Tag: special teams player of the week

Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

From @ToddBrock247: All 4 of Aubrey’s field goals vs Tampa Bay were from 49 yards or longer. The performance helped the second-year star set several records.

Mr. Claus, if you’re reading this before your sleigh is fully loaded up for this year’s ride, you may want to grab a bigger trophy case to drop off for Brandon Aubrey.

He’s quickly running out of space in his current one.

The Cowboys kicker has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his four-field goal performance in Sunday night’s 26-24 win over the Tampa bay Buccaneers. Incredibly, all four boots came from 49 yards or beyond.

Aubrey won the weekly award twice last season as a rookie. He won the monthly version of the award for September of this season, as well in both October and December of last year.

The second-year phenom nailed kicks of 49 and 53 yards on Sunday night, as well as two from 58 yards in the Week 16 win. That gave him 14 so far in 2024 from 50-plus, the most in league history from that distance in a single season (although Texans specialist Ka’imi Fairbairn has 13 and could theoretically be the recordholder by season’s end).

Per NFL.com, Sunday marked just the fourth time ever that a kicker has converted multiple field goals from 58 yards or longer, and Aubrey’s done it two of those times.

The 29-year-old seems a strong contender to be named to his second Pro Bowl and could bring home a second straight All-Pro nod. He is a perfect 28-for-28 on PATs and has connected on 85.7% of his field goal tries this season, including a remarkable 87.5% on attempts from 50 or longer.

Aubrey drilled a 66-yarder earlier in the season, the second-longest in NFL history. He tried one from 70 yards in Week 15 but sailed the attempt wide left. Coaches blamed windy conditions at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium for the miss and believe 70 yards is within Aubrey’s range.

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Aubrey’s long-distance efforts Sunday gave him back-to-back seasons with 10 or more field goals from 50 yards or beyond, the first time that’s ever happened.

Additionally, he has now attempted more field goals -42- in a single season than any kicker in Cowboys franchise history.

And he still has two more games on the regular-season schedule.

That’s plenty of time for Aubrey to rack up a few more trophies for the case.

Maybe you’d better make it an extra large, Santa.

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Broncos returner Marvin Mims wins much-deserved AFC award

Congrats to Broncos receiver/returner Marvin Mims for being named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week!

Denver Broncos wide receiver and returner Marvin Mims was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after he totaled 97 punt-return yards in a 31-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.

Mims’ 61-yard punt return in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Broncos, and the team never looked back from there. After Sunday’s win, the receiver deflected praise to his blocking teammates.

“I think the punt returners, we know how good we are and how we’re at the top of the league at it and we have a lot of confidence in that unit,” Mims said. “To be able to get that opportunity, it’s goes good for us almost every time. Those guys are really into it, they clean it up a lot for me to make a play.”

The receiver has made an impact for Denver both on offense and on special teams this year, playing as a receiver, running back and returner.

“I think Marvin has had an unbelievable year,” offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Especially the second half of this year, we’re using him a lot on offense. He’s been in the backfield, the slot, out wide, and obviously his calling card has always been in the return game.

“He’s been so vital for us not only this year, but last year making the Pro Bowl as a rookie for returning. That gave us a spark tonight and we needed it. Our defense and special teams gave us a lot of help. Marvin had two or three returns that really changed the game.”

This is the second time Mims has won a Special Teams Player of the Week award after he previously took home the honor as a rookie in Week 10 last season.

“I tell him all the time — those plays, those hidden yards, somebody that didn’t watch the game, they’re not going to see that highlight, but anybody that’s tapped into the game and really watches it and wants to understand what’s going on in the game will understand him doing that,” receiver Courtland Sutton said. “Even if it’s 10 yards, it’s such a big momentum change for us.

“Just to see him running with the ball — he’s an exciting guy with the ball in his hands — and watching him go down the sidelines a couple times today, it’s exciting because at any moment you know that he could take it to the crib. It gives us that switch; we were kind of struggling moving the ball consistently and for him to go and get us those hidden yards and for us to be able to capitalize on them is huge.”

Mims, 22, has totaled 902 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns so far this season. He’s an underrated part of the team’s success, but this award will help put Mims in the spotlight where he belongs.

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Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

From @ToddBrock24f7: Turpin’s 360-degree spin move versus the Commanders set up an electrifying kick-return score and cemented his first win of the weekly award.

KaVaontae Turpin just picked up a shiny new piece of hardware. Maybe it will go on the shelf right next to the commercial-grade blender he put the entire Commanders kickoff-coverage team into in order to earn the award.

The Cowboys return specialist was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 12, an accolade given almost solely for the electrifying 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown he executed in the closing minutes of Dallas’s 34-26 win over Washington last Sunday.

It’s the first time he’s won the weekly award.

The play certainly didn’t start out looking like an award-winning effort from the speedster, who muffed the kick at first and had to retrieve the loose ball from the 1-yard line, turning his back to all 11 Commanders players to do so.

When Turpin turned around, he was moving at what looked to be half-speed as he reached a wall of would-be tacklers. And then he hit the purée button, pulling off a bewildering 360-degree spin move that caused a moment’s hesitation for every player wearing red.

Turpin came out of the spin in turbo mode and raced nearly untouched all the way to the end zone. The return, his first kick-return score in a regular-season NFL game, didn’t quite cement the Cowboys win, but it did lock up Turpin’s first Special Teams Player of the Week nod.

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The 28-year-old and former USFL MVP returned a punt for a touchdown in the season opener versus Cleveland. He also scored on a 64-yard reception in Week 11’s loss to Houston in which he hit 22.36 miles per hour, the fastest recorded time for a player thus far in the 2024 season.

Turpin has said he’s worried he may not get another chance at returning a kick now that opponents have seen the spin move he’d been saving for a desperate moment.

At least he made it count by turning it into an award-winner.

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Packers DL Karl Brooks named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Packers DL Karl Brooks was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 11 of the 2024 season after blocking a FG to win Sunday’s showdown with the Bears.

Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after blocking a field goal to preserve the Packers’ 20-19 win over the Chicago Bears during Week 11 of the 2024 season.

Kicker Cairo Santos lined up a 46-yard field goal with three seconds to go, but Brooks got his left arm up and got just enough of the attempt to leave it well short as time expired.

Brooks is the second player to block a game-winning field goal attempt and earn Special Teams Player of the Week this season, joining Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (Week 10).

Brooks is the first Packers player to be named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week since Keisean Nixon in Week 17 of 2022. He’s also the first Packers defensive lineman to win the award.

Weekly awards won by Packers, 2024

S Xavier McKinney — NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 5
LB Edgerrin Cooper — NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Week 8
DL Karl Brooks — NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Week 11

Bills’ Tyler Bass named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Bills’ Tyler Bass named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Week 9’s win over the Miami Dolphins.

In the win, Bass accounted for one-third of the Bills’ points (10). He was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and 1-for-2 on extra points.

The most crucial kick, and the kick that played the biggest role in him receiving the award, was a 61-yarder which proved to be the game-winner with five seconds left.

Along with the game-winner, Bass also connected on field goals from 40 and 49 yards out, an area which he has struggled in.

The 61-yarder was not only a career-long for Bass, but it was a franchise record for the Bills. It is the only 60-yard field goal in Bills history. He surpassed Steve Christie, who connected on a 59-yarder in 1993.

Following the game, Josh Allen told CBS Sports, “I’m emotional for him. He’s been battling his butt off, fighting adversity. You saw that today. To be there in the biggest moment and nail that for us… I’m so proud of him. I love that man.”

That support from his teammates is what led to Bass getting emotional while receiving the game ball after the game.

Here’s another look at the new record for the longest field goal in Bills history.

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Broncos have their first weekly award winner of 2024 season

Broncos kicker Wil Lutz has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the team’s 26-7 victory over the Bucs in Week 3.

Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the team’s 26-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3, the NFL announced Wednesday.

Lutz, 30, went 4-of-4 on field goal attempts and 2-of-2 on extra points attempts in Week 3, accounting for 14 of the team’s points against the Bucs. This marks the fifth weekly award of Lutz’s career and the first time a Broncos player has taken home such an honor this season.

Lutz was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month in November 2023, but his STPOFW award is the first for a Denver kicker since Brandon McManus took home the honors in 2021 (Week 14).

Lutz is the fourth kicker in Broncos history to have won the award, joining McManus (twice), Matt Prater (five times) and Jason Elam (seven times).

Lutz is 39-of-43 on field goal attempts since the Broncos acquired the kicker via trade with the New Orleans Saints last summer.

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Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey wins NFC Special Teams Player of the Week again

From @ToddBrock24f7: Aubrey connected on 4 field goals of 45+ yards Sunday night and became the first player ever to kick two of 59 yards or more in one game.

Brandon Aubrey has done it again.

Actually, he’s done it 30 times in a row now. But for the four long-distance field goals he put through the uprights in Sunday in the Cowboys’ impressive 33-13 win over Philadelphia, the rookie kicker has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Week 14 saw Aubrey become the first player in league history to boot two field goals of 59 yards or beyond in the same game with a 60-yarder in the first quarter and a 59-yarder in the third. He followed those bombs with two relatively shorter ones- from only 45 and 50- in addition to three PATs on the night.

Aubrey has now made all 30 of his field goal tries this season, extending the record he himself set in Week 8 for most consecutive field goals to start an NFL career. He won the NFC’s weekly award for that performance as well.

The 28-year-old former soccer star is proving himself to be not only exceptionally accurate but also extraordinary from long distances; he now already eight field goals of 50 or more yards in just 13 games as a pro.

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After Sunday’s win, in which he buried even his 60-yard field goal into the net with more than enough leg, he was asked if he could connect from, say, 70 yards.

“I can, absolutely,” he said.

At this point in Aubrey’s unlikely but award-winning season, that unthinkable number doesn’t seem the least bit outrageous.

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Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

From @ToddBrock24f7: Aubrey is the first Cowboy to win the weekly award since Brett Maher, the man he replaced. Maher won it in 2019 and twice in 2018.

It’s been quite the turnaround at the kicker position for the Dallas Cowboys.

After veteran Brett Maher shanked a league-record four PATs in one game- a playoff appearance, no less- in January, it was apparent the team would move on. And while most fans spent the offseason eyeballing seasoned free agents like Mason Crosby, Robbie Gould, and Ryan Succop, the Cowboys settled on NFL newcomer Brandon Aubrey.

It turned out to be a stroke of genius; Aubrey was just named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for Sunday’s performance versus the Rams.

Aubrey went 5-for-5 on extra points and hit both of his field goal tries, including a booming 58-yarder during Dallas’s 43-20 home trouncing of Los Angeles. It was the rookie’s longest field goal of the season. His 18 consecutive three-pointers to start an NFL career ties a league record.

The onetime Notre Dame soccer star looked to be on his way to an MLS career after being a first-round draft pick for Toronto FC in 2017. But his soccer dreams had been completely derailed by 2018, and Aubrey became a software engineer.

It was only in 2019, when his wife encouraged him to try kicking an oblong ball instead, that Aubrey turned his attention from futbol to football. He went on to win back-to-back championships with the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions and was invited to camp with the Cowboys in July, where he beat out Tristan Vizcaino for the starting job.

Aubrey missed his very first NFL kick, an extra point attempt versus the Giants on opening night, but he’s been perfect since then, with the Cowboys coaching staff raving about his cannon of a leg, his effortless stroke, and his quiet confidence.

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Quarterback Dak Prescott even revealed that he’s nicknamed Aubrey “Butter” because he is so smooth.

And with this award, as special teams coordinator John Fassel joked upon first hearing the nickname, yes, Aubrey definitely appears to be on a roll.

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Packers KR Keisean Nixon named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 17 in 2022

Keisean Nixon’s 105-yard kickoff return touchdown earned him NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for Week 17 of the 2022 season.

He played only three snaps during Sunday’s 41-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings, but Green Bay Packers kickoff returner Keisean Nixon did more than enough to earn his first league-wide weekly honor.

Nixon, who returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown, was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 17 of the 2022 season.

Nixon’s kickoff return was the longest in the NFL this season, and he is now the league leader in kickoff return yards and kickoff return average in 2022. Over the last seven games, Nixon has six games with 100 or more return yards.

Nixon’s kickoff return touchdown was the franchise’s first since 2011 and the third-longest in team history. It was also the longest kickoff return in the NFL since the 2017 season (Alvin Kamara, 106).

Punter Pat O’Donnell was the last Packer to win the award. He was named Special Teams Player of the Week in the NFC in Week 3.

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Dave Toub addresses Tommy Townsend’s selection as AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Pro Bowl punter

Dave Toub spoke about a certain quality in #Chiefs P Tommy Townsend’s game that saw him recognized for both AFC Player of the Week, Pro Bowl honors. | from @TheJohnDillon

The Kansas City Chiefs special teams unit has been guided by the watchful eye of coordinator Dave Toub.

Under his tutelage, third-year P Tommy Townsend was named the AFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Texans. It was his third career Player of the Week award, extending his streak of the most by a Chiefs punter. The veteran coach had plenty to say about Townsend in comments to the media on Wednesday.

Asked which of Townsend’s qualities gives the Chiefs the biggest edge on special teams, Toub told reporters that it boiled down to just one thing.

“Consistency,” Toub said. “I mean when I first stood up here in the beginning of the season everybody said, ‘What’s going to be the difference with Tommy this year?’ It’s his consistency because we’ve seen flashes of him being great, but his consistency is what really stands out this year.

“You look at his charts and his grades that I have on my board and it’s just above average all the way across (the board) and you know if not that, he’s getting (AFC) Special Teams Player of the Week which is probably the greatest honor somebody can get and he’s gotten it for the month too with September (AFC Special Teams Player of the Month) so it says a lot about his year. He’s had a Pro Bowl year, and he’s been a major factor for us on special teams this year.”

Toub’s quote on Townsend would end up being a hint of things to come later in the day, as the punter was named as the AFC’s Pro Bowl Games representative at his position on Wednesday night. A worthy selection, Townsend has had an absolutely marvelous season for Kansas City in 2022 and looks to be settling into his role as longtime Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt’s permanent replacement following his departure from the team in 2019.

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