The season is rolling along, with an unmistakable rhythm to each week.
The rhythm on early Wednesday morning is simple. It’s awards time.
Here are the players and coaches and moments we recognize from the weekend that was, just as we begin to pivot to the next weekend.
Offensive player of the week: Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
For a while, Burrow seemed to be on pace to have his second career 500-yard game, or to maybe break the 71-year-old single-game record of 554, held by Norm Van Brocklin. Ultimately, Burrow generate 481 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 35-17 win over Atlanta.
The offensive outburst helped nudge the Bengals toward being what they were in 2021. They’re in the thick of things at 4-3. If Burrow keeps performing at this level, they’ll be squarely in the mix come January.
Other finalists: Panthers quarterback P.J. Walker (16 for 22, 177 yards, two touchdowns), Titans center Ben Jones, Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd (8 catches, 155 yards, one touchdown), Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase (seven catches, 124 yards, two touchdowns), Seahawks running back Ken Walker III (168 rushing yards, two touchdowns), Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (143 rushing yards, three touchdowns).
Defensive player of the week: Bears linebacker Roquan Smith.
The fifth-year linebacker made a bet on himself, and he’s winning so far. With 12 tackles, a sack, and an interception on Monday night, Smith was a major difference maker for the Bears.
Whether it makes a difference financially remains to be seen. The Bears can apply the franchise tag in the offseason, keeping Smith from getting to the open market.
Or the Bears could give him the contract he has earned. If there’s a way to negotiate a satisfactory outcome, given that Smith is representing himself. Smith’s performance on Monday night gives the Bears even more reason to try.
Other finalists: Ravens defensive end Justin Houston (two sacks), Titans defensive back Andrew Adams (pick six), Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (pick six), Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (two sacks), Dolphins defensive back Noah Igbinoghene (game-clinching interception).
Rookie of the week: Seahawks running back Ken Walker III.
Surgery in the preseason slowed him down to start the regular season. Nothing can slow him now.
Walker had 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a 74-yard score.
He has gotten better each week, from 10 yards in Week Two to 19 in Week Three to 29 in Week Four to 88 in Week Five to 97 in Week Six to 168 in Week Seven. At this rate, he’ll be setting the single-game record, soon.
Other finalists: Bears safety Jaquan Brisker (interception, just a few players after getting a Mac Jones shoe in the crotch), Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams (two sacks, forced fumble), Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner (three pass breakups), Texans running back Dameon Pierce (20 carries, 92 rushing yards).
Coach of the week: Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks.
Owner David Tepper has said Wilks can get the permanent position if he does an “incredible” job. He did something pretty incredible on Sunday, with the Panthers shutting down the Buccaneers, 21-3.
Wilks has inspired the locker room. Linebacker Shaq Thompson said that Wilks was “fucked over” by the Cardinals, who fired him after a single 3-13 season in 2018. Wilks told PFT that he’s thinking only about the next week.
That’s the right approach. And if Wilks can continue to motivate and guide and strategize the way he did just days after losing Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers can perform well enough to make it impossible to not hire him.
Other finalists: Bears coach Matt Eberflus, Commanders coach Ron Rivera, Chiefs coach Andy Reid.
Play of the week: Dropped touchdown pass by Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans.
Usually, we pick a great play. But no play was more impactful in Week Seven than this one.
It happened on the third play from scrimmage in Charlotte. A deep pass that a wide-open Evans had in his hands, for a walk-in touchdown. Evans dropped it.
Evans, a soft-spoken player who has a knack for landing in strange and unusual controversies, admitted after the game that the Bucs never recovered from the moment. The Panthers, in turn, seized the fact that, as Panthers coach Steve Wilks told PFT after the game, “the football gods are on our side.”
Other finalists: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Aaron Jones, Giants stopping Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk at the one yard line to preserve a win, Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke’s 37-yard touchdown pass to receiver Terry McLaurin, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s 32-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Seahawks running back Ken Walker III’s 74-yard touchdown run, Jets running back Breece Hall’s 62-yard touchdown run, Steelers receiver George Pickens’s seven-yard touchdown catch.
