Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. won his first career Player of the Week award.
Penix threw for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Falcons’ 29–20 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. It was a banner week for quarterbacks and linebackers: Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow won the AFC award; linebackers Alex Singleton and Blake Cashman won the defensive awards; and Burrow’s teammate Ryan Rehkow and Detroit Lions edge rusher D.J. Wonnum won the special teams awards.
“Obviously, me as a quarterback, just any position, you can’t do that by yourself,” Penix said at a press conference Wednesday. “So, it shows the guys that I have around me, the guys we have in this building. I couldn’t do that without the offensive line. I couldn’t do it without the skill guys making plays for me. So they make my job easier, but it’s an awesome award, so I’m thankful for it.”
On a day when the Niners’ defense kept superstar running back Bijan Robinson in check, Penix rose to the occasion. He completed 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards and 3 scores: one to wide receiver Drake London, and one to tight ends Kyle Pitts and Nick Muse.
His efforts, combined with 2 interceptions from the defense, handed the 49ers their first loss of the season and put the Falcons half a game out of first place in the NFC South. It was the first Player of the Week Award for the third-year signal caller.
Another quarterback took home the award on the AFC side. Joe Burrow led the Bengals—down 13–0 at the half—to a 35–13 comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens. The sixth-year man and former first overall pick won his ninth AFC Offensive Player of the Week award after completing 22 of 30 passes for 292 yards and 4 touchdowns, to wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, and tight ends Mike Gesicki and Drew Sample.
The Bengals are 4–2, but they are half a game behind both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns in the race for the AFC North title.
Burrow’s teammate punter Ryan Rehkow won his first career Player of the Week award for his performance on special teams. Rehkow punted four times for 184 yards in the win: all four were downed inside the Ravens’ 12-yard line, three of which were downed inside the 6.
He punted three times in the first half and didn’t punt again until garbage time, after the Bengals chewed some clock in the last 4 minutes of the game.
Defensively, the awards in both conferences went to linebackers. Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman was a game-wrecker in their 16–10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Cashman finished the game with 12 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss; 2 sacks; 3 hits on the quarterback; and 4 passes defended.
But Cashman was not satisfied with his performance, telling reporters Wednesday that he left some plays on the field.
“I’m pleased with the performance of our defense, but not satisfied yet,” he said. “And I think it’s just because of the mentality myself and the rest of the guys on our defense carry ourselves with. For instance, that [pass break-up] I had … if I was one tenth of a step faster or just played the second window … I probably would have picked it off and walked into the end zone. So, I start looking at the film as, ‘hey, what are the good plays we made, but how can they be great?’”
In the AFC, Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton made history, earning his first Player of the Week award of his 8-year NFL career (he played 3 years in the CFL before that). Singleton had 19 tackles, with a TFL, a sack, and 2 QB hits. His 19 tackles are the most in a single game this season, the most by a single player in a regulation game since 2023, and the fourth-most by a Broncos linebacker since 1994.
“It was just doing my job,” Singleton said of his performance Wednesday. “Having 15 against the Chiefs in week one obviously wasn’t great. It was making up for bad plays and just running to the ball. So having a lot of tackles doesn’t necessarily mean you played a good game. I think it matters in a game like this, where a team scored 16 points, and you can do that too. That’s what makes it just a little sweeter.”
The NFC Special Teams Award went to Detroit Lions edge rusher D.J. Wonnum, who blocked a go-ahead field goal attempt against the Green Bay Packers, setting up the Lions’ eventual game-winner.
