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Anthony Harris Named NFC Defensive Player Of The Week

Pretty easy choice.

Atlanta Falcons v Minnesota Vikings Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

After a 28-12 domination of the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, I made a (not very) bold prediction on Monday:

Vikings safety Anthony Harris ended up with the ball on all three Atlanta turnovers on Sunday, collecting two interceptions of Matt Ryan and recovering a Devonta Freeman fumble. He also earned the team’s highest grade from Pro Football Focus with a 92.5 score.

It turns out that picking Harris to win the NFC Defensive Player of the Week was a pretty simple choice, as his award was formally announced on Wednesday morning.

A Vikings player winning this distinction isn’t much of a rarity since Mike Zimmer arrived in the Twin Cities. Harris is the 11th Viking to take home the award since 2014. The previous winners under Zimmer’s regime:

  1. Anthony Barr, Week 8 2014
  2. Linval Joseph, Week 9 2015
  3. Terence Newman, Week 10 2015
  4. Everson Griffen, Week 17 2015
  5. Eric Kendricks, Week 1 2016
  6. Griffen, Week 3 2016
  7. Xavier Rhodes, Week 11 2016
  8. Harrison Smith, Week 16 2017
  9. Smith, Week 1 2018
  10. Danielle Hunter, Week 9 2018

Not a bad way for the 5th-year safety to kick off a contract year. Although I have already said the following in two different articles this week, I think it’s worth repeating:

PAY THE MAN, VIKINGS!

Congratulations to Anthony Harris on his well-earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week award!