CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR D.J. WILLIAMS

For the third straight week, the Broncos have a nominee for one of the awards given out each week in the NFL -- 

Defensive end JOHN ABRAHAM of the Atlanta Falcons, defensive end JUQUA PARKER of the Philadelphia Eagles, linebacker JOEY PORTER of the Miami Dolphins, linebacker D.J. WILLIAMS of the Denver Broncos and cornerback ANTOINE WINFIELD of the Minnesota Vikings are the finalists for GMC SIERRA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK honors for games played on September 21 - 22, the NFL announced today. 

Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com/gmc beginning immediately following Monday Night Football and ending on Thursday at 4:00 pm EST to determine the GMC SIERRA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK.  The winner will be announced Thursday evening on NFL.com.

After the regular season, five players will be nominated for GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Year honors.  Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com/gmc throughout the month of January. 

A closer look at the finalists:

• Atlanta’s JOHN ABRAHAM notched two sacks in the Falcons’ 38-14 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs bringing his season total to six.  Abraham finished with three tackles and one forced fumble.
• Philadelphia’s JUQUA PARKER had 2.5 sacks, five tackles (two of them for loss), a forced fumble, a pass batted down and four quarterback hits in the Eagles’ 15 - 6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• Miami’s JOEY PORTER recorded three sacks, a forced fumble, and six tackles (three for a loss) in the Dolphins’ 38 – 13 win over the New England Patriots.
• Denver’s D.J. WILLIAMS posted a game-high 16 tackles in the Broncos’ 34 - 32 win against the New Orleans Saints.  After Williams tackled Saints RB Pierre Thomas for a loss of one yard on a third-and-1 from the Denver 24 with 2:19 left to play, New Orleans missed a 43-yard field goal attempt, sealing Denver’s win.

A FEW NOTES ON WILLIAMS:

 * - Williams’ 16 tackles were the most by an NFL player for Week 3 and represented the highest single-game total by an AFC player (T-2^nd in NFL) this season.

* - He led a Denver defense that held New Orleans to only 2-of-5 (40 percent) success on third-and-1 attempts as well as just 3.5 yards per rush (25-88).

 * - Williams’ 16 tackles marked his 10^th career contest with at least 10 tackles.

Minnesota’s ANTOINE WINFIELD energized a Minnesota defense in the Vikings’ 20 – 10 win over the Carolina Panthers.  Just before halftime, Winfield blitzed Panthers QB Jake Delhomme, notched his first sack of the season, forced a fumble, recovered the ball and ran it back 19 yards for a touchdown that tied the game.