For someone who's been on the Dallas Cowboys' active roster for just three weeks, an undrafted free agent rookie out of SMU, Bryan McCann has set the NFL world on fire the last two weeks.
And in doing so, he may very well be on the verge of an NFL first.
No player has ever won the league's Special Teams Player of the Week award a week after winning Defensive Player of the Week, and it appears McCann is set to do that after his past two big-time performances.
First off, there was last week, when his club-record 101-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Giants gave a 14-point swing that ended up spurring the Cowboys to a resounding victory in their first game since Jason Garrett took over for Wade Phillips as head coach.
Then, in Sunday's win over the Lions — the Cowboys' second straight and first at home this season — McCann had another momentum swinging play.
Trailing 12-7 in the third quarter, and on the ropes against another one of the worst teams in the NFL, McCann got the Cowboys on track en route to a dominant 35-19 win over the hapless Lions with a 97-yard punt return on which he duped the Lions' punt coverage team that had already done a good job of pinning the Cowboys deep with the ol' "bat the ball out of the end zone" play.
Although McCann couldn't find the field when Wade was here, the rookie has made a huge impression on his new, interim head coach.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
"Two gigantic plays — last week he makes the huge interception in New York, and then the play he makes today was a game changing play," Garrett said. "He's such an aware football player. He's an aware defensive player and certainly in the kicking game."
McCann is really speedy, and with that awareness Garrett talked about on Sunday, he might be in line to get more and more playing time, which is one of the main positives of Wade's firing, that is getting some of these younger guys more playing time. Heck, Sean Lee even made a play on Sunday. Wade told us he wasn't good enough to see the field.
Stay on top of the latest Dallas Cowboys news with NBCDFW.com. Follow NBC DFW Sports on Facebook or have breaking Cowboys news sent directly to your phone with Blue Star SMS alerts. Text "bluestar" to 622339 (NBCDFW) to subscribe to this free service. Read more about it here.
