NFC, AFC player of week announced for NFL Week 15

NFC Players of the Week – Week 15
VIKINGS QB KIRK COUSINS, GIANTS LB KAYVON THIBODEAUX &
LIONS WR KALIF RAYMOND NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 15

Quarterback KIRK COUSINS of the Minnesota Vikings, linebacker KAYVON THIBODEAUX of the New York Giants and wide receiver KALIF RAYMOND of the Detroit Lions are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 15 (December 15, 17-19).

OFFENSE: QB KIRK COUSINS, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
• Cousins passed for a career-high 460 yards with four touchdowns in the Vikings’ 39-36 overtime win over Indianapolis in Week 15. He totaled all four of the touchdown passes and 417 passing yards in the second half and overtime, leading Minnesota back from a 33-0 deficit, the largest comeback victory in NFL history. The win also clinched the NFC North division title for Minnesota.
• This is the seventh-career Offensive Player of the Week award for Cousins and first this season:
o 2015: Weeks 7, 10 (with Washington)
o 2016: Week 11 (with Washington)
o 2017: Week 3 (with Washington)
o 2020: Weeks 12, 17 (with Minnesota)
o 2022: Week 15 (with Minnesota)
• Cousins is the fifth Vikings quarterback to win an Offensive Player of the Week award at least three times with the team, joining Daunte Culpepper (eight-time winner), Randall Cunningham (three), Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre (three) and Wade Wilson (three).

DEFENSE: LB KAYVON THIBODEAUX, NEW YORK GIANTS
• Thibodeaux registered career highs in tackles (12) and tackles for loss (three), as well as recording a strip-sack, which he returned for a touchdown in the second quarter of the Giants’ 20-12 win over the Commanders on Sunday Night Football.
• This is Thibodeaux’s first-career Defensive Player of the Week award, making him the sixth rookie to earn the honor this season. Only the 2014 season has had as many rookies win Defensive Player of the Week.
• Thibodeaux joins linebacker Devon Kennard (2014) as the only Giants rookies to earn the honor and becomes the first former University of Oregon player to earn the award as a rookie.

SPECIAL TEAMS: WR KALIF RAYMOND, DETROIT LIONS
• Raymond recorded a 47-yard punt-return touchdown, the first of his career, in Detroit’s 20-17 win over the New York Jets. It marked only the third punt-return touchdown in the NFL this season.

• This is Raymond’s first-career Special Teams Player of the Week award. He is the fifth Lion to be named a Player of the Week this season.
• He becomes the first player from Holy Cross to ever win a Player of the Week award.

AFC Players of the Week – Week 15

BILLS QB JOSH ALLEN, JAGUARS S RAYSHAWN JENKINS &
CHIEFS P TOMMY TOWNSEND NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 15

Quarterback JOSH ALLEN of the Buffalo Bills, safety RAYSHAWN JENKINS of the Jacksonville Jaguars and punter TOMMY TOWNSEND of the Kansas City Chiefs are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 15 (December 15, 17-19).

OFFENSE: QB JOSH ALLEN, BUFFALO BILLS
• Allen completed 25 of 40 pass attempts (62.5 percent) for 304 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions for a 119.2 passer rating in Buffalo’s 32-29 victory over Miami in Week 15. Allen also added 77 rushing yards in the playoff-clinching divisional win.
• This is Allen’s 10th-career Player of the Week award, and third this season, the most among all players in 2022:
o 2018: Week 17
o 2019: Week 11
o 2020: Weeks 2, 9, 13, 15
o 2021: Weeks 3
o 2022: Weeks 5, 6, 15
• Since Allen entered the NFL in 2018, no other player has won 10 Player of the Week awards.

DEFENSE: S RAYSHAWN JENKINS, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
• Jenkins recorded 18 tackles and two interceptions, including the game-winning 52-yard return in overtime in the Jaguars’ 40-34 comeback win over the Cowboys. His second interception marked the seventh-longest game-winning interception return for a touchdown in overtime since 1974 and the longest since 2015 (Robert Alford, 59 yards).
• Jenkins’ 18 tackles are the most tackles in a game by a player with multiple interceptions since 1991.
• This is the first Defensive Player of the Week for Jenkins and he is the first Jacksonville player to win since Josh Allen (Week 9, 2021).
• He is the first former Miami Hurricanes defensive back to win the award since Antrel Rolle (Week 6, 2012).

SPECIAL TEAMS: P TOMMY TOWNSEND, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
• Townsend recorded four punts with two inside the 20-yard line and a net average of 42.5 yards in Kansas City’s 30-24 overtime win over Houston. The average opponent starting field position following Townsend’s punts on Sunday was the 17.5-yard line, the best in the AFC in Week 15.
• This is the third-career Special Teams Player of the Week award for Townsend (Week 15, 2020 and Week 9, 2021) and first this season.
• He is tied with kicker Evan McPherson for the most Special Teams Player of the Week awards by a former Florida Gator.