Cardinals OLB Haason Reddick earns NFC Defensive Player of the Week
Dec 16, 2020, 7:11 AM | Updated: 7:15 am
Arizona Cardinals' Haason Reddick, top, reacts as he sacks New York Giants quarterback Colt McCoy during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
For his performance in the Arizona Cardinals’ 26-7 win over the New York Giants in Week 14, linebacker Haason Reddick was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday.
It’s not much of a surprise that Reddick takes home the NFC honors this week.
Turning in his best day as a pro, Reddick amassed five sacks, three forced fumbles and six QB hits in the victory. He also posted five tackles, two of which were for losses.
His performance set a new franchise record for sacks in a single game, with Reddick surpassing Curtis Greer’s 4.5-sack mark from 1983.
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Reddick is also the first NFL player since Green Bay’s Vonnie Holliday in 2002 to register at least five sacks and three forced fumbles in a game.
Per NextGenStats, the linebacker generated a career-high nine QB pressures to go along with his sack total on 22 pass rushes, tied for the third-most pressures in a game this season by any defender. His 40.9% pressure rate is the highest in a single outing since 2016 for defensive players with at least 20 pass rushes.
“The look he had in his eyes this week, rushing all week, I knew he was going to have a big one,” fellow Cardinals linebacker Markus Golden said after Sunday’s win. “I ain’t know it was going to be that big.”
Reddick now has 10 sacks on the year, making him one of six players league-wide with double-digit sacks through 14 weeks of play. Reddick is also boasting 16.5 tackles for loss.
In addition to the NFC award, Reddick was also named Pro Football Focus’ Week 14 Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Haason Reddick: PFF's Week 14 Defensive Player of the Week 🏆 pic.twitter.com/4aoAW8XndD
— PFF (@PFF) December 15, 2020
Reddick’s 97.1 rating is not only the best single-game pass-rush grade of the entire season by an edge rusher, it’s the top single-game grade of the PFF era (2006-present).
With his effort, the Cardinals became the first team to record at least 8.0 sacks and five forced fumbles in a game since the 1998 Tampa Bay Buccaneers recorded 8.0 sacks and eight forced fumbles in a win over the Packers.
This is Arizona’s second NFC Defensive Player of the Week award win this season after safety Budda Baker took home the honor in Week 6.
