Cutler, Royal Up for AwardsAfter huge performances by two of the Broncos most potent weapons, it’s only appropriate that they be nominated for any and all awards possible.
Jay Cutler has been nominated for Fed Ex Air NFL Player of the Week honors for his performance on Thursday Night Football in Denver’s 34-30 win over Cleveland. Cutler completed 24-of-42 passes for 447 yards and three touchdowns in the Broncos’ come-from-behind victory.
D.J. Williams Up For AwardAnother week gone by, and another Bronco up for an award.
D.J. Williams has been nominated for the GMC Sierra Defense Player of the Week for Week 3.
Williams posted a game-high 16 tackles in the Broncos’ 34-32 win against the New Orleans Saints, but it was one tackle that may be remembered above all the rest. With New Orleans driving, it was Williams who tackled Saints running back Pierre Thomas for a loss of a yard on third-and-1 from the Denver 24-yard line. That set up a 43-yard field goal attempt by Martin Gramatica that sailed wide right and helped seal the Denver win.
Voting ends Thursday at 2:00 p.m. MDT. You can vote for Williams here.
Shanahan Voted Coach of the Week
On Friday, the NFL announced that Head Coach Mike Shanahan was voted the Motorola NFL Coach of the Week for Week 2.
Shanahan led the Broncos to a last-minute, 39-38 victory against the AFC West rival San Diego Chargers.
The Broncos offense gained a total of 486 yards, led by Jay Cutler, who passed for a career-best 350 yards and four touchdowns. Brandon Marshall was Cutler’s favorite target, hauling in a franchise-record 18 receptions for 166 yards and one touchdown. With the Broncos down by one following Cutler’s final touchdown completion to rookie Eddie Royal, Shanahan made the decision to go for the two-point conversion. On the ensuing play, Cutler hit Royal over the middle to seal the victory.
The Broncos defense forced one turnover and limited the Chargers to just 80 rushing yards.
Shanahan beat out Buffalo’s Dick Jauron and Washington’s Jim Zorn for the award.
Cutler, Shanahan Up For Week 2 AwardsFor the second straight week the Broncos are featured on NFL.com’s weekly performance polls.
Head Coach Mike Shanahan is one of three choices for the Motorola Coach of the Week. Shanahan put the game on the line when he decided to go for two and the win after a fourth down touchdown with 24 seconds remaining against San Diego.
For the second time in as many weeks quarterback Jay Cutler has been nominated for the Fed Ex Air Player of the Week. Cutler had a career day, totaling 350 yards and four touchdowns against the Chargers.
Click the above links to submit your votes.
-Jake Grilley, DenverBroncos.com
Royal Named Rookie of the Week
Photo: Eric Lars Bakke
Eddie Royal, fresh off a nine-catch, 146-yard, one-touchdown outing against the Oakland Raiders, through fan voting was named the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week.
Royal also had two runs for nine yards, attempted one pass and returned three kicks for 30 yards.
Royal’s 146 receiving yards marked the sixth-highest total by a player making his NFL debut since 1960, and Royal leads the NFL in that category after one week of the season. His receiving yardage was the third-highest single-game total by a rookie in Broncos history.
With nine receptions, the former Virginia Tech Hokie set Broncos franchise single-game rookie records for most catches in a game as well as most catches in an NFL debut.
He beat out four other finalists — Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, Chicago’s Matt Forte, Tennessee’s Chris Johnson and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan — for the award.