It should surprise nobody that David Akers earned his second consecutive NFC special teams player of the week honor for his Week 17 performance. Akers had two field goals, four extra points and his first career touchdown pass on a perfectly executed fake field goal attempt. This was his second straight award and the third straight for the 49ers. Andy Lee took home the honors in Week 15. The 49ers are the first team since the 2007 Chargers to win three straight awards.
This final award is a cap on what has been a dominant 2011 for David Akers. He has always been a great kicker, but he had arguably his finest season in his 14-year career. He set NFL records for most field goals attempted (52) and made (44) as well as the most points by a player without scoring a touchdown (166).
Akers would not have reached some of these marks if not for offensive struggles, but even still, having a money kicker is huge. The 49ers were coming off a very solid kicker in Joe Nedney, but Akers has taken it to a whole new level, most notably his dominance on 50+ field goals. It'd be nice if the offense punched in touchdowns every drive, but that doesn't always happen. Having someone who is pretty automatic is a nice assist.