The NFL honored Buffalo Bills’ CB Nickell Robey-Coleman by naming him the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
In my opinion, this is something we should get used to seeing a lot more this year — a Buffalo Bills‘ player winning a Defensive Player of the Week award.
It took four weeks before we first saw it happen, when the NFL named Bills’ LB Zach Brown the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 4 performance vs. the New England Patriots. He finished the game with 18 total tackles, one sack, 2 forced fumbles and 2 QB hits in route to the Bills’ 16-0 shutout at Gillette Field.
It was a major statement for Buffalo’s defense and getting the defensive player of the week award was just icing on the cake.
They didn’t stop there.
The defensive dominance began in Week 5 when the Bills traveled to Los Angeles for their meeting with the Rams. Although the Rams were able to move the ball fairly well between the 30-yard lines, the defense did a great job of limiting them to mostly field goals.
It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that we saw our defense really step up — when it counted the most — and a lot of it was due to the big plays made by Nickell Robey-Coleman.
Robey-Coleman was selected as one of the four captains for Buffalo’s return to the coliseum, being a former USC player. The other three captains — Robert Woods, Kevon Seymour, Reggie Bush — were also former USC players.
Nickell was the only one that played a big role in Sunday’s game and it was the role of sealing the deal. His two interceptions came in the second half, with one of those being returned for a very crucial, go-ahead touchdown.
The other one was an interception with two minutes left in the game, ultimately sealing the deal for the Bills.
During his playing days at the Coliseum for USC, Nickell Robey-Coleman was notable for returning interceptions for touchdowns. He did it three times at the Coliseum for USC, which is a Trojan record still standing today.
The touchdown vs. the Rams was also Robey-Coleman’s second touchdown on the season. His first one came against the New York Jets for Week 2’s Thursday Night Football. He returned a fumble recovery 36-yards to the house. It was once again a crucial touchdown, as it marked 14 unanswered points for the Bills, who took a 24-17 lead over the Jets.
Although the lead didn’t last and the Bills ended up losing to the Jets, Nickell Robey-Coleman is definitely making a statement this season.
Related Story: Zach Brown Named AFC Defensive Player of the Week
With Robey-Coleman and Brown winning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Week honors, they became the first two Bills’ to do it since 1991. In that year, Cornelius Bennett and Nate Odomes won the award with performances in Week 4 and Week 5 — just like this year.
Also worthy of noting, the Bills finished that season 13-3 and made it to the Super Bowl second straight year. They lost to the Washington Redskins.
He’s wearing his mother’s name with pride. Congrats to Robey-Coleman for his performance and AFC Defensive Player of the Week award.
He deserves it.