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MCNABB, PATRIOTS LB TEDY BRUSCHI & Quarterback DONOVAN MCNABB of the Philadelphia Eagles, linebacker TEDY BRUSCHI of the New England Patriots and punt returner ALLEN ROSSUM of the Atlanta Falcons are the NFL Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for Divisional Weekend (January 15-16), the NFL announced today. OFFENSE: QB DONOVAN MCNABB, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES · McNabb led the Eagles to their fourth consecutive NFC Championship Game berth by posting a 111.4 passer rating, completing 22 of 33 passes for 286 yards with a pair of touchdowns without an interception in defeating Minnesota, 27-14. By halftime, the sixth-year veteran from Syracuse had connected on 16 of 22 pass attempts for 209 yards. In the game's final 30 minutes, the Eagles ran the ball 15 times and threw only 11 passes as McNabb guided his team to a two-possession lead for 41:48 of the game's 60 minutes. This is the fifth-career Player of the Week Award for McNabb and is his second this season (Week 13). DEFENSE: LB TEDY BRUSCHI, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS · New England’s Bruschi played a key role in helping the Patriots win their seventh-consecutive playoff game as the club stymied the Colts, 20-3, in Gillette Stadium Sunday. Bruschi made eight tackles, forced a fumble and recovered two more as the Patriots limited the NFL's top-scoring offense to three points to advance to their third AFC Championship Game in the past four years. Four of Bruschi's eight tackles were within three yards of the line of scrimmage. Perhaps Bruschi's biggest play came with 3:19 remaining in the first half while the Patriots nursed a 6-0 lead. On the eighth play of an Indianapolis drive, the Colts faced 2nd down and 17 from New England's 39-yard line and closing in on field goal range. Bruschi closed in on Colts’ running back Dominic Rhodes, who had just hauled in a screen pass, and stripped the ball away to thwart a scoring threat on Indianapolis' longest drive of the first half. Bruschi and the New England defense allowed the Colts 22:17 of ball possession and limited NFL MVP Peyton Manning to a 69.3 passer rating -- his lowest since last season's AFC Championship Game when the Patriots limited him to a 35.5 mark. This is the fifth-career Player of the Week Award for Bruschi, his third this season (Weeks 4 and 17). SPECIAL TEAMS: PR ALLEN ROSSUM, ATLANTA FALCONS · In a convincing 47-17 win over St. Louis, Rossum set an NFL playoff record with 152 yards on three punt returns -- a staggering 50.7-yard average. The 5-foot-8 return specialist brought back a punt 68 yards for a touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Falcons a 28-14 cushion. He had returns of 39 and 45 yards in the third quarter to set up a touchdown and field goal for the host Falcons, respectively. Rossum broke the mark set by Minnesota's Anthony Carter, who had 143 punt return yards against the Saints in 1987. In his seventh year out of Notre Dame, this is Rossum’s third-career Player of the Week Award, his first with the Falcons and first since 2000. 2004 NFL PLAYOFFS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
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