Quarterback Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and running back Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars are the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week for games played on Sept. 27-28, the NFL announced Friday.
Manning completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards and four touchdowns in Indianapolis' 31-10 victory at Arizona. The win was the 120th of Manning's career.
Jones-Drew had 23 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville's 31-24 win over Houston.
Manning and Jones-Drew were selected from among six finalists in Air and Ground categories. The other FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week finalists were quarterbacks Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens and Kevin Kolb of the Philadelphia Eagles, and running backs Pierre Thomas of the New Orleans Saints and Correll Buckhalter of the Denver Broncos.
Fans voted for more than their favorite players. The weekly FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards are also a win for local communities. Along with the player awards, FedEx is making a $1,000 donation in the winning players' names to the local Safe Kids coalitions in Indianapolis and Jacksonville to support pedestrian safety improvements. Safe Kids USA is a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children.
During the week leading up to Super Bowl XLIV, FedEx plans to announce the 2009 FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Year in South Florida, as well as making a donation in each winning player's name to Safe Kids USA.
As the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, FedEx understands the need for a winning game plan, and created the Air & Ground program to highlight superior on-field performance while delivering safe kids off the field. Because FedEx has thousands of delivery trucks out on the roads each day, the company is committed to funding pedestrian safety improvements through its 10-year partnership with Safe Kids USA.
FedEx Air - Quarterbacks
FedEx Ground -- Running Backs
Manning completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards and four touchdowns in Indianapolis' 31-10 victory at Arizona. The win was the 120th of Manning's career.
Jones-Drew had 23 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville's 31-24 win over Houston.
Kolb, filling in for injured starter Donovan McNabb, completed 24 of 34 for 327 yards and two touchdowns in Philadelphia's 34-14 win over Kansas City.
Thomas had 14 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns in New Orleans' 27-7 win over Buffalo.
Flacco completed 25 of 35 for 342 yards and one touchdown in Baltimore's 34-3 win over Cleveland.
Correll Buckhalter,
Denver Broncos
Buckhalter rushed 14 times for 108 yards in Denver's 23-3 win at Oakland. It was his first 100-yard rushing day since 2007.
