In a week of blowouts and fairly average games, we got one beauty (the one many expected to be such) and the rise of Jayden Daniels continues. Just a calm, collected, brilliant performance on the road, in a night game, against a defense that can dial up some crazy shit. He didn't get the help of a run game either. Not to worry. Daniels was great throughout, with amazing poise and great work commanding that offense. The game sealing play to work around Clancy was a thing of beauty. There is a slowness about the way he sees the game, that it all seems so right.
Runner-Up: Chris Shula (Rams DC)
Obviously, the death of the Sam Darnold miracle took a lot of the headlines, but let's not look past the brilliance of the defensive plan by the Rams. It is hilarious to me that a guy named Chris Shula (e.g. someone related to The Don Shula) can be relatively anonymous, but so is the case. Anonymous no more (to me, at least). The Rams defensive plan was perfect, playing more aggressive coverage than normal knowing Darnold may hold onto the ball too long. The variety of blitzes and pressures - in the end most sacks came when rushing four, but never teh same four. That was a glorious performance.
Goat of the Week: Justin Herbert & Jordan Love
Sure, I could've probably thrown Sam Darnold into this category, but Herbert and Love share a lot of things, namely being routinely overhyped by media film types. Particularly Herbert, where there was a hole cottage industry of calling him the best QB not named Mahomes, Allen and Jackson. Well, both QBs just got undressed in their respective losses. Yes, they had little help with drops (or injuries, for the Packers), but they looked awful. Herbert invited pressure, threw late, threw high, threw just truly awful passes like the first interception when his team was rolling. Love was much of the same, showing a lot of the inaccuracy issues that plague him from time to time. Both are good players, sure, but we should also remember this was year five for both players (including Love's three years on teh bench). They are not young.
Runner-Up: Tampa Bay Snapping
How do you lose a game when your QB goes 15-18 with 2 TDs, and also the run game plays well? Throwing away two possessions with snap errors is how. First, after stopping the Commanders on 4th and Goal, the Buccaneers have a snap and handoff issue that fumbles it right back to the Commanders, who turn their second lease on life into a TD to make it 20-17. Then, after driving it all the way to the Commanders 12 yard line, the center snaps it too early on a 3rd and 1 leading to a two yard loss and the Bucs ending up just tying the game. Now, the Bucs defense had their own other chances on defense and were hopeless, but it may not have mattered if they just snapped the ball properly every play.
Surprise of the Week: The Resurrection of CJ Stroud
This was not a banner year for CJ Stroud. He didn't get much worse, but he also didn't seem to get better. Some of that is inconsistent play from the receivers, a degradation in play from his OL. For about 20 minutes, that game was more of the same - and then the ball was snapped over his head near his own end zone, which he picked up and gained 30 yards. And then a light clicked on. Stroud was excellent for the rest of the game, throwing with command, with great touch, with great timing. Who knows if it lasts more than a week, or on the other hand is this something he can take into 2025. I did not expect to leave that game thinking Stroud and the Texans offense are playing above average and can be dangerous against the Chiefs, but here we are.
Runner-Up: Dyami Brown (WR, WAS)
Look, not that much was outright surprising (in the positive sense), but I was shocked by how good Dyami Brown was for the Commanders. We know about McLaurin, and Ertz, and Jayden, and Ekeler (even if he did fairly next to nothing). We in theory I guess know about Dyami Brown, in theory the Commanders #2 receiver, or at least the guy they want to be the #2 receiver over the limited (if still reliable) Olamade Zaccheus. Well, for a week we all saw Dyami Brown make some great catches, get some YAC, score a TD and giving Daniels a reliable non-McLaurin outlet. His continued performance will be huge if the Commanders are to pull an upset.
Disappointment of the Week: Steelers Fight
Kirk Herbstreit laid into the Steelers in that first half, and for good reason. That was embarrassing, just letting the Ravens run and run and run. It wasn't even the most creative stuff at times, just Lamar, Henry and Justice Hill just rolling them, and the OL roadgrading. The Steelers were not as good as the Ravens, but at least in the earlier two matchups they weren't embarrassed like that. The offense showed a little bit in that second half, but it was all so flat. Count me as someone who is slightly on the side of "I just think it's time to call it a day" with Tomlin and the Steelers. Mostly because this team was better than the 2023 Steelers and 2021 Steelers that got smoked in the Wild Card roudn. This team shouldn't have gotten smoked like that, especially on defense.
Runner-Up: Chargers Everything
Much like the Steelers, the Chargers were disastrous all over. Even when they were going most of the first half without giving up a point, it was more Texans mistakes than anything they did. Aside from a couple Ladd McConkey plays, the offense was just a disaster. Even their much ballyhooed tackle due of Alt and Slater got beat often. This was just a complete team embarrassment for the Chargers. Really suprising, I have to say, with a Harbaugh team to be just outplayed in every facet like that. I still think they have a relatively bright future, but that will be a tough stain heading into the offseason.
Team Performance of the Week: Ravens OL
Sure, we can focus on Lamar and Henry - and why wouldn't we. They are maybe the most brilliant pairing of QB and RB in a generation. But what should also be noted in that game was how well the OL played - just removing Watt from the game, and doing more or less the same with Highsmith and Heyward and any other sucker the Steelers tried to put out there. The Ravens OL improvement over the course of the year has been so critical to them being so dominant on offense, and it was in full display. Rarely was Henry or Jackson even touched until a good 4-5 yards past the LOS. The Ravens had to replace folks on the fly, but performances like Rosengarten's continues to showcase the depth and brilliance of the Ravens scouting ability.
Runner-Up: Bills Skill Position Guys
Sure, we can focus on Allen and the Bills great OL (how amazing was Dion Dawkins just carrying cook for 10 yards!) - and why wouldn't we. But let's also give a lot of love to the Bills bevy of weapons - none lethal but so many dependable. Shakir contines to excel after the catch. Knox and Kincaid made good contested catches downfield. Cooper continues to have glue on his hands (even if he isn't always getting the most separation). All three running backs are adding value. Coleman is even shaking off players - as are Mack Hollins and Curtis Samuel. A good comp for me, in a way, is the 2015 Panthers - who lost their supposed top receiver (Kelvin Benjamin) in the preseason but just meshed so well with Cam. This is the same.
Team Laydown of the Week: Broncos Defense
This was supposed to be a top-5 unit, with one of the league's best pass rushes, and a true shutdown corner in Surtain. Now, those elements weren't awful. Getting two sacks against Josh Allen is a huge win given how rare it is for him to get sacked (it should be noted, the second sack was the result of a clear missed holding call on Denver). Surtain I guess was OK - and his highlight of the Samuel long TD is probably unfair to him. But man did this defense just wither away. The DL could get no consistent push. The rest of the back-seven couldn't stop anyone. They couldn't contest catches. It was a rough go for what was up till now a good unit.
Runner-Up: Vikings OL
Yeah, we have to talk about that disaster. Sure, it is easy to just blame Darnold, and he was awful. But that OL was about as bad. Simple rushes and twists just flummoxed them completely. Yes, Darnold often held onto the ball too long, but in many of those cases the pressure was already to him in the first 1.5-2.0 seconds. They didn't do well in the run game either. I feel bad piling on that unit as they are definitely a noted weakness of teh Vikings, but they picked a rough time to have by far their worst performance - something they very much share with their QB.
Storyline that Will be Beat Into the Ground: Bills / Ravens - Biggest Game Ever
Yes, we get it. This is the clash of the titans. The two best offenses. The two teams living in the shadow of the Chiefs. This really is a great matchup, and glad it got the 6:30pm Sunday slot. All taht said though, it just pains me that this is a divisional game, that for the winner, they still have to beat likely the Chiefs to really make it matter. I more hate this game because of the discourse - not only the Chiefs thing, but how the loser will get crucified. I'm not a Chiefs hater. I hope Mahomes continues his brilliant career to where it is clear he is the GOAT and not Brady. But man, do I wish this was the AFC Championship Game. I honestly don't even have a story that should be beat into the ground because this one will jsut take all the oxygen away. We should be extolling the virtues of Allen and Lamar, but instead we'll turn this into an MVP referendum, and also a "can this guy win in the playoffs?" referendum for the loser, and i hate all of that so much.
