This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
-Chris Godwin's 71-yard touchdown catch was a fine enough play on his part, but it was mostly the result of what was likely an ill-advised throw into tight, borderline double coverage downfield and over the middle, the corner barely missing the ball and the two safeties bumbling past while Godwin somehow slipped by for the long score. Sometimes it's a pick six, sometimes it's six for the offense. Jameis Winston is something of a three-outcome quarterback – touchdown, turnover, or incomplete, with an aesthetically trivial number of non-touchdown completions stirred in. Godwin's second touchdown was all him, somehow stopping to turn around and make a one-handed catch with the ball placed right where the defensive back crashed down. That touchdown, too, could have gone horribly wrong for Winston if the defensive back plays it a little differently.
-I can't begin to guess how the Atlanta passing game managed to fail so badly at home against the Buccaneers. Matt Ryan was so effective against the Panthers the week prior, and the Buccaneers have been uncommonly weak against the pass all year. This wasn't a bad player disappointing against a bad defense, it was one of the league's most productive quarterbacks failing utterly against one of the very worst pass defenses. Before Sunday the Buccaneers allowed more than 300 passing yards per game and 25 touchdowns in 10 games. Ryan only completed 23-of-46 attempts for 271 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Six sacks and 13 quarterback hits imply the
-Chris Godwin's 71-yard touchdown catch was a fine enough play on his part, but it was mostly the result of what was likely an ill-advised throw into tight, borderline double coverage downfield and over the middle, the corner barely missing the ball and the two safeties bumbling past while Godwin somehow slipped by for the long score. Sometimes it's a pick six, sometimes it's six for the offense. Jameis Winston is something of a three-outcome quarterback – touchdown, turnover, or incomplete, with an aesthetically trivial number of non-touchdown completions stirred in. Godwin's second touchdown was all him, somehow stopping to turn around and make a one-handed catch with the ball placed right where the defensive back crashed down. That touchdown, too, could have gone horribly wrong for Winston if the defensive back plays it a little differently.
-I can't begin to guess how the Atlanta passing game managed to fail so badly at home against the Buccaneers. Matt Ryan was so effective against the Panthers the week prior, and the Buccaneers have been uncommonly weak against the pass all year. This wasn't a bad player disappointing against a bad defense, it was one of the league's most productive quarterbacks failing utterly against one of the very worst pass defenses. Before Sunday the Buccaneers allowed more than 300 passing yards per game and 25 touchdowns in 10 games. Ryan only completed 23-of-46 attempts for 271 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Six sacks and 13 quarterback hits imply the offensive line takes most of the blame, but it shouldn't be that hard to get the ball out quickly against that team. Julio Jones was very disappointing (five catches for 68 yards on nine targets), though at least Russell Gage had his most effective NFL game yet, catching eight of 10 targets for 76 yards. I still doubt Gage is anything more than a WR4 in the long term, but he's showing some life at least.
-Kyle Allen definitely bounced back against the Saints on Sunday, completing 23-of-36 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns, but I wouldn't start to get my hopes too high for him. The Saints were without top right corner Marshon Lattimore, so D.J. Moore was running against burn artist P.J. Williams all day, and despite a handful of nice throws Allen still had too many ugly ones that get his guys clobbered. Neither Moore nor Curtis Samuel is a true WR1 in my opinion, but their skill sets are very complementary of each other. Moore has great ball skills and running ability after the catch but lacks downfield separation ability, while Samuel is something like the Will Fuller of the offense – below average hands but rare speed and downfield separation ability.
-Almost all of Alvin Kamara's 102 yards from scrimmage occurred in the second half, and for the second time in three games Sean Payton almost got burned for underutilizing the star running back. Jared Cook had his best game of the year, catching six of eight targets for 99 yards and a touchdown, and that was even as he dropped another touchdown pass.
-Jeff Driskel arguably undid the promise of his first two starts with his extensive struggles against Washington. While the offensive line excuse is fair (six sacks, 14 QB hits), you'd like to see Driskel avoid a couple of those and do better than 20-of-33 for 207 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions as a passer. Driskel missed Marvin Jones on what would have been about a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter. At least his rushing ability was as sharp as ever, turning nine attempts into 63 yards. Bo Scarbrough wore down the defense (18 carries for 98 yards) and has truly standout athleticism (4.52-second 40, 40-inch vertical at 228 pounds), but his vision and lateral movement aren't as obvious. Some select plays aside, he generally doesn't jump out the way you'd expect from someone with his testing numbers. He's maybe more importantly limited in pass-catching functions. He's made a good case to be a long-term backup to Kerryon Johnson, though.
-Dwayne Haskins has good throwing talent and was outrageously productive at Ohio State, but Washington might eventually have to turn back to Case Keenum this year. As much as it might negatively affect his job security, I don't really care about the incident at the end of today's game. I'm more concerned about how Haskins completed only 13-of-29 passes for 156 yards and an interception against a typically harmless Lions defense. As a Terry McLaurin owner I'm hoping Washington goes back to Keenum and puts the redshirt back on Haskins, because it was another inefficient game for the two Sunday (five catches for 72 yards on 12 targets). McLaurin is very good though, and fellow rookie Kelvin Harmon (three catches for 43 yards on six targets) has shown some real skill, too. Washington would be smart to send Trey Quinn to the bench and make Paul Richardson or Steven Sims the full-time slot receiver. Sims didn't catch either of his two targets, but he scored on a 91-yard kick return. Sims was a productive receiver at Kansas, and Washington has shown a consistent intention to get him specifically the ball. He had 14 targets on 78 snaps coming into Sunday, and six carries for 82 yards and a touchdown too.
-Keenum would also be good for Derrius Guice, who looked explosive Sunday but had nowhere to run (32 yards on 10 carries).
-Brandon Allen was horrendous against Buffalo, completing 10-of-25 passes for 82 yards and one interception while taking four sacks. The rest of the Denver offense went with Allen, including Courtland Sutton (one catch for 25 yards on eight targets) and Phillip Lindsay (13 carries for 57 yards). Royce Freeman saw just two carries for 20 yards and two catches for nine yards on two targets.
-Since throwing 41 passes in a Week 10 loss to Cleveland, Josh Allen has seen a more modest passing volume to better results. After completing 15-of-25 passes for 185 yards, two touchdown, and one interception against Denver, Allen has five passing touchdowns in his last 58 attempts after throwing only one in the prior 61 attempts. Cole Beasley had the bigger game (six catches for 76 yards and one touchdown on nine targets) but John Brown still found the end zone again, catching two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown on four targets.
-Daniel Jones couldn't move the ball downfield in Chicago, completing 21-of-36 passes for only 150 yards (4.2 YPA) and two touchdowns while losing a fumble. He only took one sack, but the eight QB hits might illustrate the pressure better. Sterling Shepard saw nine targets but struggled to five catches for 15 yards in his return, while Golden Tate (three catches for 33 yards and one touchdown) and Darius Slayton (four catches for 67 yards) both saw seven targets. It's a legitimately solid trio, and it's encouraging for them that they didn't disappear even in a game where Jones struggled. I can't really conjure a similar pitch for Saquon Barkley, who unfortunately ran for just 59 yards on 17 carries while catching two of three targets for one yard.
-Mitch Trubisky completed 25-of-41 passes for 278 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, stumbling even against the weak Giants secondary. To be fair to Trubisky, refs took away a 60-yard pass to Allen Robinson on a weak holding call. Robinson still had a great game, finishing with six catches for 131 yards and one touchdown on 10 targets. Anthony Miller caught six passes for 77 yards on nine targets, but it's less impressive considering he was running against a rookie seventh-round pick in his second career start. David Montgomery (13 carries for 22 yards, two catches for nine yards on three targets) was an inconceivable dud.
-Duck Hodges (5-of-11 for 118 yards and one touchdown) posted better numbers than Mason Rudolph (8-of-16 for 85 yards and one interception), but they're both remarkably bad. James Washington's three-catch, 98-yard day entailed an entertaining 79-yard touchdown, but plays like that happen once a year if you're lucky. No one on the Steelers is this year. That includes Jaylen Samuels, who was reduced to a pass-catching specialist with two carries for seven yards. Rookie fourth-round pick Benny Snell saw 21 carries for 98 yards, while fellow rookie Kerrithy Whyte ran for 43 yards on six carries. Whyte is a supremely elusive burner but the Steelers barely used him after the first quarter.
-Although Ryan Finley was bad again (12-of-26 for 192 yards and one touchdown) he at least did the most important thing: get Tyler Boyd going. Boyd caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown on nine targets, but this might be as good as it gets with Boyd until they move on from Finley.
-Patrick Laird had more yards on three carries (20) than Kalen Ballage had on seven (13), and Laird didn't catch his one target. It was an unlikely outcome given Ryan Fitzpatrick's 39 pass attempts, so it was an unusually busy day for the Miami receivers. DeVante Parker caught six of 11 targets for 91 yards, while Allen Hurns (four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown), Albert Wilson (six catches for 33 yards), and Mike Gesicki (three catches for 28 yards and one touchdown) all were busy with seven targets.
-Miami barely played defense against Baker Mayfield, who showed some new rhythm by going 24-of-34 for 327 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Jarvis Landry (10 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns on 13 targets) and Odell Beckham (six catches for 84 yards and one touchdown on eight argets) caught Mayfield's touchdown passes, while Nick Chubb (three catches for 58 yards on four targets) was the surprising third-leading receiver. Chubb finished otherwise with 21 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown while Kareem Hunt ran for 37 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts.
-Perhaps the Raiders singled out Jamison Crowder (two catches for 18 yards on four targets) in their game plan, because Crowder fell flat while Robby Anderson (four catches for 86 yards and one touchdown on five targets) showed some life while Le'Veon Bell (five catches for 59 yards on five targets) found pass-catching room, as well. Unfortunately for Bell investors, the 34-3 blowout capped Bell at 12 carries for 49 yards while Bilal Powell, Josh Adams, and Ty Montgomery combined for 14 carries.This game featured Good Sam Darnold, who completed 20-of-29 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns while adding a third touchdown on the ground.
-Another fumble for Chris Carson, and this one might actually matter. He otherwise ran for 26 yards on eight carries and caught all four of his targets for 71 yards, but Carson was still outplayed by Rashaad Penny (14 carries for 129 yards and one touchdown). With that, Penny now has 715 yards and four carries on 135 career attempts (5.3 YPC). How can a team spend a first-round pick and then refuse to use a player who produces like that, especially when the scheme is ostensibly the most run-focused in the league? Penny might not have the Earl Campbell optics that Carson does but he's still ridiculously underutilized. As much as I think Carson is still Seattle's best pass-catching option in the backfield, Penny deserves a raised share of the carry distribution going forward.
-Nick Foles (32-of-48 for 272 yards) might have some legitimate excuse about his injury limiting him in return, but if so then he shouldn't have returned this early. Gardner Minshew is better. Leonard Fournette went on a rampage despite Foles' struggles, taking 24 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns while securing nine of 12 targets for 62 yards.
-Ryan Tannehill was remarkably explosive against Jacksonville, completing 14-of-18 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns while adding seven carries for 40 yards and two more touchdowns. A.J. Brown (four catches for 135 yards and one touchdown on five targets) might already be better than Corey Davis (two catches for 29 yards on three targets).
-Dak Prescott (19-of-33 for 212 yards and one interception) was bad in the rain Sunday, but not as bad as the refs. The Patriots for some reason cycled James White out of the game plan (two carries for five yards, one catch for minus-six yards on three targets), with Sony Michel taking 20 carries for 85 yards and Rex Burkhead catching two of five targets for 14 yards. Each of New England's three receivers showed promise, including the rookies Jakobi Meyers (four catches for 74 yards on nine targets) and N'Keal Harry (one 10-yard touchdown catch on four targets). Harry is kind of on a DeVante Parker trajectory right now, but maybe Parker would have succeeded sooner if he had been drafted by New England.
