According to a report by Jonathan Jones, Luke Kuechly has been given the NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award after his dominating performance last week against the 49ers, or as Panthers fans call it: just another Sunday.
Kuechly racked up 11 tackles in San Francisco, including two for a loss. He also added one sack, one quarterback hit and one pass defense to his tally on the season and was part of a unit that only allowed 151 yards of total offense and zero touchdowns to a 49ers offense that had put up gaudy stats in its five previous games.
The zero touchdowns allowed is the most important stat, because without the stingy defense keeping the 49ers out of the end zone the Panthers would probably be sitting at 5-4 instead of 6-3 right now, and Kuechly's impressive performance is one of the main reasons the Panthers were able to walk out of Candlestick Park with a hard-fought victory.
With this award, Kuechly becomes the third Panthers defender to earn the Defensive Player of the Week Award, joining defensive end Greg Hardy and fellow linebacker Thomas Davis in a group that will hopefully add more members before the season ends.