Houston Texans OLB Connor Barwin was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month after leading the AFC in sacks and helping the Texans to a 3-0 record in November. Barwin is the second Texan to win player of the month honors this season, joining RB Arian Foster, who was the AFC Offensive Player of the Month in October.
Barwin led the AFC with 6.5 sacks and helped the Texans defense hold its opponents to a League-low 219.3 yards per game and 11.3 points per game, which was second in the League during the three-game span. Barwin accounted for nearly half of a Texans pass rush that registered 15 sacks, one off the League lead for the month. He recorded at least one sack in each game in November.
In Week 9 vs. Cleveland, Barwin had a sack for 4 yards and followed that up with 1.5 sacks for 7.5 yards in Week 10 at Tampa Bay. After the Texans' bye week, Barwin set a franchise record with 4.0 sacks in Week 12 at Jacksonville.
Barwin leads the Texans' top-ranked defense with 8.5 sacks and 20 quarterback hits in his first season playing linebacker. The 6-4, 264-pound third-year player played defensive end his first two seasons before making the switch to outside linebacker in the Texans' 3-4 scheme.
Barwin is fifth player in franchise history to win a player of the month award and the second defensive player to win the award. Former Texans safety Marcus Coleman was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September of 2003.
List of Texans AFC Player of the Month Award Winners:
Connor Barwin (Defensive), November 2011
Arian Foster (Offensive), October 2011
Arian Foster (Offensive), September 2010
Andre Johnson (Offensive), October 2008
Marcus Coleman (Defensive), September 2003
Chad Stanley (Special Teams), September 2002
