Darius Slay named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

It’s great to see an Eagles player receive national recognition following the Birds’ 30-13 win against the Broncos in Denver. Cornerback Darius Slay has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 10:

The obvious “Big Play” (see what I did there?) where Slay truly earned the award was his 83-yard scamper on a fumble return touchdown:

There were shades of DeSean Jackson’s iconic punt return touchdown against the Giants in the Miracle at the New Meadowlands in that one. If you’re an Eagles player and you want to have a sick return TD, your best move is to drop the ball at some point, run backwards a bit and run sideways a little before finding your way flying down the field and into the end zone.

Slay had five tackles on Sunday as well, including one tackle for loss. Before he even scored that touchdown, I though he was playing awesome in containing receivers in the flat on those short passes Teddy Bridgewater loves to throw. Seeing an Eagles corner be physical near the line of scrimmage like that was a breath of fresh air.

This is Slay’s second fumble return touchdown of the season. The first one came against his old team in Detroit back on Halloween:

He’s in good company:

Slay came up with another BIG PLAY back in the Birds’ win in Carolina:

Could we be looking at a Pro Bowl year for Slay? He made the three-straight Pro Bowl appearances from 2017-2019. For Eagles fans who’ve followed the franchise over the last decade, it seems wild to even consider the fact that one of the team’s cornerbacks may be among the best in the league. The Birds haven’t had a Pro Bowl corner since Asante Samuel made three-straight appearances of his own from 2008-2010. If Slay keeps this up, he might be the newest one.