Francis Okupa, Special to ESPN 6y

NFL Africa Zone: ALLLVIIINNN! Edition

New Orleans Saints

Week 12 in the NFL was a good one for the running backs and offensive tackles, but not so much for the cornerbacks.

It reached a predictable zenith, though, as we could no longer delay the inevitable:

(Obvious) Player of the week

Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints #41) - Running back

With his second appearance as Player of the Week, Alvin Kamara's season has truly hit a high point. The rookie surpassed his September and October efforts with a sublime November.

Kamara has been more productive than any other running back in the league, rookie or veteran, in the past four weeks. During that time, Kamara has rushed for 303 yards on 35 carries. On the pass catching side, Kamara caught 23 passes for 291 yards and 6 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns.

Per Pro Football Focus, Kamara has forced 31 missed tackles in those four games. On Sunday in the Saints' loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Kamara got the ball in the backfield five times and rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown on a 74-yard run.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees targeted Kamara six times and the Sierra-Leonean caught all six passes, for 101 yards and a touchdown. Kamara broke nine tackles in the game on his 11 combined touches of the ball and per PFF averaged 13.8 yards after contact.

The Saints have four divisional games in December as well as a match-up against a solid Jets run defense to test Kamara's ability to close out his rookie year on a strong note.

Notable Performances

Tevin Coleman (Atlanta Falcons #26) - Running back

Taking advantage of his opportunity to be the number one back while Devonta Freeman recovered from a concussion, Coleman had a nice outing on Sunday in the Falcons' victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Liberian-American toted the ball 19 times for 97 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. Coleman received the game ball afterwards (despite a huge game by receiver Julio Jones) because his productive day on the ground came a day after his girlfriend gave birth to twins. Coleman came into the game with his usual professionalism despite the emotions of the day before.

Freeman could return to action this Sunday so Coleman may return to splitting carries with his backfield companion, but his performances over the past two games (and body of work over the past three seasons) will have other teams ready to tempt him away from Atlanta when he hits free agency after next season.

Kelechi Osemele (Oakland Raiders #72) - Left Guard

It's been awhile since Osemele made the notable performance list, but after a rough October for the Nigerian-American and his Raiders teammates, Osemele returned to form in November.

The All-Pro left guard has been painting a pass and run blocking masterpiece all month. In the Raiders' victory over the Denver Broncos, Osemele didn't allow a sack, hit or quarterback hurry, while also producing the highest run blocking grade amongst all guards this week, per PFF.

This season, Osemele has allowed less than 10 quarterback pressures on over 400 pass blocking snaps. It's no coincidence that as Osemele and the Raiders offensive line have kept quarterback Derek Carr relatively clean in the pocket, the Raiders are back in the mix for the AFC West title.

Special mentions

Mo Sanu (Atlanta Falcons) - The receiver caught eight passes for 64 yards but his touchdown pass to Julio Jones was one of the more impressive plays from week 12.

Yannick Ngakoue (Jacksonville Jaguars) - The Jaguars' second-year sackmaster had another great outing on Sunday with two tackles, including a tackle for a loss and one sack, in the Jags' loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Ngakoue is now up to 10 sacks and six forced fumbles, already surpassing his total from his rookie year with five games to spare.

Germain Ifedi (Seattle Seahawks) - The right tackle had a good performance on Sunday as he gave up just one pressure versus San Francisco. Ifedi and the Seahawks O-line helped keep Russell Wilson clean for the first time since December 2015, allowing no sacks on their QB.

Nelson Agholor (Philadelphia Eagles) - The redemption season continues for Agholor as he caught three passes and scored a flipping touchdown (literally) for the Eagles in their win over the Chicago Bears. Agholor also recovered a Jay Ajayi fumble in the Bears end zone to add to his touchdown total.

Players to watch in Week 13

Chidobe Awuzie (Dallas Cowboys #33) - Cornerback

Chido has been dealing with a hamstring injury for most of the season but returned to game action in the Cowboys' loss to the Chargers on Thanksgiving. Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has informed the media that starter Anthony Brown will be demoted. Awuzie is the likely candidate to take his place as he, Jourdan Lewis, and Bene Benwikere compete for the spot.

If Awuzie gets the nod, he will take the field against a Washington team with adequate receivers on each side but a slot receiver in Jamison Crowder, who was very productive last week. Awuzie's versatility will be helpful to the Cowboys, but his ability to put the clamps on his side of the field and provide sure tackling will be appreciated by the Cowboys' defense on Thursday.

Samson Ebukam (Los Angeles Rams #50) - Outside Linebacker

Ebukam is on the sneaky come-up as he keeps impressing every game and making the most of his snaps. The rookie got another sack on Sunday and added two tackles, including a tackle for a loss, in the win over the Saints.

This week, Ebukam will get a lot more defensive snaps as he fills in for the injured Connor Barwin in the game against the Arizona Cardinals. Rams coach Sean McVay had this to say about Ebukam: "[Ebukam's] a player with some great explosion.

"He plays with good length. He's continuing to understand the nuances of the system and what he's being asked to do, both in our base [3-4] package and our dime package."

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