Mario Williams was honored Wednesday for his 3.5 sack performance against Denver.
Texans defensive end Mario Williams was named as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 15, capturing the award for the second time this season, the NFL announced today. He becomes the only AFC defender to garner multiple honors this season.
Houston has had 12 players win AFC Player of the Week honors in team history—one on offense, four on defense and seven on special teams. Williams joins wide receiver André Davis as the first Texans to win AFC Player of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks.
Williams (6-6, 286) set a franchise record with 3.5 sacks and notched seven tackles, tying a career high, in Thursday night's 31-13 win over the Denver Broncos. The Texans defense recorded a season-high five sacks of Denver's quarterback Jay Cutler and only allowed 72 rushing yards.
Williams has now recorded 13.0 sacks on the season, setting a franchise record for sacks in a season. For his career, Williams has amassed 17.5 sacks, making him the all-time sack leader in Texans history.
Williams previously earned AFC Defensive of the Week in Week 1 of this season against the Kansas City Chiefs (9/9). Williams finished with five tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery which he returned 38 yards for his first career touchdown against the Chiefs.
Williams joins New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora as the only defensive players to win multiple Player of the Week awards this season. He is also the first Texan to win multiple player of the week honors in a season.
This is the fourth week in which a Texans player earned a player of the week award this season. In addition to Williams' two awards, kicker Kris Brown won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honor (Week 5), and Davis won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honor (Week 14). The four Player of the Week awards this season is a franchise high. Houston had three players garner Player of the Week honors in 2006.
This is the fifth NFL honor this season for the Texans. Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye was named Defensive Rookie of the Month in September.
*List of Texans AFC Players of the Week Award winners: *
| Player | Award * | Week | Year* |
| Mario Williams | Defensive | 15 | 2007 |
| André Davis | Special Teams | 14 | 2007 |
| Kris Brown | Special Teams | 5 | 2007 |
| Mario Williams | Defensive | 1 | 2007 |
| Kris Brown | Special teams | 16 | 2006 |
| DeMeco Ryans | Defensive | 13 | 2006 |
| Andre Johnson | Offensive | 4 | 2006 |
| Jerome Mathis | Special teams | 8 | 2005 |
| Kris Brown | Special teams | 3 | 2004 |
| Chad Stanley | Special teams | 9 | 2003 |
| Avion Black | Special teams | 15 | 2002 |
| Aaron Glenn | Defensive | 14 | 2002 |
