LAS VEGAS (AFLWA) – After quarterback John Dutton and his Colorado Crush teammates sent a message they were still ArenaBowl contenders with a strong performance over the Nashville Kats, Dutton was named the Arena Football League Writers Association (AFLWA) Player of the Week.

He completed 26 of 41 passes for 270 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions in the Crush's 77-47 victory.

Colorado, the defending AFL champion, was stunned just the week before, 65-21 by the Columbus Destroyers. But this victory gave the Crush a 7-3 record, the best in the American Conference.

"We never panicked, and we just had to get back to playing our game," Dutton told the Denver Post.

The AFLWA, founded at the start of the 2004 season, is a national organization made up of media members who cover the Arena Football League. Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is the AFLWA's founder and executive director.