Portis, Winfield and Bush earn NFC weekly honors
Sports Network | October 08, 2008
New York, NY (Sports Network) - Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, Minnesota Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield and New Orleans Saints running back/punt returner Reggie Bush were named the NFC's top players for Week 5 of the NFL season.
Portis was named Offensive Player of the Week after running for 145 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown in the Redskins' 23-17 win at Philadelphia. The seven-year veteran led a rushing attack that gained 203 yards on the ground against what had been the top rushing defense in the NFL. Portis rushed for 88 yards in the third quarter alone and sealed the victory on a three-yard run on 4th-and-1, allowing the Redskins to run out the clock.
It was the third weekly award for Portis, who is the only running back in franchise history to be named Offensive Player of the Week twice in a career.
Winfield earned defensive honors after returning a blocked field goal 59 yards for a touchdown in addition to accumulating eight tackles, one sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and one pass defensed in the Vikings' 30-27 victory over the Saints. It marked the first time in franchise history that the Vikings blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown in the regular season. Winfield's fumble recovery also led to another score for Minnesota.
In his 10th season from Ohio State, this is Winfield's first career weekly award. He is the sixth cornerback in team history to be named Defensive Player of the Week.
Meanwhile, Bush earned the special teams award after returning two punts for a touchdown, tying an NFL single-game record, in the Saints 30-27 loss to Minnesota. He is the 12th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat, the first since Eddie Drummond in 2004. For the game, Bush finished with 269 all- purpose yards. He has four career punt-return touchdowns, the most in Saints history.
Bush earned his third career Player of the Week award in only his third season out of Southern California. He now has two special teams awards as well as one offensive honor. He is the only Saints player to win awards in both categories.
