Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao, the nephew of Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, took a big step toward carving out his own NFL legacy by earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Tuesday. He joined NFC winner Andrew Van Ginkel from the Vikings as the league’s weekly defensive honorees.
Pola-Mao, who entered the league as a non-drafted free agent in 2022, registered nine tackles and forced an NFL-leading two fumbles in Las Vegas’ 19-14 win over the Jaguars last week. He joined Charles Woodson as one of two Raiders defensive backs since 1999 to force multiple fumbles in a game.
In a tight game, each of those forced fumbles gave the Raiders possession and both came in the final four minutes of the first half, including a key takeaway on a Tank Bigsby run. Pola-Mao, who played every snap in the Raiders’ win, travels with the Raiders (3-12) to New Orleans (5-10) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX).
Van Ginkel had five tackles and two sacks – both in the fourth quarter — in the Vikings’ 27-24 triumph at Seattle. Two minutes into the final period with Minnesota protecting a 20-17 lead, the linebacker dropped Geno Smith to force a Seattle punt. Later in the quarter, his team up 27-24, Van Ginkel sacked Smith again on the Seahawks’ final drive that ended with Jason Myers short on a 60-yard field goal attempt.
The award is the first of Van Ginkel’s career. He and the Vikings (13-2) host the Packers (11-4) in an NFC North showdown on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX).
For more information on the Raiders and Vikings, visit the Las Vegas and Minnesota team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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