Cornerback RONDE BARBER of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, safety ATARI BIGBY of the Green Bay Packers, linebacker BRIAN URLACHER of the Chicago Bears, defensive end MARIO WILLIAMS of the Houston Texans and safety EUGENE WILSON of the New England Patriots are the finalists for GMC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK honors for games played on December 13 - 17, the NFL announced Tuesday.
**Fans can vote** for one of these five players on NFL.com beginning immediately following Monday Night Football and ending on Thursday at 4:00 pm EST to determine the GMC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK. The winner will be announced Thursday evening on NFL.com.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for GMC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com throughout the month of January.
A closer look at the finalists:
-Tampa Bay's RONDE BARBER made one tackle and one interception for a touchdown in the Bucs' 37 - 3 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
-Green Bay's ATARI BIGBY made four tackles and two interceptions in the Packers' 33 - 14 win over the St. Louis Rams. Bigby intercepted the ball on the Packers' 22-yard line late in the second quarter to keep the Packers ahead by three going into halftime.
-Chicago's BRIAN URLACHER made six tackles, had two sacks, intercepted the ball once and recovered one fumble in the Bears' 20 - 13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
-Houston's MARIO WILLIAMS made seven tackles and had 3.5 sacks in the Texans' 31 - 13 win over the Denver Broncos. Williams now has a Texans franchise-record 13 sacks on the season.
-New England's EUGENE WILSON returned an interception five yards for a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the Pats' 20 - 10 win over the New York Jets. Wilson recovered the ball at the New England 10 to keep the Jets at 7 points entering the fourth quarter.
