The San Francisco 49ers have their first weekly award. While Carlos Hyde came up short in his bid for NFC Offensive Player of the Week, he was voted "FedEx Ground Player of the Week". Hyde rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns on Monday. He beat out Chris Ivory (91 yards, two touchdowns) and Matt Forte (141 yards, one touchdown).
The award is entirely a fan vote, and obviously promotes an NFL sponsor, but it is cool to see Hyde get some national love. He was the clear-cut favorite for the award given his yards and touchdown numbers. His play, combined with that of the offensive line was critical in the 49ers victory, so you've got the pure numbers and the total value.
Week 2 is going to be an interesting one for Hyde and this 49ers offense. The team kept it simple as they effectively ran over the Vikings defense on the ground. The 49ers likely left plenty off the film, so they will have their counters when the Steelers defenses shows them some different looks.