Marcus Peters wins AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters returned from his suspension to win AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

It’s impossible to know how much credit goes to Andy Reid for instilling the sort of necessary discipline in the locker room when he suspended cornerback Marcus Peters, but the message intended clearly worked as Peters returned to form against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday. In fact, the NFL itself was also impressed as the league awarded Peters with the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award.

Just one week ago, Peters was suspended for a single game by the Kansas City Chiefs after his emotional outburst late in the team’s loss to the New York Jets in Week 13. Peters not only tossed an official’s flag into the stands, but he reportedly had an altercation with an unnamed assistant coach  after the game. Head coach Andy Reid said he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle things at first but ultimately decided to sit Peters in a big game against the Oakland Raiders.

When Peters returned to the team for the Chargers game, it was clear that he was just as passionate and emotional and yet he was also focused, using that energy in positive directions. He created a couple turnovers during the game, helping to put the game away in the fourth quarter after Philip Rivers and company had even taken the lead in the third quarter.

Next: Who are the Chiefs Pro Bowl snubs?

Peters ended the game with two interceptions to his credit and the Chiefs forced four overall to take home a very important win that gave them full control of the AFC West with only two games to go.