Sprinting through the Ravens' punt coverage unit for an 85-yard touchdown on Sunday, Jamison Crowder has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
For the second time in three weeks, a Washington Redskins player has won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, as Jamison Crowder has been selected for the award following his 85-yard punt return for touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens.
This is the first time the Redskins have had two different players earn NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors since the 2008 season.
During the first quarter of Sunday's 16-10 victory, Crowder fielded a punt at Washington's 15-yard line before racing up the field for an 85-yard return.
It was Washington's first punt return for touchdown since the 2008 season, when Santana Moss recorded an 80-yard score against the Detroit Lions.
"When I caught it, I ran to the left and saw there was a crease," Crowder said. "It might have be Deshazor [Everett], a couple guys were on their blocks really well. I saw a crease, I was like, 'I'm going to hit it. I'm going to go with it.' I was able to break a tackle or two, run and score."
After a diving by Niles Paul helped get two Ravens off track, so much so that they would collide, Crowder juked Baltimore punter Sam Koch, the final roadblock before the end zone. He also became the younger Redskins player to log a punt return for touchdown since Brian Mitchell during the 1991 season.
The return was a career long for the second-year Duke product, the fourth time this season he's set a new personal best for a punt return.
After averaging just 5.3 yards per punt return during his rookie year, Crowder has taken advantage of a special teams unit that is clearing a lot of running room for him. He is currently leading all qualifiers in punt return average at 27.7 yards.
"From my perspective, it's just the guys blocking a lot better," Crowder said. "Last year, we had a mixture of pains. Sometimes I'd make the wrong cut, other times guys were in my face. This year, our guys have been doing a really good job of holding up. I'm able to catch the ball and have a lot of yardage even before the first defender is down there. So they've done a really good job of blocking."
With Crowder's selection this week, Redskins players have won 90 NFC Player of the Week awards (16 from special teams) since the NFL started awarding weekly honors in 1984.
