Minnesota Vikings Game Ball: Week 10 Award

Once again, the Minnesota Vikings are coming off of a disappointing loss in a game that they had a shot in, falling 26-20 to the Washington Redskins in Week 10 action. While there weren’t a lot of standout performances in the loss, one player in particular deserves recognition.

After all, when you set an NFL record, somebody ought to say something, right?

For the second week in a row, wide receiver Stefon Diggs receives our Game Ball for his performance in this past week’s game. In his return to his hometown, Diggs set an NFL record by becoming the first receiver in NFL history to have at least 13 catches in consecutive games.

Diggs had 13 catches in the Vikings’ Week 9 loss to Detroit, but those 13 catches went for only 80 yards. He did significantly more damage against the Redskins, picking up 164 yards on his 13 receptions. He had six catches for 47 yards on the team’s final drive alone.

Through eight games (remember, he missed the Vikings’ victory over the Houston Texans in Week 5), Diggs has nearly matched the 720 yards he put up as a rookie. He’s currently at 710 yards on 61 receptions, putting him well on pace to be the first Vikings’ wide receiver to put together a 1,000-yard season since Sidney Rice did so in 2009.

As far as I can tell, that’s enough to give Diggs our Game Ball for the second week of the row. He joins Xavier Rhodes as the only players to receive our award multiple times.

Week 1 Winner: Eric Kendricks, LB
Week 2 Winner: Sam Bradford, QB
Week 3 Winner: Everson Griffen, DE
Week 4 Winner: Xavier Rhodes, CB
Week 5 Winner: Adam Thielen, WR
Week 6 Winner: None (bye week)
Week 7 Winner: Xavier Rhodes, CB
Week 8 Winner: Jeff Locke, P
Week 9 Winner: Stefon Diggs, WR