NFL NFC Players of the Week – Week 14

49ERS TE GEORGE KITTLE, RAMS DL AARON DONALD & BEARS WR JAKEEM GRANT NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 14

Tight end GEORGE KITTLE of the San Francisco 49ers, defensive lineman AARON DONALD of the Los Angeles Rams and wide receiver JAKEEM GRANT of the Chicago Bears are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 14 (December 9, 12-13).

OFFENSE: TE GEORGE KITTLE, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

• Kittle recorded 13 receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown reception in the 49ers’ Week 14 overtime win. It marked the most receptions by a tight end in a single game this season.
• Kittle, who had 181 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in Week 13, is the first tight end in NFL history to record at least 150 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in consecutive games.
• He became the fourth tight end ever with at least 13 receptions in three career games, joining Zach Ertz (four games), Jason Witten (four) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow Sr. (three). Previously, Kittle had 15 receptions in Week 4 of the 2020 season and 13 receptions in Week 15 of the 2019 season.
• This is the first career Offensive Player of the Week award for Kittle and third for the 49ers this season (Deebo Samuel, Weeks 8 and 10).

• He is the first tight end in franchise history to earn the honor and is the third tight end in the past five seasons to win the award, joining Rob Gronkowski (Week 15, 2017) and Blake Jarwin (Week 17, 2018).
• Kittle joins tight ends Marv Cook (Week 4, 1991) and Dallas Clark (Week 9, 2009) as the only former Iowa Hawkeyes to win Offensive Player of the Week.

DEFENSE: DL AARON DONALD, LOS ANGELES RAMS

• Donald recorded five tackles, a season-high three sacks and one pass defensed in the Rams’ 30-23 win over Arizona. His three sacks were the most in the NFL in Week 14.
• He became the fourth player since 1982 with at least eight sacks in each of his first eight seasons and is the only player with at least 10 sacks in each of the past five seasons.

• This is Donald’s eighth Defensive Player of the Week award. He joins Taylor Rapp (Week 6) as the Rams to win the award this season.
  • 2015: Weeks 1, 14
  • 2016: Week 4
  • 2018: Weeks 7, 16
  • 2019: Week 11
  • 2020: Week 5
  • 2021: Week 14
• Donald joins Pro Football Hall of Famers Chris Doleman (nine) and Bruce Smith (nine) as the only players to win Defensive Player of the Week at least eight times.

SPECIAL TEAMS: WR JAKEEM GRANT, CHICAGO BEARS

• Grant returned three punts for 131 yards, including a 97-yard punt return touchdown, in Week 14. It marked the first punt return touchdown in the NFL this season and is the longest punt return touchdown in Bears franchise history.
• Grant is one of two players (Jamal Agnew) since 2016 with at least four punt return touchdowns (four) and two kick return touchdowns (two).
• This is Grant’s third Special Teams Player of the Week award:
  • 2018 (with Miami): Week 1
  • 2020 (with Miami): Week 8
  • 2021: Week 14
• He is the first Bear to win Special Teams Player of the Week as a returner since Devin Hester (Week 10, 2011).
• Grant is the first former Texas Tech player to win the Special Teams Player of the Week multiple times and he joins quarterback Patrick Mahomes and linebacker Zach Thomas as the only former Texas Tech players to win any Player of the Week award multiple times.