Kene Nwangwu Becomes Third Viking to Win NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2022
For the third time in 12 weeks, the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award has gone to a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Second-year kick returner Kene Nwangwu is the latest to win it after his 97-yard kickoff return touchdown against the Patriots was crucial in the Vikings' Thanksgiving night victory.
Greg Joseph won it in Week 4 when he went five for five on field goals against the Saints in London. Two weeks later, Ryan Wright won it after averaging over 44 yards on a whopping ten punts in Miami, dropping six of them inside the 20 and booming a 73-yarder from inside his own end zone.
Joseph has had his struggles with extra points since then, but it's safe to say first-year special teams coordinator Matt Daniels is doing an excellent job. The Vikings' third phase has come up with big plays all season long.
Nwangwu's kick return came in a huge moment. The Patriots had just gone up 23-16, and his return instantly tied the game and brought the momentum back to the Vikings. They went on to win 33-26.
It was a long time coming for Nwangwu, the 2021 fourth-round pick out of Iowa State who led the NFL with two kickoff return touchdowns as a rookie.
"It's been about time," he told someone before the game.
"I find it hard to believe we could possibly go 17 games with this guy and his special skill set and the other ten guys out there blocking for him, that we weren't going to find the end zone at least once this year," head coach Kevin O'Connell said in his weekly film room breakdown on the Vikings' YouTube channel. "Expecting it to happen again. He's obviously set the standard for that around the league."
It was a full team effort to get Nwangwu into the end zone. Key blocks were made by C.J. Ham, Johnny Mundt, William Kwenkeu, Kris Boyd, Nick Muse, Josh Metellus, and Brian Asamoah on the left side of the field. O'Connell made a specific point to shout out Kwenkeu, the undrafted rookie linebacker who had just been called up from the practice squad. He made perhaps the most important block to seal the edge on the play.
From there, Nwangwu did the rest.
Between Nwangwu, Wright, Joseph, Za'Darius Smith, and Justin Jefferson, the Vikings have been represented in the NFC player of the week awards five out of the 11 times they've had games this season. That's pretty good.
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