DeAndre Hopkins named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

It has been a banner year for the Arizona Cardinals offense and maybe the highlight of the season will be the Hail Murray from Sunday.

On the receiving end of that throw was DeAndre Hopkins, who took home the NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors because of his performance in the game, with the catch being the exclamation point.

From the team:

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been named the “NFC Offensive Player of the Week” for his performance in last Sunday’s 32-30 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

This is Hopkins’ second career “Offensive Player of the Week” selection and first with the Cardinals after previously winning “AFC Offensive Player of the Week” honors in 2015 with Houston. He becomes just the fourth wide receiver (Roy Green, Larry Fitzgerald, J.J. Nelson) in team history to be named “Offensive Player of the Week.”

It is the Cardinals fourth “Player of the Week” selection this season and third “Offensive Player of the Week” award. The three “Offensive Player of the Week” awards in 2020 are the most the Cardinals have had in a single season since 1996 (four). Quarterback Kyler Murray won offensive honors following the Cardinals Week 5 victory at the Jets and after Arizona’s Week 7 win over Seattle while safety Budda Baker won “Defensive Player of the Week” honors following Arizona’s Week 6 win over Dallas.

In Sunday’s win, Hopkins caught seven passes for 127 yards, including a 43-yard game-winning touchdown with just 0:02 remaining in regulation. It was Hopkins fourth career game-winning touchdown catch in the fourth quarter/OT and the first to come with under a minute left on the clock.

His game-winning touchdown catch was the first go-ahead Hail Mary in the fourth quarter since 2015 when Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a game-winning 61-yard touchdown to tight end Richard Rodgers as time expired to give the Packers a 27-23 victory over Detroit.

It was Hopkins’ 35^th career 100-yard outing – and fifth in nine games with Arizona. No player in franchise history had more outings with 100+ receiving yards in the first nine games of a season than Hopkins has in 2020 (five).

Through nine games, Hopkins has 67 receptions for 861 yards and four touchdowns. He ranks second in the NFL in receiving yards and is tied for second in receptions. The only player ahead of him – Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs – has already played in 10 games.