Joe Burrow named AFC Offensive Player of the Week

BENGALS QB JOE BURROW, TEXANS DB TAVIERRE THOMAS &JETS WR BRAXTON BERRIOS NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 16

Quarterback JOE BURROW of the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive back TAVIERRE THOMAS of the Houston Texans and wide receiver BRAXTON BERRIOS of the New York Jets are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 16 (December 23, 25-27).

OFFENSE: QB JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS
• Burrow completed 37 of 46 pass attempts (80.4 percent) for a career-high 525 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 143.2 rating in Cincinnati’s 41-21 win over Baltimore. His 525 passing yards are the fourth-most in a single game all-time and his 143.2 rating is the highest by an AFC quarterback in a single game (minimum 15 attempts) this season.
• This marked Burrow’s third career game with at least 400 yards passing and three touchdowns, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks with three such games in their first two career seasons all-time.

• This is Burrow’s second career Offensive Player of the Week award (Week 4) and he is the first Bengals player to win the award twice in one season since Andy Dalton in 2013 (Weeks 6, 14).
• He is the third former player from LSU to win Offensive Player of the Week multiple times, joining Joseph Addai and Dalton Hilliard.

DEFENSE: DB TAVIERRE THOMAS, HOUSTON TEXANS
• Thomas recorded eight tackles and 48-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Texans’ 41-29 win over the Chargers. He was the only AFC player with at least eight tackles and a defensive touchdown in Week 16.
• This is the first Defensive Player of the Week award for Thomas. He is the first Houston player to win the award since Whitney Mercilus (Week 2, 2019).
• Thomas is the first player from Ferris State to win the award.
SPECIAL TEAMS: WR BRAXTON BERRIOS, NEW YORK JETS
• Berrios returned three kickoffs for 138 yards, including a 102-yard kick return for a touchdown, in the Jets’ 26-21 win over Jacksonville. He also returned one punt for 12 yards. His 102-yard return for a touchdown is tied for the longest kickoff return this season.
• This is the first Special Teams Player of the Week award for Berrios and he is the first Jets player to win the award since Jason Myers (Week 6, 2018).

• He is the second former Miami Hurricane player to win Special Teams Player of the Week this season, joining Seattle’s Travis Homer (Week 13).

SPECIAL TEAMS: WR BRAXTON BERRIOS, NEW YORK JETS
• Berrios returned three kickoffs for 138 yards, including a 102-yard kick return for a touchdown, in the Jets’ 26-21 win over Jacksonville. He also returned one punt for 12 yards. His 102-yard return for a touchdown is tied for the longest kickoff return this season.
• This is the first Special Teams Player of the Week award for Berrios and he is the first Jets player to win the award since Jason Myers (Week 6, 2018).

• He is the second former Miami Hurricane player to win Special Teams Player of the Week this season, joining Seattle’s Travis Homer (Week 13).

COWBOYS QB DAK PRESCOTT, FALCONS LB FOYESADE OLUOKUN & RAMS WR BRANDON POWELL NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 16

Quarterback DAK PRESCOTT of the Dallas Cowboys, linebacker FOYESADE OLUOKUN of the Atlanta Falcons and wide receiver BRANDON POWELL of the Los Angeles Rams are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 16 (December 23, 25-27).

OFFENSE: QB DAK PRESCOTT, DALLAS COWBOYS
• Prescott completed 28 of 39 pass attempts (71.8 percent) for 330 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 131.4 rating in the Cowboys’ Week 16 Sunday Night Football win over Washington.
• In Week 16, Prescott had a touchdown pass to a running back, tight end, wide receiver and an offensive lineman. He is the first quarterback in NFL history to accomplish this feat in a regular-season game.
• This is the fifth Offensive Player of the Week award for Prescott and second this season:
o 2019: Weeks 1 and 11
o 2020: Week 2
o 2021: Weeks 6 and 16
• He is one of five quarterbacks to win Offensive Player of the Week multiple times this season, joining Joe Burrow (Weeks 4 and 16), Justin Herbert (Weeks 9, 13 and 14), Patrick Mahomes (Weeks 1 and 10) and Matthew Stafford (Weeks 1 and 3).
• Prescott ties Tony Romo for the second-most Offensive Player of the Week awards ever by a Cowboys quarterback. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman (six-time winner) has more.

DEFENSE: LB FOYESADE OLUOKUN, ATLANTA FALCONS
• Oluokun ranked second in the NFL with 14 tackles last week and recorded one tackle for loss and one interception in the Falcons’ 20-16 win over Detroit.
• He ranks second in NFL with a career-high 166 tackles and is one of four players with 10 games of at least 10 tackles in 2021.
• This is Oluokun’s second-career Defensive Player of the Week award (Week 9, 2020). He joins Deion Jones (Week 7) as Falcons to win the award this season.
• Oluokun becomes the first former Yale Bulldog to win any Player of the Week award multiple times.

SPECIAL TEAMS: WR BRANDON POWELL, LOS ANGELES RAMS
• In Week 16, Powell returned two punts for 75 yards, including a 61-yard punt return touchdown in the Rams’ 30-23 win over the Vikings.
• This is the first Special Teams Player of the Week award for Powell. He is the first player to earn the award for the Rams this season.
• Powell is the third former Florida Gator to win Special Teams Player of the Week this season, joining Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend (Weeks 9) and Bengals kicker Evan McPherson (Weeks 1 and 11).