RB Earnest Graham ran for 111 yards and a touchdown against the Packers
Earnest Graham, who scored the put-away touchdown in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 30-21 win over Green Bay on Sunday, passed much of the credit for the victory on to the defense.
Barrett Ruud, who was at the center of the Buccaneers' incredible defensive effort against the Packers, said it was the work of his teammates that made his second-quarter interception possible.
The buzz in the Bucs' locker room after Sunday's triumph was that the game was the perfect example of a "full-team effort." On an afternoon in which big plays came from every corner of the depth chart, nobody wanted to focus too intently on any one individual.
Two days later, however, the NFL has singled out Graham and Ruud for their individual efforts against the Packers. And for the rest of the week, those two Buccaneers could use your help to separate them from the pack even further.
Earnest Graham has been nominated for the league's Ground Player of the Week Award while Ruud is up for the Defensive Player of the Week Award, a pair of honors that allows NFL fans to vote for the winners each week. Visitors to NFL.com can vote for both awards until Friday at 11:00 a.m. ET. The winners will be announced later that day on NFL.com and will also be revealed on NFL Total Access on the NFL Network.
To vote for Graham as the Ground Player of the Week, please click here.
To vote for Ruud as the Defensive Player of the Week, please click here.
Graham powered the Bucs' offense with 111 yards on 20 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per tote. He sealed the win late in the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown one play after his own 47-yard jaunt put the Bucs in scoring position. In just four games this season, Graham has already joined current teammate Warrick Dunn as the only players in Buccaneer history with three carries of 45 or more yards in the same season.
Graham is up against the Kansas City Chiefs' Larry Johnson and the Washington Redskins' Clinton Portis for the Ground award.
Ruud was all over the field on Sunday, notching five solo tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, an interception and a pass defensed. He helped the Buccaneers' defense hold a potent Green Bay offense to a season-low 181 yards and eight first downs. Ruud's interception in the second quarter set up a short field goal drive that put the Bucs up 13-7.
Ruud has four competitors for his award: New Orleans DE Charles Grant, Tennessee DT Albert Haynesworth, Kansas City LB Derrick Johnson and New York Jets CB Darrelle Revis.
