Safety Marques Anderson of the Green Bay Packers, wide receiver Andre Davis of the Cleveland Browns, tight end Randy McMichael of the Miami Dolphins, running back Clinton Portis of the Denver Broncos and wide receiver Donte' Stallworth of the New Orleans Saints are the finalists for Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week honors for games played on September 22-23, the NFL announced Tuesday.
Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon to determine the Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week. The Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week will be announced Thursday on NFL.com. It is the first weekly NFL honor to be selected solely by NFL fans.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com throughout the month of January. The winner will be announced at a press conference at Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.
A closer look at the finalists:
- Green Bay's Marques Anderson returned an interception for a 78-yard touchdown, recorded one tackle and recovered a fumble in the Packers' 37-31 win over Detroit. Anderson, making his NFL debut, intercepted a pass on a Detroit third-and-four at the 22-yard line and ran 78 yards to tie the score at seven in the first quarter. It was his first NFL touchdown. Anderson is the second rookie to return an interception for a touchdown in his first career game since Andre Weathers of the New York Giants in 1999 (Saints' James Allen, Week 1, 2002).
- Cleveland's Andre Davis had five receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns in the Browns' 31-28 overtime win over Tennessee. Davis' second touchdown catch finished an 11-play, 80-yard Cleveland drive in the fourth quarter that cut the Browns deficit to 7 points. Davis also had a key reception on Cleveland's final drive of the fourth quarter enabling the Browns to tie the game. On third and 11 Davis caught a 12-yard pass for the first down and ran out of bounds with 54 seconds remaining to stop the clock. His 31-yard reception in overtime also put Cleveland in field goal range to win the game.
- Miami's Randy McMichael had a team-high five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown in the Dolphins' 30-3 win over the New York Jets. His 10-yard scoring catch came in the first quarter and gave Miami a 10-0 lead. McMichael's 79 yards receiving are the most receiving yards by a Dolphins tight end since Troy Drayton had 80 yards on four receptions on October 5, 1997 against Kansas City.
- Denver's Clinton Portis scored his first career touchdown, rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries and caught one pass for 4 yards in the Broncos' 28-23 win over Buffalo. Portis' 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter gave the Broncos a 14-0 lead and capped a ten-play, 85-yard drive, in which Portis touched the ball six times. Portis, who rushed for 100 yards for the first time in his career, almost had a second touchdown run in the third quarter but was stopped on the one-yard line.
- New Orleans' Donte' Stallworth had four receptions for 43 yards and one touchdown in the Saints' 29-23 win over Chicago. Stallworth, who leads all NFC rookies with 12 catches and has a touchdown reception in all three games this season, caught the game-winning 29-yard score in the fourth quarter with 1:11 remaining in the game. Stallworth caught a quick out-route on the right side, put on the breaks, eluded his defender and ran the ball in for the winning score.
This is Pepsi's first year as the official soft drink sponsor of the NFL.
