The New Orleans Saints' Alvin Kamara - whose family is Liberian - was the outstanding African player in the NFL for a second week out of two this season as he scored four touchdowns in a 44-19 drubbing of the Dallas Cowboys.
His teammate, Paulson Adebo - the son of first-generation immigrants from Benin - had some huge moments on defense too, while Levi Onwuzurike, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Foyesade Oluokun and Bobby Okereke were among the other African stars who had a superb week.
African Player of the Week: Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints)
Kamara's four touchdowns against the Cowboys made it six from his first two games of the NFL season. He became the first player in the Saints' franchise history to score four or more touchdowns in a single game on more than one occasion, having previously scored six against the Minnesota Vikings in 2020.
Under new Saints offensive co-ordinator Klint Kubiak, Kamara is back to his best - and arguably even better than he was at his prior peak.
The former University of Tennessee running back was able to combine the short run-ins after periods of attrition with weaving moments of individual brilliance - the latter most notably displayed when Kamara scored his second touchdown of the game.
Tom Brady, who was commentating on the game for Fox, said that Kamara "sets up the entire offense" and described him as "a matchup nightmare".
Kamara won the Saints a total of 180 yards - 115 rushing and 65 receiving - scoring three running touchdowns and a receiving touchdown to add to it in what was one of the most complete performances from any player this season.
The Super Bowl is set to be played in New Orleans and although few fancied them at the start of the season, the Saints are this season's dark horses and as they look to get there, Kamara will be central to their efforts.
African Moment of the Week: Paulson Adebo (New Orleans Saints)
One of the defining moments of the match came deep in the second quarter as Saints cornerback Adebo took advantage of a slight stumble by Jalen Brooks to intercept a pass from Dak Prescott and ran it back 47 yards.
At that stage, the score was 28-13 to the Saints and the game was very much still alive. Prescott's pass to Brooks could easily have resulted in a touchdown had it gone to hand, but instead, the interception and return from Adebo led to another Saints touchdown to all but put the game to bed by half-time - although the Cowboys did claw back a field goal to make it 35-16 at the break.
In the second half, Adebo went on to defend yet another pass - making it three in total for the season for him and putting him joint fifth in the league among all players for passes defended this season.
Honorable Mentions:
Christian Izien, a safety of Nigerian descent, picked up nine tackles and an interception for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they beat the Detroit Lions 20-16 despite half a sack from Levi Onwuzurike.
In another clash of African giants, Foyesade Oluokun (of Nigerian descent) starred for the Jacksonville Jaguars with a sack and eight tackles but the Jacksonville Jaguars still lost 18-13 to the Cleveland Browns as Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (of Ghanaian descent) made seven tackles.
Bobby Okereke, who spent the offseason in Nigeria helping the NFL's camp there and catching up with family, made eight tackles and a sack despite the New York Giants' 21-18 defeat to the Washington Commanders.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba was also at the NFL Africa camp in Lagos and has paternal grandparents from nearby Sierra Leone. He joined Kamara among African players to make a major offensive impact with 12 receptions for 117 yards in the Seattle Seahawks' 23-20 overtime win over the New England Patriots.
Africa-born Player Watch:
Guinea-born Liberian Kwity Paye picked up five tackles for the Indianapolis Colts in their 16-10 defeat to the Green Bay Packers, while compatriot Gus Edwards was on the winning team in his second game for the LA Chargers, who beat the Carolina Panthers 26-3. Edwards, who was born in Liberia, put in a decent shift with 59 rushing yards.
All in all, this week was not quite as productive for African-born players as the previous one, as Nate Landman (Zimbabwe) sat out the Atlanta Falcons' 22-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles with injury and Arnold Ebiketie (Cameroon) and David Onyemata (Nigeria) had relatively quiet games.