NEW ORLEANS — There were many things that could be said about the Saints performance last Thursday night in Arizona and that of quarterback Andy Dalton, who threw three interceptions, including two in just over a minute of game time that went for touchdowns for Arizona, but one thing that seemed unlikely was that he'd be in contention for the FedEx Air Player of the Week award.
But, that is what was in an email sent out Monday morning. Dalton - along with Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes, were listed as the three finalists.
Here is the wording "Today, the NFL announced Andy Dalton is a nominee for this week’s FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week award for his outstanding performance completing 30 of 47 attempts (63.8 percent) for 361 yards and four touchdowns for an 89.1 passer rating in Week 7."
An inquiry with CurrentGlobal.com confirmed that Dalton is indeed a nominee. There is little chance that Dalton will be the winner against Burrow and Mahomes, both of whom led their teams to victories and had quarterback passer ratings in the 130s, as opposed to Dalton's 89.1.
On the voting web site, it doesn't mention the criteria used to establish the nominees, and seemingly it has a lot more to do with total yards passing than passer rating or efficiency.
Several things may have led to Dalton being listed as a nominee, among them:
- Monday night games apparently aren't factored in
- Bye weeks for top-rated quarterbacks like Josh Allen of the Bills, Jalen Hurts of the Eagles, Matthew Stafford of the Rams and Kirk Cousins of the Vikings.
- Poor performances by Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady and underwhelming outings by Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson, who didn't need to shine in victories.
- It seems the award criteria requires that 3 players be nominated, even if three performances aren't necessarily worthy.
There is debate now among Saints fans as to whether Dalton should even start once Jameis Winston is now healthy.
Between this 'nomination' and a post halftime sideline interview where head coach Dennis Allen was asked what he said to Dalton after his three interception performance in the first half, with Allen responding, "Just keep doing what he's doing," fans may be wondering what reality they are in.