Brandon Graham Grabs Second NFC Defensive Player of Week Award This Season

The Eagles DE had sacks and a forced fumble against the Giants, but his teammate, Miles Sanders, did not win the Offensive Player of the Week Award

Brandon Graham won the NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award on Wednesday morning, the second time the Eagles’ defensive end has done it this season.

That’s not a surprise. Not after tying a career-high with three sacks in the Eagles’ 48-22 win over the New York Giants to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday. The sacks came with a forced fumble recovered by Patrick Johnson.

Graham is the fourth player to record three sacks and a forced fumble in a game this season.

The surprise was that Miles Sanders did not win the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He certainly deserved it after rushing for a career-high for the second time in three games, putting up 144 yards and two touchdowns, one from 3 yards, the other from 40, in taking down New York.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield, who had signed with the Rams two days earlier and led a stunning comeback against the Raiders last Thursday night, won the honor over Sanders. Mayfield passed for 230 yards with one touchdown to claim the award.

The NFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award went to Carolina Panthers kicker Eddy Piniero.

It seemed a long shot that the Eagles would have two players win an award the same week, after all, they have been hogging these weekly honors as it is. QB Jalen Hurts had won two straight NFC Offensive Player of the Week awards prior to Mayfield getting it.

Of course, when a team is 12-1 and the only one to have clinched a playoff spot after 14 weeks of the season, that would be expected.

Eagles players have now earned a collective eight Players of the Week awards this season, the most among all teams.

Graham won the award in Week 3 as well, making him the first player to win two Defensive Player of the Week awards this season. He is also only the third Eagles player in team history to do it twice in a season, joining Eric Allen (1993) and Seth Joyner (1991).

Graham, at 34 years, 252 days old, is also the second oldest player in Eagles history to produce three sacks in a game behind William Fuller (34 years, 289 days) and is the oldest player in the NFL to do that since Dwight Freeney in 2015 (36 years, 311 days). He is the second oldest player to record three sacks on the road since Michael Strahan in 2007 (35 years, 362 days).

As a team, the Eagles have 49 sacks after getting to Giants quarterbacks seven times on Sunday.

“I just feel like we’re hungry,” said Graham. “If anything, those boys motivated me even more to make sure I make my rushes count. ... everybody knows our strength as pass rushers and how hungry we all are to go out there and make them count. I’m just thankful for the group because we’re all motivating each other.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.