D’Andre Swift, Zack Baun and Simi Fehoko Earn NFC Week 1 Honors
Chicago’s D’Andre Swift, Philadelphia’s Zack Baun and Arizona’s Simi Fehoko were recognized for standout performances during the NFC’s opening week of the 2026 season.
The NFL has named its first NFC Players of the Week for the 2026 season, with Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Simi Fehokotaking home the conference’s offensive, defensive and special teams honors.
Swift Powers Historic Bears Offensive Showing
Swift delivered one of the biggest performances of Chicago’s 59-37 victory over Carolina, rushing for 124 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
His production helped fuel a Bears offense that scored six rushing touchdowns — tying the 1920 Detroit Heralds, 1920 Rock Island Independents and 1922 Canton Bulldogs for the most rushing touchdowns in an NFL season-opening game.
The award marks Swift’s second career Offensive Player of the Week honor, following his Week 2 recognition with Philadelphia in 2023.
Swift also becomes just the sixth Bears running back to earn the award, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton, Neal Anderson, Jordan Howard, Matt Forte and Anthony Thomas.
The former Georgia standout is also the sixth Bulldogs running back to earn multiple Offensive Player of the Week awards, joining Terrell Davis, Todd Gurley, James Cook, Garrison Hearst and Herschel Walker.
Baun Leads Eagles Defense
Baun was all over the field in Philadelphia’s 24-22 win over Washington, finishing with 12 tackles, two passes defensed and a tackle for loss.
According to Next Gen Stats, Washington targeted Baun six times in coverage, but he surrendered just three receptions for negative-2 yards. He became one of only two defenders since the start of last season to allow negative receiving yards while being targeted at least five times in a game.
The honor is Baun’s second career Defensive Player of the Week award, following his Week 10 recognition in 2024.
He is now the third Eagles linebacker to win the award multiple times, joining Seth Joyner and William Thomas.
Baun also becomes the fourth former Wisconsin player with multiple Defensive Player of the Week honors, joining T.J. Watt, J.J. Watt and Nate Odomes.
Fehoko Makes Special Teams Impact
Fehoko made his biggest impact with a crucial special teams play in Arizona’s 26-14 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
With 12:28 remaining in the fourth quarter, Fehoko blocked a punt that gave the Cardinals possession at the Chargers’ 3-yard line. Arizona converted the opportunity into a touchdown, extending its lead to 23-14.
It is Fehoko’s first career Player of the Week award and makes him the first Cardinals player who is neither a kicker nor punter to earn NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in 11 seasons.
The last Cardinals player to accomplish that was David Johnson in Week 2 of 2015.
Fehoko also becomes the first former Stanford player outside of the kicker and punter positions to receive the special teams honor in 15 seasons, following Doug Baldwin’s recognition in Week 14 of 2011.
The three winners headline the NFC’s first weekly awards of the 2026 season, each making an impact in a different phase of the game.
Source: NFL Communications
