinson, so we decided to go with the entire defense vs. the Cardinals

After putting up 28 and 41 points, respectively, in their first two games, the Arizona Cardinals were held to just 13 points by the Lions Sunday. More importantly, Detroit only allowed three points in the second half en route to a 20-13 road victory to put the Lions at 2-1 to start the season.

As a result, given the total team effort on that side of the ball, let’s give the entire defense honors for Player of the Week.

Safety Kerby Joseph had an interception, defensive end Aidan Hutchison had another sack — he now has 6.5 for the season — and the defense held the Cardinals’ running backs to just 32 rushing yards. In addition, Arizona was 1-for-9 on third down.

This was exactly the bounce-back game the Lions needed after falling short in Week 2. The defense will now take aim at Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks next Monday night.

Commanders vs. Giants Player of the Game: RB Brian Robinson Jr.

What a day for Commanders RB Brian Robinson’s in Washington’s Week 2 win over the Giants.

The Washington Commanders picked up their first win of the season on Sunday, defeating the New York Giants 21-18 at Northwest Stadium.

Washington dominated time of possession in the game, holding the ball for over 37 minutes, but failed to score one touchdown. Kicker Austin Seibert, signed last week, made all seven field goal attempts, including a 30-yard game-winner as time expired to give the Commanders the win.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels was efficient, completing 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards, and had several big runs. He finished with 44 rushing yards. However, Washington’s best offensive weapon in the win over the Giants was third-year running back Brian Robinson Jr.

Robinson led all players with 133 rushing yards on 17 attempts. He averaged almost eight yards per carry. The Giants had no answer for Robinson, who broke several long runs. Robinson showed power, vision and speed.

Here is one of Robinson’s long runs.

https://twitter.com/Commanders/status/1835395152644288951

Robinson led an excellent rushing attack from the Commanders. As a team, Washington ran the ball 35 times for 215 yards, with Daniels finishing 44 yards and Austin Ekeler rushing for 38.

Eric Kendricks pilots dominant defensive showing in Cowboys 2024 season opener

The lone free agent of note from the first part of free agency showed why he was a savvy addition out the gate. | From @TimLettiero

The Cowboys opened their 2024 season on the road against an angsty Cleveland Browns team. Facing one of the most well-rounded defensive units in the league, Dallas was bound to struggle offensively. Cleveland’s offense was down both their starting tackles though, giving the front seven of Dallas a great opportunity to put pressure on the passing and running game of the Browns. And that they did.

Dallas never seemed to get clicking on offense, but the defense was as dominant as has been seen in recent times. Cleveland couldn’t get going at all, mustering only 10 points and under 200 total yards before a lengthy garbage-time drive with seven minutes remaining. Dallas put pressure on QB Deshaun Watson all day sacking him six times and picking him off twice. Spearheading this performance was new mike linebacker and savvy veteran Eric Kendricks.

Kendricks already racked up four of his nine tackles by the end of the first quarter, starting off hot. In the second quarter, Micah Parsons got his hands on a Deshaun Watson pass, starting a tip drill which ended in the hands of the veteran.

https://twitter.com/dmn_cowboys/status/1832899032341000556

Kendrick would come and go in the second half as he dealt with some cramping issues due to dehydration but notched his second sack of the game before taking a well-deserved seat on the bench.

https://twitter.com/WhatGoingDowney/status/1832913525154443643

Finishing with an impressive stat line of nine tackles, two sacks and a pick, it’s clear Kendricks feels back at home under new DC Mike Zimmer. His ability to not only to make plays but lead his teammates cannot be understated.

Commanders vs. Buccaneers Player of the Game: QB Jayden Daniels

There wasn’t a lot to choose from for Washington.

After a phenomenal preseason and training camp, many Washington fans hoped quarterback Jayden Daniels would debut similarly to Robert Griffin III in 2012. While Daniels did reach the end zone twice, the results were far more different, with the Commanders falling 37-20 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.

It was an ugly performance for Washington. From start to finish, the Bucs outplayed and outcoached the Commanders. There were bright spots, such as Daniels’ ability to use his legs to create offense for Washington. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overcome a terrible defensive effort and almost no passing game.

It was difficult to choose a player of the game for the Commanders. Still, it came down to Daniels and running back Brian Robinson Jr. We chose Daniels because if not for his running ability, we aren’t so sure that Washington reaches double digits.

Daniels completed 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards while carrying the football 16 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns. While Washington would prefer Daniels not to run the ball 16 times, it was the team’s most effective offense. Daniels used his legs to keep the game close in the first half, picking up several first downs.

While Daniels’s debut was far from perfect, he took care of the football and used his legs to move the chains. Outside of Robinson, that was about all the offense had to offer on Sunday.

So, for that, Daniels is Washington’s Week 1 player of the game.

QB Trey Lance bounced back in a big way to lead Cowboys to win

Lance bounced back after a rough outing to lead the Cowboys to a convincing victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. | From @timlettiero

Who doesn’t love some late-night football? Continuing with their west coast theme, Dallas took on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2 of the 2024 preseason on Saturday night. The Cowboys continued to imposed their will on the defensive side of the ball, but the offense joined the party this week.

Once again Dallas went with the two-QB approach with Cooper Rush getting the start before handing the reigns to Trey Lance. Rush was only given a few pass attempts before Lance got his number called, which might just become the story of who took the QB2 job.

After failing to reach the end zone against the Rams, Lance orchestrated two touchdown drives in throwing for 151 yards with a 98.3 rating and rushing for 36 more. The performance earns him Cowboys Wire’s Player of the Game honor.

Lance started off slow with back to back three-and-out drives. It was reminiscent to how thigns went in Week 1 against the Rams with several bullet passes badly missing their mark.

Midway through the second quarter, though, he settled in and orchestrated a drive capped off by a beautiful touch pass to rookie WR Ryan Flournoy in the corner of the end zone.

On the following drive, he ushered the Cowboy offense 38 yards in only 25 seconds to set up a career long and faux-NFL-record tying 66-yard field goal attempt for K Brandon Aubrey. Surprisng no one, Aubrey nailed it with yards to spare.

Similar to the first half, Lance start off slow returning from the locker room. Dallas struggled to get the ball moving before Lance put on a show with his arm and legs to bring the Cowboy lead to 27-12, where it would finish.

 

Lance had a few purple patches but settled down at the end of both halves to deliver two clutch, touchdown-scoring drives. His accuracy and comfort levels seemed to take a massive step forward. It was not a perfect performance by any means but certainly one he can build on going forward with more snaps.

Rico Payton is our Saints player of the game for Preseason Week 2

Our player of the game for the New Orleans Saints’ second preseason matchup is cornerback Rico Payton. The rookie from Pittsburg State has been impressive:

The second preseason game for the New Orleans Saints has been completed, with a 16-10 loss being the result against the San Francisco 49ers. A 13-point second quarter powered the 49ers to their victory, and despite that, the Saints looked solid in the first half and had some standout performances.

Of those standouts the most notable was undrafted free agent cornerback Rico Payton, who ended the first preseason game exceptionally well and carried his momentum into this week. In his first NFL game Payton ended with a 91.7 Pro Football Focus grade, 90.9 coverage grade, and 4 forced incompletions according to PFF. He picked up where he left off.

Payton had an exceptional game against the 49ers as well, with 3 tackles (2 solo) and a pass deflection, which was an extremely impressive play. He lost touch with wide receiver Danny Gray for a slight second along the left sideline, and was able to catch up to close the gap and bat the ball away for an incompletion. What a play by the rookie from Pittsburg State.

His impressive performances makes things extremely intriguing in the cornerback room, as four spots are already locked up presumably with Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Alontae Taylor. However, if another roster spot were to be available at the position, you would have to assume Payton is well within reach of attaining it.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]