Vic Beasley Jr. wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Los Angeles Rams.
Beasley Jr. posted his second three-sack game of his career and scored his first career touchdown in Atlanta's 42-14 win over Los Angeles. He is the first Falcon and 10th NFL player with three sacks and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
The second-year linebacker from Clemson dropped QB Jared Goff three times to run his season sack total to 13.5, which is the fourth best single-season mark in franchise history and is tied for the league lead through 14 weeks. On his third sack of the game, Beasley forced Goff to fumble at the Rams 21-yard line, he scooped up the loose ball and ran it back for his first career touchdown. The forced fumble was his sixth of the season, tying him with John Abraham for the most in a single season in franchise history. Beasley leads the NFL in forced fumbles with six.
This is Beasley Jr.'s first time winning the Player of the Week award, and he is the third player for the Falcons to win the award this year – Julio Jones won in week four; Matt Ryan won in week nine. He is the first defensive player to win the award for the Falcons since William Moore won in week 12.
Two other players have won the Player of the Month award this season – Deion Jones (Rookie – September) and Matt Bryant (Special Teams - October).
