After the 49ers’ defense posted the franchise’s first road shutout since the 2001 season, it’s not surprising that a member of one of the league’s best units has been named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week. It actually might count as a mild surprise, however, that the winner is inside linebacker Patrick Willis. No disrespect to Willis, who had a brilliant 10-tackle, one-interception performance in a 34-0 beatdown of the Jets, but I wouldn’t have batted an eye if the hardware had gone to Carlos Rogers. The 49ers cornerback, after all, had two fumble recoveries, including one he returned 51 yards for a touchdown, and helped limited Mark Sanchez to a putrid 39.9 passer rating. And what about outside linebacker Aldon Smith, who had two sacks, a forced fumble and dropped Tim Tebow for a two-yard loss on a quarterback keeper? Source: SFGate.com
