Week 15 Thoughts and Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations as I try and recover from one of the most amazing Sundays I have ever seen in the NFL:

I just looked at the box score and saw the Raiders held Jamaal Charles to a meager 20 yards rushing and he left the game after three quarters. They must have shut him down bigtime, huh?

What's that you say?

Five touchdowns?

FIVE TOUCHDOWNS?

I heart you Jamaal Charles.

I really really heart you.

I've been saying for seemingly months now that Charles was long overdue for long touchdowns. He is one of the most explosive players in the NFL but his longest touchdown of the season going into Week 15 was just seven yards. That absolutely screamed anomaly and was bound to change. If you are a Charles owner you knew those long TDs were going to come eventually. There was just no way of knowing he would drop them all on the Raiders in one fell swoop.

I still think Marc Trestman's decision to bench Josh McCown was a mistake but I'll give him and Jay Cutler props for coming through on Sunday at Cleveland. Cutler struggled early but he hung in there and made big plays to propel the Bears to a huge win on the road. If you're in a league with Waivers and own McCown I think you can safely drop him now. Cutler's healthy and locked in the rest of the way.

He wasn't helped by a lot of ugly drops but it figures the first time I strongly advocate Jason Campbell he turns back into Jason Campbell again.

Ted Thompson had a horrible offseason, easily his worst as the Packers' general manager, but drafting Eddie Lacy is going to go down as one of his finest moves ever. Lacy is one of the most entertaining running backs in the league and he was the primary reason why Green Bay pulled off an improbable rally at Dallas on Sunday. He is one helluva football player.

I'll give Matt Flynn plenty of props too, though. He was putrid early but he hung tough and made a lot of big throws in the second half and especially late. It's completely baffling to me that Thompson initially thought Seneca Wallace was a superior option to be Aaron Rodgers' backup and refused to pick up Flynn off waivers when he first became available. Baffling. Absolutely baffling.

Meanwhile in Dallas, I don't know how Jason Garrett keeps his job today. The decision to go away from DeMarco Murray (who was absolutely destroying the Packers) and abandon the running game is the No. 1 reason why the Cowboys choked at home. Everyone associated with that decision needs to be fired on the spot. Did none of them see how badly Murray was killing the Green Bay defense? How do you stop feeding him the ball with a commanding lead in the second half?

Our good friend John Hansen called it last week - Dez Bryant's a front runner. He's got a lot of Randy Moss in him. That's both good and bad. And when it's bad it's really really bad.

I'll never tell anyone to bench Kendall Wright or Vincent Jackson due to the matchup again. Ever.

Hold on Jamaal Charles just scored again.

I don't know how to break this to you New England, but you're not a legit Super Bowl contender. Not with that God-awful defense.

Julian Edelman caught eight passes for 93 yards. IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. I seriously hope I don't get any more questions on Twitter from people asking if they should start him.

Ummm yes you should.

I haven't been the biggest Ryan Tannehilll guy in the world but he played very well on Sunday. Course that Patriots' defense really is some kind of terrible. So that definitely helped.

Coby Fleener caught as many passes on Sunday as I did. So if you started me over him it didn't end up killing you.

Josh Gordon's playing at such a high level that even when he has a horrible day he still finds a way to do something to help his fantasy owners.

Hold on Jamaal Charles just scored again.

Before anyone (and I'm talking to you ESPN and the NFL Network) tries to fire up an RG3/Kirk Cousins QB controversy please keep in mind the matchup on Sunday for Cousins was absolutely sensational. It would've been a huge disappointment if he didn't do well.

That said, outside of an absolutely dismal third quarter Cousins acquitted himself well in his first start of the season. And if you started him this week you're gonna love his matchup next week.

It's Dallas by the way.

Hold on Jamaal Charles just scored again.

If you can answer how the Steelers can look so good at home Sunday against the Bengals one week after soiling the bed so badly at home against Miami you're a smarter person than I am.

I said a few weeks ago that nobody from the NFC East deserved to be in the playoffs. After watching the division go 0-4 on Sunday I feel even more strongly about that now.

Speaking of which, I'm not sure who choked worse on Sunday, the Eagles or Cowboys.

OK, I'm going with Philly. The Vikings were down to a third-string running back and Philly made him look like a Hall of Famer. Matt Asiata? Really Philadelphia? Really?

Hold on Jamaal Charles just scored again.

Anybody else get the feeling Eli Manning is trying to throw more interceptions at this point?

There were more points scored Sunday than on any other day in NFL history. The Giants scored 0 of them. Congratulations?

Michael Crabtree. Vernon Davis. Anquan Boldin. Suddenly, the 49ers have an actual passing attack again.

If you're a believer in holding off on drafting a quarterback you had to be enjoying the hell out of Week 15. Free-agent pickups like Nick Foles, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Cassel and Kirk Cousins and late-round picks like Ryan Tannehill and Alex Smith dominated the fantasy landscape.

Hold on Jamaal Charles just scored again.

I realize the Saints were on the road where they often struggle but they were in a dome. Shouldn't that have helped them play better against the Rams? Even a little?

Next up for New Orleans? A visit to Carolina. Drew Brees and Co. better play a helluva lot better. There's a lot riding on that game now.

Garrett Hartley's last field goal attempt looked like something I would do because I can't kick.

If you started Shane Vereen, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker and Jimmy Graham this week you had every reason to expect a bountiful amount of points this week, especially since three of those players (Graham, Thomas and Vereen) are bonafide fantasy studs. Instead ... well ... umm ... wow.

Just wow.

Mike Shanahan did nearly everything conceivably wrong on every level last week in one of the most pathetic displays of head coaching I've seen in a long time but I loved his decision to try and go for the win late against the Falcons. It didn't work but that's what you do when you have a team going nowhere and a defense on the ropes. Why play for the tie?

You listening, Mike Munchak?

Keenan Allen or Eddie Lacy for the Rookie of the Year?

Maybe a tie?

The Falcons season has been over for some time now but guys like Steven Jackson and Tony Gonzalez are providing clear examples of what it means to be a professional. If you watched them play on Sunday in a meaningless game playing like it was a Super Bowl you had to come away impressed. But that's just who these guys are and always have been.

Conversely, is there any question the Texans have quit? Any question at all?

That's what I thought.

It's way too early to start putting anyone in the Super Bowl. We all know how crazy the postseason can get. But is there anyone who, right now, looks like they can go into Seattle and beat the Seahawks? Especially if Seattle ever gets Percy Harvin back (huge "if" there, I realize)?

And finally, I want to give a special thanks to Charles, Cousins, Andre Ellington, Pierre Garcon, Dan Bailey, Delanie Walker and the Steelers' defense for helping me shatter the single week high scoring record in my top league. I'm not sure what more I can say other than ... I love you guys. I really really do.

#Verklempt

[JETS SB]

Jason Garrett said, after the game, throwing Romo under the bus, that the last INT was a called run play that Romo did an audible. Romo deserves every criticism ever thrown at him. He is AWFUL in the big game when it counts but Garrett will be fired and Romo will still be with the Cowboys next year.

[Tom Kessenich]

Garrett was in full "It's everyone's fault but mine" mode after the game. Even if Romo did mess up with the audible that doesn't explain the decision to remove Murray from the game plan for an entire half. That's all on coaching and that starts with Garrett.

[Money]

Here are some random thoughts and observations as I try and recover from one of the most amazing Sundays I have ever seen in the NFL:

If I had just slept though all of the Sunday football I would've had to read no further to know that the packers had won.

[Jersey Dawg]

As a Giants fan I'm not quite sure what they should/could do about Eli. This is now a full season and a half of terrible, terrible, terrible football. He looks NOTHING like the two time super bowl MVP of the past. I understand the OL is not good and Nicks has been a shell of himself, but Eli has turned into a turnover machine. His head is clearly not on straight.

[kingraiders]

He wasn't helped by a lot of ugly drops but it figures the first time I strongly advocate Jason Campbell he turns back into Jason Campbell again.


He is what he is (not good). Not sure what the numbers were, but until the last drive it was as if Gordon had slept with his wife this week. It was maddening to watch drive after drive w/o even looking Gordon's way vs. little Tim Jennings. That last FF saving TD at the end of game was about the most non-chalant long TD grab as you will ever see. You may want to look at this guy before the 59 minute mark next week!

[Tom Kessenich]

He wasn't helped by a lot of ugly drops but it figures the first time I strongly advocate Jason Campbell he turns back into Jason Campbell again.


He is what he is (not good). Not sure what the numbers were, but until the last drive it was as if Gordon had slept with his wife this week. It was maddening to watch drive after drive w/o even looking Gordon's way vs. little Tim Jennings. That last FF saving TD at the end of game was about the most non-chalant long TD grab as you will ever see. You may want to look at this guy before the 59 minute mark next week!

He was awful. The final numbers ended up respectable thanks to the Gordon TD but he played poorly. The game went exactly to script. The Browns can't run so it was no surprise they didn't run well even against the Bears. That meant Campbell was going to have plentiful chances to put up numbers. But he was terrible for most of the game.