The Jacksonville Jaguars' Blake Bortles, New England Patriots' Tom Brady, Washington Redskins' Kirk Cousins, New York Giants' Dwayne Harris and Atlanta Falcons' Robenson Therezie each had the strength to come through during a key moment and contribute to wins during Week 7.
Thanks to those strong performances, each player is up for Castrol EDGE Clutch Performer of the Week honors. This is a deeper look at the significance of those conquests.
Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins
Strong stats to consider:
» Cousins has been stellar in home games this season. In four games at FedExField, Cousins has completed 75 percent of his passes for 251.5 yards per game, six touchdowns to two interceptions, with a passer rating of 101.8.
» The Buccaneers' blown lead spoiled solid performances for a trio of the team's offensive talents. Rookie quarterback Jameis Winston posted career highs in completion percentage (72.4) and passer rating (128.1). Receiver Mike Evans had a career-high eight receptions. Doug Martin became the first Buccaneers running back with three consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Cadillac Williams in 2005.
Power of the moment: Cousins directed the largest come-from-behind win in Redskins history behind a 33-completion, 317-yard, three-touchdown performance. The 33 completions tied a franchise record held by Jason Campbell and set in 2007. Cousins' third touchdown pass went to Jordan Reed with 24 seconds remaining to complete the dramatic comeback. The Redskins had trailed by 24 points in the second quarter. The team's previous biggest comebacks came from 21 points, which the Redskins pulled off three times.
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars
Strong stats to consider:
» With the 34-31 win over the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium in London, the Jaguars have scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games for the first time since 2013.
» Bortles has at least one touchdown pass in all seven of the Jaguars' games this season. He is only the second Jaguars quarterback to do that, joining Byron Leftwich from 2004.
Power of the moment: The 13th International Series game played in London since 2007 turned out to arguably be the best. It was wild. After the Bills got out to a 3-0 lead, the Jaguars scored 27 unanswered points in the second quarter in a span of just under six minutes of game time. In doing so, the Jaguars became just the fifth team since 1983 to score four touchdowns in a span of 340 seconds or less. Then, Jacksonville saw that lead evaporate. Buffalo scored 28 unanswered points to take a 31-27 lead with 5:21 remaining in the game. The Bills' last score came on a pick six by Corey Graham. Bortles would atone for his mistake, driving the Jaguars 84 yards for the winning score with just over two minutes remaining.
Tom Brady, New England Patriots
Strong stats to consider:
» After the 30-23 win over the New York Jets, the Patriots have started a season 6-0 for the third time in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. The Patriots made it to the Super Bowl in the previous two times (2004 and 2007).
» The Patriots also improved to 71-0 at Gillette Stadium when leading at halftime in the regular season (New England is 11-1 in playoff games in such scenarios, with the only loss coming in the 2012 AFC Championship Game to the Baltimore Ravens).
Power of the moment: The Patriots maintained their status among the NFL-record five 6-0 teams at the start of this season due to the strong final quarter effort for Brady. Brady completed 14 of 17 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns -- including the go-ahead toss to Danny Amendola and the game-sealing strike to Rob Gronkowski -- as the Patriots surged past the Jets in the fourth quarter. In the game, Brady became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach 55,000 career passing yards, and the fourth-fastest. Brady hit 55k in 215 games, behing only Drew Brees' 199 games, Peyton Manning's 209 games and Dan Marino's 213 games.
Dwayne Harris, New York Giants
Strong stats to consider:
» With the 27-20 win over the Cowboys, the Giants snapped a five-game losing streak against Dallas.
» Seven of the last eight meetings between the Giants and Cowboys have been decided by seven points or less.
Power of the moment: Harris' first career kickoff return touchdown was momentous, and the reasons are two-fold. First, the go-ahead score against a division rival -- coupled with the Eagles' loss to the Panthers later in the day -- put the Giants into the driver's seat in the NFC East. Second, Harris -- who played for the Cowboys from 2011-14 -- became the first player in NFL history to score a game-winning kickoff return touchdown against a team for which he played in the previous season.
Tony Jefferson, Arizona Cardinals
Strong stats to consider:
» With the 26-18 setback, the Baltimore Ravens became the 11th team since 1940 to have each of their first seven games in a season decided by eight points or less.
» The Cardinals are 5-0 this season when they have at least one takeaway.
» The Cardinals are 5-0 this season when they hold opponents to fewer than 140 rushing yards.
Power of the moment: The Ravens might be 1-6, but the team has been competitive in each of its games (dare we say, the greatest 1-6 team in NFL history?). So, it came as little to no surprise that the Cardinals were in a nail-biting situation late in the game against the Ravens. Baltimore drove to the Arizona 4-yard line in the final seconds, but Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco lobbed a pass into the end zone intended for tight end Crockett Gillmore. Jefferson had position, shielded Gillmore from the ball and made the game-saving interception.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
