Somehow, someway, Andy Dalton has been nominated as the Fed Ex Air Player of the Week despite throwing three interceptions in a Week 7 loss for the Saints.
Mitch Trubisky will always be the people’s NVP, but it looks like there’s another backup quarterback looking to score points on the awards circuit.
WWL-TV in New Orleans confirmed that New Orleans Saints quarterback Andy Dalton, who has been filling in for an injured Jameis Winston, has been nominated for the Fed Ex Air Player of the Week award for his performance in Week 7.
Dalton and the Saints did score 34 points, but they still lost to the Cardinals, who came away with 42 on the night. And Dalton did pass for 361 yards and score four touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions, two of which resulted in points for Arizona.
The other candidates for the Fed Ex award are Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes, both of which came away with wins this week. While Dalton certainly racked up the yards, it’s a bit unexpected to see him garner a nomination for a mixed performance.
Andy Dalton gets recognized for air yards while interceptions are overlooked
As WWL-TV noted, it’s unclear what the exact criteria are for winning the Fed Ex Air Player of the Week award, but the name denotes that it concerns air yards more than anything else.
NFL.com’s Anthony Holzman-Escareno made a case for Mahomes to be the award-winner this week, because he put up another impeccable performance that pushes him even further into Hall of Fame territory.
“Mahomes leads the NFL in pass yards (2,159) and pass touchdowns (20) after putting up 423 yards and three scores against the 49ers in Week 7. It was Mahomes’ eighth career game with at least 400 yards and three touchdowns through the air, the fifth-most by any player since at least 1950.”
It’s hard to compete with a game like that, and perhaps Dalton’s hat was thrown in the ring for a high-scoring night with plenty of air yards.
Maybe the Air Yards award really is another version of the NVP, because Trubisky didn’t even win his game, either. Funnily enough, Trubisky won that award against none other than the Saints.