
The Houston Texans have just found their way to yet another Player of the Week honors. thanks to their performance in Week 17 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.
According to an announcement from the NFL, Texans punter Tommy Townsend has been crowned Week 17's AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Special for a reason @tommy_townsend pic.twitter.com/hGjUpjDt0v
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) December 31, 2025
It's officially Townsend's fourth Player of the Week award since entering the NFL in 2020, and comes in as his first since joining the Texans in 2024.
And for Houston specifically, Townsend's selection now makes for the Texans' fourth Player of the Week award for this season––joining C.J. Stroud's performance in Week 5, Danielle Hunter's in Week 10, and Derek Stingley's in Week 16.
During Townsend's performance against the Chargers, it might've just made for his best outing of the season thus far.
He logged five punts throughout the day against the Chargers, forcing four of those inside the 20, and two inside the 10— making for the NFL's only punter to place not one, but two punts within the 10 for the week.
Those efforts wound up being a helping hand for the Texans defense in a major way, allowing them to limit the Chargers to just 16 points in their high-stakes matchup in Los Angeles, tied for their third-lowest scoring day of the season.
And of course, that helped the Texans find their way to win number eight in a row, 20-16, and now leaves Houston with a 11-5 record with a certified spot in this year's postseason.
Townsend's four wins all-time also tie the record for Special Teams Player of the Week awards won by a former Florida player, pairing him with Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson and San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro, each with four.
Lucky for the Texans, there's still one final week on the regular season calendar to find yet another name to win a Player of the Week award, this time coming against the Indianapolis Colts, who have had three Offensive Player of the Week wins themselves from earlier this year, thanks to Jonathan Taylor's electric start to the season.
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