NFC honors for Danieal Manning

Danieal Manning of the Chicago Bears was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning five kickoffs for 179 yards (35.8 yards per return), including the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown last Thursday against New Orleans.

This is Manning's first Player of the Week award, and he is the first Bears player to return the opening kickoff of a regular season game for a touchdown since Ron Smith on Dec. 17, 1972 at Oakland (94 yards). The kickoff return touchdown was the first of Manning's NFL career.

Later in the game against the Saints, Manning returned a kickoff 52 yards to the New Orleans 41-yard line, which set up the Bears second touchdown of the game, en route to a 27-24 overtime victory. Manning leads the NFL this season with 29.5 yards per kickoff return (26 for 766 yards).