Week 15 Thoughts & Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some thoughts and observations about Week 15 as I wonder if people have stopped asking me if they should start Pat Mahomes this week yet.

So Terry McLaurin. Kinda good, am I right?

Think about how fantastic McLaurin was on Sunday. Then think about the fact another wide receiver on the team had more than double the targets McLaurin received. That is a coaching failure, pure and simple.

Steven Sims Jr. had 11 targets on Sunday. McLaurin only ended up with five despite obliterating the Eagles’ secondary.

In case you’re wondering why bad teams stay bad, there you go.

Imagine the numbers McLaurin would’ve put up vs. Philly this season if Case Keenum hadn’t missed him on an easy second TD in Week 1 and McLaurin received the volume he deserved in Week 15.

Adrian Peterson deserves to be on a better team too. He is still playing at a high level.

Dwayne Haskins played his best game of the season on Sunday. He made some mistakes to be sure but also made some strong and (most importantly) accurate throws. This is why Haskins playing this season was so vital – he’s gaining needed experience and showing clear signs of potential for the future.

After watching yesterday’s game and seeing how well Miles Sanders has played in the past month, Doug Pederson would have to be insane to go back to Jordan Howard as Philadelphia’s starting running back should Howard return this season. Sanders was an absolute monster on Sunday and has been trending up for weeks.

Following the game, Brandon Brooks compared Sanders to his former Texans’ teammate Arian Foster. I like the reminder of how great Foster was but while both RBs share the ability to dominate the game as runners and receivers I’m not sure I see it. Foster was more of a glider as a runner while Sanders is explosion waiting to happen.

That being said, if Sanders is 75% of what Foster was the Eagles have themselves a star. Oh, and if you’re prepping for 2020 do not let Sanders fall out of the first three rounds.

I’m warning you now. I’m gonna harp on Sanders like I did Aaron Jones all offseason this year.

Welcome back New England’s defense, you’ve been missed.

The Patriots got them the win they needed over the hapless Bengals, but this is still a team with issues. Tom Brady looks like a shell of his former self and if Julian Edelman succumbs to his multitude of injuries they’re gonna need that defense to keep scoring touchdowns in order to win.

I’ve been saying this for weeks, but nobody balls out when their team is in the toilet like Joe Mixon does. Second year in a row he is killing it in December while the Bengals are in shambles.

I said on Twitter yesterday I was backing off Jameis Winston due to the severity of his hand injury. Ummm, so how’d he do? Can anyone let me know? I nailed that call, didn’t I?

Didn’t I?

Mike Evans gone.

Chris Godwin gone.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Allen Robinson has been great the entire season and now Anthony Miller is on a serious roll. If Mitchell Trubisky can keep making more strides there may still be hope for the Bears.

Next season.

This season is done. Sorry gang.

Aaron Jones did not get a single target in the passing game on Sunday. I need a “I give up” emoji.

Imagine if Matt LaFleur used Jones like Doug Pederson has been using Miles Sanders. Or don’t if you’re a Jones owner and/or Packers’ fan. It’s too depressing.

I think Packers’ blogger Michael Rodney summed up my feelings about LaFleur rather perfectly when he said LaFleur has proven to be a better leader than play caller. There’s no question the Packers are an improved team this season and LaFleur deserves credit for that. But it’s Week 15 and he continues to fail at the most fundamental aspects of play calling with this team. That’s inexcusable and it’s safe to say it isn’t going to change for the remainder of the season.

A.J. Brown. That’s legit.

I’m totally on board with the Titans-Texans playing each of the final two weeks and not just in Week 17.

Everyone was wrong about Carlos Hyde this season. It’s OK for us to admit it.

Pat Mahomes. Tyreek Hill. Travis Kelce. Harrison Butker.

Snow proof.

What the hell has happened to Phil Lindsay?

Only 5 teams in the NFFC Primetime championship round have Saquon Barkley. I’m wondering if he’s going to help them win some money. He looked like Saquon on Sunday, that’s for sure.

Davante Parker’s gonna be a Top 25 pick in drafts next year, isn’t he?

All it took to get Russ Wilson going again was for Seattle to utilize Tyler Lockett. Crazy how that works. No way to have predicted that.

How bad is Will Grier that he can’t get on the field for the Panthers now? No seriously how bad must he be?

Kenyan Drake looked like a guy who wants to get paid in the offseason. And based on how well he played on Sunday he’s gonna.

Hey Freddie Kitchens, how’s things?

Get well soon Dalvin Cook.

Get well soon Dalvin Cook.

Get well soon Dalvin Cook.

The Vikings put up 39 points on Sunday despite losing Cook, getting meh games from Kirk Cousins and Stefon Diggs and nothing of substance from Adam Thielen. Ladies and gentlemen, your Los Angeles Chargers – the gift that keeps on giving …

And giving.

And giving.

And giving.

And giving.

And giving.

And giving.

That’s seven “givings.” Get it?

Mike Williams can’t stop scoring touchdowns.

Is there a particular reason the Chargers have forgotten how good Hunter Henry is? Just curious.

Gardner Minshew certainly didn’t feast on his A+ matchup on Sunday but the guy has no quit in him, that’s for sure.

When the Rams are bad they really are bad.

Find someone who loves Tyler Higbee as much as Sean McVay does and you’ll be happy forever.

Cooper Kupp has caught every one of his targets in three consecutive games and four of the past five. One would think with that kind of average he’d get more than 5-6 targets per game.

Food for thought, Sean. Food for thought.

Coin flip drama. Thanks Dak for bringing it back.

Tony Pollard – crushing Week 15 Best Ball lineups everywhere.

Julio Jones just out there reminding everyone he’s still Julio Jones and ripping the heart out of the 49ers.

I don’t care if the penalty is blatant or not, Younghoe Koo must be allowed to convert all onside kick attempts. He’s way too good at it.

Raheem Moster’s got the touchdown thing down pat right now.

Bills-Steelers. Yup, that’s a matchup that clearly deserved to be flexed into Primetime. Great work NFL.

And finally, I’m assuming everyone started Dwayne Haskins, Kenyan Drake, Tony Pollard, Breshad Perriman, Jamison Crowder, Anthony Miller and Ricky Seals-Jones this week because it was so incredibly obvious you would have to be an idiot not to.

Ain’t this game fun?

[Yah Mule]

Regarding Lindsey. The loss of fullback Andy Janovich in week 11 really damaged the overall running game. Guard Ron Leary going down was another blow as Austin Schottmann just gets accordioned half the time. OC Rich Scangarello abandoned the run in a blizzard and just got severely outcoached in general on Sunday.