Philadelphia Eagles' Carson Wentz, New Orleans Saints' Mark Ingram and Drew Brees, Pittsburgh Steelers' Antonio Brown and Minnesota Vikings' Stefon Diggs each had the strength to come through during a key moment and contribute to wins this season.
Thanks to those strong performances, each player is up for Castrol EDGE Clutch Performer of the Year honors. Here's a deeper look at the significance of those conquests:
Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles
Strong stats to consider:
»Wentz completed 17 of 25 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns for a 126.3 passer rating in the Philadelphia Eagles' 34-24 victory over the Washington Redskins.
Power of the moment: Wentz answered an impressive Kirk Cousins drive with an incredible sequence that featured a Houdini-like escape and scramble, a perfect sideline fade pass to Alshon Jeffery and a read-option scoring strike to Nelson Agholor.
Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints
Strong stats to consider:
» Ingram rushed for 131 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns in the New Orleans Saints' 47-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. He joined George Rogers (November 8, 1981) and Ricky Williams (October 22, 2000) as the only Saints players to rush for at least 130 yards and three touchdowns in a game.
Power of the moment: Ingram needed just one yard on a fourth down and rushed for 25 yards to put the Saints in the redzone.
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Strong stats to consider:
» Brees completed 29 of 41 passes for 385 yards and two touchdowns for a 106.2 passer rating in the New Orleans Saints' 34-31 overtime win against the Washington Redskins. He helped the Saints become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win its next eight games immediately following an 0-2 start.
Power of the moment: Down by a pair of touchdowns and a two-point conversion with three minutes remaining, Brees completed his final 11 passes on twin scoring drives to send the game to overtime.
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
Strong stats to consider:
» Brown recorded 10 receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 31-28 win over the Green Bay Packers. The performance marked Brown's fifth game with 10+ receptions and 100+ yards and he became the first player in NFL history to record five such games in multiple seasons (2015).
Power of the moment: On the first play, Ben Roethlisberger launched a 23-yard dart to the left sideline, where Brown hauled it in with a deft Julio-esque toe-tap. Brown followed up that unbelievable catch with another, this one a 14-yard grab to get Pittsburgh in field-goal position.
Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings
Power of the moment: Diggs helped the Vikings advance to the NFC Championship game on a walk-off 61-yard touchdown. The play marked the first game-winning touchdown on the final play of the fourth quarter in NFL postseason history.
