NFL Reactions: Week 14

-The Falcons sacked Kyle Allen five times as he completed 28-of-41 passes for 293 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He helped his fantasy owners with 24 yards and a touchdown rushing, but a lost fumble complicated things otherwise. It's probably fair to say Christian McCaffrey did most of Allen's work, catching 11 of 12 targets for 82 yards while running for 53 yards on 11 carries. The Falcons held D.J. Moore to six targets (four catches for 81 yards) and Curtis Samuel to four (two catches for 25 yards), so the Falcons minimized Allen's ability to get the ball to his receivers. Following McCaffrey's 12, the second-leading target was Ian Thomas. He caught five of his 10 targets for 57 yards and a touchdown -- a boon in fantasy but not efficient in real life. Thomas is still a fairly promising prospect at tight end in the big picture, though.

-The Panthers contained Julio Jones (five catches for 66 yards on eight targets) and Austin Hooper (two catches for 32 yards on six targets), so it was mostly left to Calvin Ridley (five catches for 76 yards and one touchdown on five targets) and Olamide Zaccheaus (93-yard touchdown on two targets) to power the Atlanta passing game. Matt Ryan was solid but could have been better, completing 20-of-34 attempts for 313 yards and two touchdowns. Devonta Freeman did good work on the ground, turning 17 carries into 84 yards and a touchdown.

-Lamar Jackson was adequate against a sharp Buffalo defense, completing 16-of-25 passes for 145 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while running for 40 yards on 11 carries. Not much happened otherwise, but Hayden Hurst stepped up with three catches for 73 yards and one touchdown on three targets after Mark Andrews left with a thigh bruise.

-Josh Allen didn't exactly seem rattled by the Baltimore defense, but he completed just 17-of-39 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown, running only two times for nine yards otherwise. Devin Singletary was very promising again, running for 89 yards on 17 carries and catching six of eight targets for 29 yards. He'll head into 2020 as one of the most anticipated fantasy backs if he keeps it up.

-Andy Dalton struggled against Cleveland, completing 22-of-38 passes for 262 yards and one interception. They needed to get more targets to Tyler Boyd, whose five catches for 75 yards occurred on only six targets. Joe Mixon was a success at least, his 23 carries going for 146 yards and a touchdown while catching three of four targets 40 yards.

-Baker Mayfield was a mess against the Bengals, so much so that it's hard to believe his hand is 100 percent. With 11-of-24 attempts resulting in 192 yards and two interceptions, Mayfield saved one of his worst games of a cursed season for one of his weakest opponents. David Njoku caught one of three targets for four yards in his return from injury, and Odell Beckham caught just two of five targets for 39 yards.

-Derrius Guice left Washington's game against Green Bay with a knee injury, initially suspected (hoped?) to be an MCL sprain. He had 42 yards on five carries before that, and his exit allowed Adrian Peterson to accumulate 20 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. Dwayne Haskins played through a leg issue of some sort to complete 16-of-27 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown (to Terry McLaurin), and one interception.

-Aaron Jones has no middle-range outcomes -- he's either a dud or he produces like he did against Washington, running for 134 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries while catching six of seven targets for 58 yards. Aaron Rodgers struggled with the Washington pass rush (four sacks) while completing 18-of-28 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown.

-Sunday's 48-46 victory at New Orleans almost has to be the most impressive game of Jimmy Garoppolo's career to this point, his 26-of-35 effort resulting in 349 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. Emmanuel Sanders was a monster, throwing San Francisco's fifth touchdown in the contest while catching seven of nine targets for 157 yards and one touchdown. Sanders' touchdown pass was to Raheem Mostert, who caught two of two targets for 40 yards while running for 69 yards and a second touchdown on 10 carries. Matt Breida finished with six carries for 54 yards, while Tevin Coleman tumbled further with three carries for six yards. George Kittle was of course monstrous, making the 39-yard catch that would set up their game-winning field goal, catching six of eight targets for 67 yards and a touchdown generally. Deebo Samuel was also very effective, catching five of eight targets for 76 yards and taking two carries for 33 yards.

-The 49ers held Alvin Kamara to 43 yards from scrimmage but couldn't slow Drew Brees, who finished with six touchdowns (one rushing). Brees completed 29-of-40 passes for 349 yards and five touchdowns, throwing two to Cook (who had to leave with a concussion), one to Michael Thomas (who caught 11 passes for 134 yards on 15 targets), and one to Tre'Quan Smith (two catches for 29 yards on four targets).

-Patrick Laird has already proven himself better than Kalen Ballage, and against the Jets he was almost a workhorse, taking 15 carries for 48 yards and catching four of five targets for 38 yards. DeVante Parker left with a concussion after catching both of his targets for 28 yards, but third-year former seventh-round pick Isaiah Ford stepped up with a big game in his place. Ford saw nine targets, catching six for 92 yards. Ford is light on tools but his skills have always been advanced -- he was a uniquely productive prospect at Virginia Tech. He could finish the year ahead of Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson.

-Sam Darnold was mediocre against Miami, completing 20-of-36 passes for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Jamison Crowder was improbably unproductive for the second game in a row, catching three of seven targets for 30 yards, but Robby Anderson was excellent once again, turning 11 targets into seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.

-Jacoby Brissett just doesn't complete enough passes for how low his YPA is. He completed 19-of-36 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns against Tampa Bay on Sunday, but at 7.0 YPA he'd need to complete more like 25 passes to move the ball at a sustainably competitive rate. Perhaps he was let down by Parris Campbell, who turned five targets into just three catches for 12 yards. Marcus Johnson (three catches for 105 yards and one touchdown on seven targets) and Zach Pascal (five catches for 74 yards and one touchdown on nine targets) both flickered, but their production was imbalanced and unsustainable.

-It was a costly win for Tampa Bay, their 38-35 victory entailing what could be a season-ending hamstring injury for Mike Evans, who left after catching a 61-yard touchdown on two targets. Jameis Winston had a typically insane game, playing through a thumb fracture while completing 33-of-45 passes for 456 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions, running for a fifth touchdown. Everyone knows Chris Godwin is good, but I think he's still underrated. After catching seven of nine targets for 91 yards Sunday, Godwin is up to 81 catches for 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns on 113 targets, a 71.7 percent catch rate at 10.7 YPT. That's insane production. According to Pro Football Reference, since 1992 only five receivers saw 100 or more targets while catching at least 71 percent of their targets at at least 10.0 YPT. Randall Cobb (2014), Tyreek Hill (2017), Marques Colston (2011), Doug Baldwin (2015), and Godwin. The youngest of any in the sample, Godwin has more yardage in 13 games than three of the other four, with Cobb's 1,287-yard mark in 16 games likely to fall to in the next two weeks.

-Drew Lock was excellent in his second start, embarrassing Houston in their stadium while completing 22-of-27 passes for 309 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the 38-24 win. Noah Fant did a lot of the work after the catch while totaling four catches for 113 yards and a touchdown on four targets, but Lock managed to spread the ball to 10 different receivers in total, so it's not like he was leaning on anyone.

-Austin Ekeler totally stole the show in the Chargers' 45-10 win over Jacksonville, totaling 101 yards on just eight carries while turning five targets into four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Borderline impossible. With that showing, in addition to 481 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, Ekeler has 73 receptions for 830 yards and eight touchdowns on 84 targets. That's a catch rate of 86.9 percent at 9.9 yards per target, which is almost definitely a historic rate of production. Since 1992, the only running back other than Ekeler to catch 80 percent of his targets at more than nine yards per target and with 500 or more yards was Marshall Faulk in 1999 (87 of 103 targets for 1,048 yards and five touchdowns -- 84.5 percent catch rate, 10.17 YPT).

-It's highly impressive that D.J. Chark caught nine of 10 targets for 75 yards in a day where Gardner Minshew struggled badly (24-of-37 for 162 yards and one touchdown), but Chark suffered an ankle injury that had him in a boot after the game.

-Ryan Tannehill had another improbably explosive showing against Oakland, completing 21-of-27 passes for 391 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. His No. 1 wideout is clearly A.J. Brown by now, as the star rookie caught five of seven targets for 153 yards and two touchdowns. That leaves Brown with 39 catches for 779 yards and six touchdowns on 61 targets, a 63.9 percent catch rate at 12.8 yards per target. Not 23 until June, Brown is already encroaching on elite status in my opinion.

-Devlin Hodges was highly efficient for Pittsburgh, completing 16-of-19 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown, but he didn't look for much downfield. Between his punt return for a touchdown and six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown on eight targets, Diontae Johnson was arguably the MVP for Pittsburgh in their 23-17 win. Benny Snell didn't help much, losing a fumble while turning 16 carries into just 41 yards.

-Christian Kirk was highly impressive, tuning nine targets into eight catches for 85 yards despite his offense's profound struggles. Kenyan Drake (11 carries for 37 yards, three catches for 30 yards on three targets) saw more volume than David Johnson, but Johnson was more explosive (three carries for 19 yards, two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown on two targets). I will never understand why Kliff Kingsbury spent over 750 snaps between KeeSean Johnson, Damiere Byrd, and Trent Sherfield before this game while Johnson played only 63 snaps at receiver.