Rookie QBs Flacco, Ryan named Players of the Week

Nov 5, 2008 - 6:12 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Rookie quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan were honored as the respective AFC And NFC Offensive Players of the Week on Wednesday.

Flacco, the No. 18 overall pick, threw for a career-high 248 yards and two touchdown passes to rally the Baltimore Ravens to a 37-27 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

It was the third straight victory for Baltimore, which scored the final 24 points. Flacco has four TD passes and zero interceptions during that stretch, compared to one scoring pass and seven picks in his first five games.

Fellow rookie Ryan garnered the honors in the NFC, tossing a pair of TD passes without an interception in the Atlanta Falcons' 24-0 rout of the Oakland Raiders.

The No. 3 overall pick, Ryan completed a season-best 77 percent (17-of-22) of his passes in leading Atlanta to points on its first four possessions of the contest. He connected with Michael Jenkins for both TDs as the Falcons rolled to a 24-0 halftime lead.

Defensive Player of the Week awards went to tackle Kris Jenkins of the New York Jets in the AFC and safety Antrel Rolle of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC.

The massive Jenkins had two of the Jets' five sacks in a 26-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The 6-4, 350-pound Jenkins helped bottle up Buffalo's running game, holding the Bills to 30 yards on 17 attempts in earning the first weekly honor of his eight-year career.

Rolle's interception return for a touchdown provided the impetus for the Cardinals in a 34-13 drubbing of the St. Louis Rams.

The touchdown erased an early 7-0 deficit and was part of a 24-point blitz for Arizona. Rolle also had seven tackles to earn his third career Player of the Week Award.

Special Team honors went to Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC and Clifton Smith of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC.

Vinatieri drilled a 52-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to provide the winning margin in an 18-15 victory over the New England Patriots.

It was the first 50-plus yard field goal since 2002 for Vinatieri, who claimed his 11th weekly honor.

Smith returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to spark a huge comeback for the Buccaneers in a 30-27 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

With the Bucs trailing, 24-3, Smith, playing in just his second career game, took back a kick that sparked the biggest comeback in franchise history.