Budda Baker named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

There was not a better player on the field on Monday Night Football than Budda Baker.

His work was recognized by the NFL this week, as Baker was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

From the team:

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has been named the “NFC Defensive Player of the Week” for his performance in last Monday’s 38-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

This is Baker’s first career “Defensive Player of the Week” selection. He finished Monday’s game with seven tackles, a sack, his first career interception, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, a pass defensed and a forced fumble.

Baker became the first Cardinals player since 2003 (Renaldo Hill on 11/2 vs. Cincinnati) to record a sack, an interception and a forced fumble in the same game. He is one of just two players in the NFL this season (Baltimore’s Marcus Peters) to record an interception, sack and forced fumble in a single game. Baker’s two takeaways resulted in 10 points for the Cardinals.

Selected as a team captain on Sunday evening before the game to replace the injured Chandler Jones, Baker has 45 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, three quarterback hits, one interception, two passes defensed and a forced fumble in five games this season.

This is the second consecutive week the Cardinals have had an NFC “Player of the Week” after quarterback Kyler Murray was named “Offensive Player of the Week” following Arizona’s Week 5 win over the New York Jets.