Peter King tabs Sean Spence as Special Teams Player of the Week

Sean Spence's impressive tackle to stop Ravens fake field goal attempt got the attention of many, including longtime NFL writer Peter King.

King, who writes a weekly column for SI.com titled The Monday Morning Quarterback, awarded Pittsburgh's linebacker as his Special Teams Player of the Week along with Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos, who booted seven field goals in Kansas City's loss to the Bengals on Sunday, and Justin Tucker, the Ravens kicker who made the game-winning field goal on Thursday night.

Here's what King had to say about Spence's jarring tackle of Baltimore's Nick Boyle in the third quarter of Thursday night's game:

"Midway through the third quarter of a huge rivalry game (Steelers-Ravens always comes down to big plays in the second half), Spence made the best special-teams play of the season so far. Pittsburgh led 20-14, and Baltimore had fourth-and-2 from the Pittsburgh 20. Justin Tucker was lined up to try a 38-yard field goal. Holder Sam Koch took the snap and, immediately, left-wing player (Nick) Boyle, a backup Baltimore tight end, went into motion to the right and took a shovel pass from Koch. Spence knifed in through a slight gap in the Ravens’ line and dove at Boyle, tackling him for a three-yard loss. It was as though Spence knew exactly what was coming. That’s the kind of play that doesn’t happen without great instincts by players, or without attentive coaching. Special-teams coach Danny Smith, the 21-year NFL coaching veteran, clearly got his field-goal defense team ready to sniff out possible fakes. Beautiful play."

They play is just one several beautiful moments for Spence after his career began with a devastating knee injury that sidelined him for the first two seasons of his NFL career. But after successfully rehabbing a torn ACL, LCL and dislocated kneecap suffered in the preseason of 2012, Spence has played in 21 consecutive games for the Black and Gold (including the postseason) since the start of the 2014 season. Starting in place on Ryan Shazier on Thursday, Spence made eight tackles with a sack to go with his sterling stop of Boyle.

While many players should be credited for the Steelers' surprising defensive efforts over the past three games, Spence is one of them, as the linebacker continues to enjoy a solid career while helping Pittsburgh's defense continue to climb up the ranks of the better units in the NFL.


(pit.247sports.com)