Giants QB Manning, Jets RB Jones honored

Dec 4, 2008 - 6:56 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The strong play of Eli Manning and Thomas Jones has fans in the Big Apple dreaming of a all-New York Super Bowl. The duo were honored as the Offensive Players of the Month for their respective conferences on Thursday.

Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers and Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney were named Defensive Players of the Month in the NFC and AFC, respectively.

Tampa Bay's Clifton Smith and Miami's Dan Carpenter were honored as Special Teams Players of the Month.

The once-maligned Manning led the NFC-East leading New York Giants (11-1) to a 5-0 mark in November, completing 62.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,036 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The reigning Super Bowl MVP helped the Giants average an NFL-best 32.2 points en route to six straight wins over winning teams - one shy of an NFL record.

Manning's play has Giants fans thinking repeat, while Jones and the Jets (8-4) are one of the front-runners to represent the AFC in Tampa.

Jones led the AFC in rushing with 556 yards and seven touchdowns, helping the Jets to a 4-1 mark in November. Jones, who had three 100-yard games in the month, ran for 96 yards in a 34 13 win over then-undefeated Tennessee on November 23.

Jones leads the conference with 1,088 rushing yards this season.

Peppers earned NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors by recording seven sacks and tying for the league lead with three forced fumbles. The seventh-year veteran had three multi-sack games and tied a franchise record with three sacks against Oakland in Week 10.

Freeney registered five sacks and two forced fumbles for the Colts, who have won five straight.

Carpenter connected on all eight of his field goal attempts - including five field goals of 40 yards or longer. Smith, a rookie running back-kick returner, became the first player in franchise history to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown.