Julio Jones Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week

Julio Jones earned his first NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his tremendous performance against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.

According to AtlantaFalcons.com, the NFL named Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 1. Jones had 9 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Atlanta Falcons 26-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at the Georgia Dome on Monday Night.

Since this is still a quarterback driven league, this recognition doesn’t often go to a wide receiver. Usually Offensive Player of the Week Honors go to either the man under center or a tailback that rushed for over 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

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So I thought that Player of the Week honors would go to San Francisco RB Carlos Hyde for his dominating rushing performance over the Minnesota Vikings in the second of two Monday Night Games. The best QB in the NFC in Week 1 was probably Arizona’s Carson Palmer, who threw for over 300 yards, 3 TDs and no picks against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

I knew that Julio Jones was the best player on the field in the first Monday Night Game, as he did it all in new OC Kyle Shanahan’s system. Jones caught screen passes, curl routes, post patterns, even a few sneaky shovel passes from QB Matt Ryan.

His Week 1 performance was great to watch. Even in a summer of contract uncertainty, it seems obvious now that Julio Jones put the Atlanta Falcons first and mastered Shanahan’s new offense rather than hold out for more lucrative financial gain. Atlanta knew that they had to exploit Philadelphia in the secondary to develop rhythm on offense. Having a player like Julio Jones made that easier for the Dirty Birds on Monday Night Football.

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On Monday Night, Julio Jones asserted himself as an undisputed Top 5 wideout in the NFL. Philadelphia either had CB Byron Maxwell on him as a their shutdown corner in man coverage or opted to double team Julio. Maxwell couldn’t keep pace with Jones in the first half and when the Eagles double-teamed Jones, Matt Ryan was able to connect to uncovered receivers like Roddy White, Leonard Hankerson, and TE Levine Toilolo.

Jones will have to bring it in Week 2 when the Atlanta Falcons travel to the Meadowlands to play the New York Football Giants at MetLife Stadium. New York DC Steve Spagnuolo is back and will use guys like DB Prince Amukamara to try to limit Julio Jones in the Falcons passing game. Congratulations, Julio!

Next: Atlanta Falcons: NFC Power Rankings, Week 2

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