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AFC-POW-12    12/1/04

COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING, DOLPHINS DE JASON TAYLOR &
RAIDERS T LANGSTON WALKER NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 12

Quarterback PEYTON MANNING of the Indianapolis Colts, defensive end JASON TAYLOR of the Miami Dolphins and offensive tackle LANGSTON WALKER of the Oakland Raiders are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the 12th week of the 2004 season (November 25, 28-29), the NFL announced today.

OFFENSE: QB PEYTON MANNING, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

·        Indianapolis’ Manning threw for six touchdowns without an interception, completing 23 of 28 passes (82.1 percent) for 236 yards and a 141.4 passer rating in a 41-9 win against Detroit on Thanksgiving.  Manning, who had more touchdown passes than incompletions, left the contest late in the third quarter with the game in hand.  The seven-year pro from Tennessee now owns a streak of five consecutive games with at least four touchdown passes, which is an NFL record, surpassing the previous mark of four games achieved by Miami’s DAN MARINO in 1984.  His six touchdowns last Thursday marked the second six-TD day of his career and his sixth outing of five-or-more touchdowns, tying Marino’s NFL record of six career games with five or more touchdown passes.  With the win, Indianapolis (8-3) increased its lead in the AFC South to two games over Jacksonville (6-5).

This is the third Player of the Week Award for Manning this season (Weeks 3 & 10) and the tenth of his career.

DEFENSE: DE JASON TAYLOR, MIAMI DOLPHINS

·        Miami’s Taylor was a force last Sunday in totaling 3.0 sacks and six tackles along with two passes defensed, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble which was recovered in the San Francisco endzone by a teammate for a touchdown in a 24-17 road win.  The 6-6, 255-pound Taylor’s 3.0 sacks equal a career-high, achieved three previous times.  Taylor’s fumble recovery was the 18th of his career and established a club record, surpassing DICK ANDERSON (17) and BOB BAUMHOWER (17) for the most career fumble recoveries by a Dolphins player. 

In his eighth season from Akron, this is the fourth career Player of the Week Award for Taylor.  The Pittsburgh native was most recently honored with the distinction exactly one year ago – Week 12 of 2003.

 SPECIAL TEAMS: T LANGSTON WALKER, OAKLAND RAIDERS

• Oakland’s Walker blocked a 42-yard Broncos field goal attempt with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to enable the Raiders to hang on to a 25-24 lead and eventual victory Sunday night in snowy Denver.  Walker’s game-saving block came on the heels of a 44-yard, 1:12 Denver drive which placed the Broncos within field goal range in the game’s waning moments.  For Walker, a 6-8, 345-pound offensive tackle, it was his second blocked kick in as many weeks as the Oakland native blocked an extra point in Week 11 against San Diego.

In his third year from California, this is Walker’s first Player of the Week Award.

2004 AFC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Other nominees for AFC Offensive Player of Week 12 were:

• Pittsburgh running back JEROME BETTIS, who ran the ball 31 times for 100 yards and a touchdown in a 16-7 win against Washington.  Bettis has reached 100 or more rushing yards in four consecutive games.
• San Diego quarterback DREW BREES, who passed for a career-high 378 yards and two touchdowns on 28 of 37 passing (71.1 percent) for a 125.7 rating in a 34-31 win at Kansas City, snapping the Chargers’ seven-year losing streak at Arrowhead Stadium.
• Oakland quarterback KERRY COLLINS, who completed 26 of 45 passes for 339 yards with four touchdowns against two interceptions for a 92.7 passer rating.
• Houston running back DOMANICK DAVIS, who compiled 181 total yards (129 rushing and 52 receiving) on 16 carries and seven receptions in a 31-21 win over Tennessee.  Davis’ 181 yards accounted for 55.2 percent of the team’s total offensive yards.
• New England running back COREY DILLON, who rushed for 123 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries against a stingy Baltimore defense in sloppy field conditions for a 24-3 home win.
• Kansas City tight end TONY GONZALEZ, who caught eight passes for 105 yards.
• Indianapolis wide receiver MARVIN HARRSION, who caught 12 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns.  Harrison now stands eighth on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 822.
• Cleveland quarterback KELLY HOLCOMB, who tied a club record with five touchdown passes against two interceptions on 30 of 39 (76.9 percent) passing for 414 yards in a 58-48 loss at Cincinnati.  Holcomb’s 414 passing yards account for the third-most in team history.
• Cincinnati running back RUDI JOHNSON, who rushed for a career-best 202 yards on 26 carries (7.8-yard average) with two touchdowns.
• Buffalo running back WILLIS MC GAHEE, who scored on four touchdown runs and totaled 116 rushing yards on 28 carries in a 38-9 win at Seattle.  McGahee became the third player in club history to score four rushing touchdowns in a game.
• Oakland wide receiver JERRY PORTER, who caught six passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

Other nominees for AFC Defensive Player of Week 12 were:

• New England linebacker TEDY BRUSCHI, who had seven tackles, including 1.0 sack for an 18-yard loss. Johnson also forced a fumble in the Ravens’ endzone which was recovered by a teammate for a touchdown.
• San Diego linebacker DONNIE EDWARDS, who had a team-high 10 tackles and a fourth-quarter interception to set-up a game-winning field goal.
• Kansas City linebacker SHAUNARD HARTS, who registered 11 tackles.
• Houston linebacker DA SHON POLK, who in his second career start led his team with a career-high 13 tackles and recovered a fumble which resulted in a Texans touchdown.
• Pittsburgh linebacker JOEY PORTER, who chalked-up 2.0 sacks and four total tackles.
• Buffalo linebacker TAKEO SPIKES, who defensed three passes and registered 1.0 sack.  Spikes helped limit NFL rushing leader SHAUN ALEXANDER to 39 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Other nominees for AFC Special Teams Player of Week 12 were:

• Kansas City punt returner-kick returner DANTE HALL, who totaled 233 kickoff return yards, including a 96-yard touchdown.
• Buffalo kicker RIAN LINDELL, who made a 25-yard field goal and recovered his own on-side kick.  Lindell has tied a career-long streak of 11 consecutive successful field goal tries.
• Pittsburgh punt returner ANTWAAN RANDLE EL, who averaged 18.5 yards on six punt returns, including long returns of 60 and 43 yards.
• San Diego punter MIKE SCIFRES, who landed all three of his punts inside his opponents’ 20-yard line and boomed punts of 51 and 55 yards.  Scifres pinned his opponent on its own 12, 16 and 16 on the day.
• Miami punter MATT TURK, who punted seven times for a 43.1-yard average and landed four of his punts inside his opponents’ 20-yard line.  Turk’s long punt on the day was 59 yards.
• New England kicker ADAM VINATIERI, who was three-for-three in field goal attempts on a sloppy playing field.  Vinatieri’s kicks included a season-long 48-yarder, which gave the Patriots a 9-3 third quarter lead.  

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