Fans To Vote For Winner On NFL.com
Safety ROMAN HARPER of the New Orleans Saints, defensive end
PATRICK KERNEY of the Seattle Seahawks, cornerback ASANTE SAMUEL of the New England Patriots, safety DWIGHT SMITH of the Minnesota Vikings and linebacker
PATRICK WILLIS of the San Francisco 49ers are the finalists for GMC DEFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK honors for games played on November 22 - 26, the NFL announced
today.
Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com beginning
immediately following Monday Night Football and ending on Thursday at 4:00 pm
EST to determine the GMC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK. The winner will be announced
Thursday evening on NFL.com.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for
GMC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com
throughout the month of January.
A closer look at the finalists:
New Orleans’ ROMAN HARPER led a Saints secondary with
five tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in the Saints’ 31 –
6 win over the Carolina Panthers. Harper contributed to a Saints defense that
picked off three Panthers’ passes and held Carolina to just 152 yards
passing.
Seattle’s PATRICK KERNEY recorded seven tackles, three
sacks, one interception and one forced fumble in the Seahawks’ 24 –
19 win over the St. Louis Rams. Kerney led a defense that pressured both Rams
QBs and limited the pair to only one passing touchdown.
New England’s ASANTE SAMUEL finished with three tackles
and two interceptions in the Patriots’ 31 – 28 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Samuel returned A.J. Feeley’s second throw of the game 40 yards
for a touchdown and again intercepted Feeley in the end zone with the Pats holding
onto a 31-28 lead in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota’s DWIGHT SMITH returned two interceptions for
a total of 112 yards and one touchdown in the Vikings’ 41 – 17 win
over the New York Giants. Smith also posted four tackles and defensed three
passes. The 93-yard interception was the third longest interception return in
team history and the 112 total yards on interception returns was the second
most in team history.
San Francisco’s PATRICK WILLIS made 18 tackle, ½
sack and one pass defensed in the 49ers’ 37 – 31 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Willis ran down Sean Morey on a 62-yard reception in overtime preventing
him from potentially scoring and winning the game for the Cardinals.