Mike Edwards named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

TAMPA, Fla. (Scott Smith, Bucs writer) – Mike Edwards did something that no other NFL player had done in nearly 30 years. The result is the first major prize of his young career.
Edwards was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 2 of the 2021 season on Wednesday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ third-year safety was honored after sealing the Buccaneers 48-25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons with two interception-return touchdowns in the fourth quarter of their week two game.

Turning what had become a tense game into a 23-point decision, Edwards became the first NFL player with two six-picks in the fourth quarter of a game since Robert Massey of the Phoenix Cardinals pulled off the same feat. against Washington on October 4. , 1992. Edwards was also the first player with two interception touchdown returns in a single game since 2012.
The Buccaneers entered the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game with a slim three-point lead over the visiting Falcons. After Tom Brady’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin made it a 10-point game, the Falcons recovered the ball in their own 25th with nine minutes left. Three plays later, Edwards jumped a short pass intended for wide receiver Russell Gage, juggled the ball briefly, then ran for 35 yards for the first touchdown of his career.
Edwards wouldn’t have to wait long for the second score of his career. Four minutes later, he and cornerback Carlton Davis took off from the edges and Davis managed to hit Matt Ryan’s pass in the air. Edwards brought it back and ran 15 yards into the end zone for the final points of the game. Edwards is only the third player in franchise history to have two pick-sixes in the same game. Dwight Smith first scored in Super Bowl XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders and Ronde Barber did the same in a 23-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006.
Edwards is only the 27th player in NFL history to record two pick-sixes in a single regular-season game. He is the first Buccaneer to win NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2021, but that award has not been uncommon in Tampa in recent seasons. Inside linebacker Devin White has won it twice in 2020 and outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett has won it once in each of the past two seasons. This is the second weekly prize awarded to a Bucs player in the first two weeks of the 2021 campaign, as punter Bradley Pinion was the special teams pick in week one.