This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
-The Jaguars reportedly plan to stick with Doug Marrone, but the past month or so makes it difficult to understand why. As bad as Nick Foles was in his return from injury, the promising start to Gardner Minshew's career is a distant memory by now, and Sunday marked more ugly struggles for the rookie. He completed only 13-of-31 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, running for 36 yards, and this was against an Atlanta defense without its two best defensive backs (Desmond Trufant, Keanu Neal). Even if the team still has long-term faith in either Minshew or Foles, why would this vision include Marrone given the results this year? Unrelated, but the Jaguars need to move Dede Westbrook outside next year. He was a downfield receiver at Oklahoma, yet the Marrone coaching staff tried to rebrand him as an underneath slot target, where his hands are poor and the field too small for his speed to manifest.
-Although I'm still skeptical of him, Russell Gage is an interesting fringe prospect for the Falcons, especially given their putrid wide receiver depth behind Julio Jones. Opportunity matters more than talent, and Christian Blake especially is clearly not an enduring NFL player. That's good news for Gage, because even after a nice showing against the Jaguars (five catches for 49 yards on six targets), Gage has problematic peripheral stats on the year. With Sunday's game included, Gage has caught 42 of 61 targets for
-The Jaguars reportedly plan to stick with Doug Marrone, but the past month or so makes it difficult to understand why. As bad as Nick Foles was in his return from injury, the promising start to Gardner Minshew's career is a distant memory by now, and Sunday marked more ugly struggles for the rookie. He completed only 13-of-31 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, running for 36 yards, and this was against an Atlanta defense without its two best defensive backs (Desmond Trufant, Keanu Neal). Even if the team still has long-term faith in either Minshew or Foles, why would this vision include Marrone given the results this year? Unrelated, but the Jaguars need to move Dede Westbrook outside next year. He was a downfield receiver at Oklahoma, yet the Marrone coaching staff tried to rebrand him as an underneath slot target, where his hands are poor and the field too small for his speed to manifest.
-Although I'm still skeptical of him, Russell Gage is an interesting fringe prospect for the Falcons, especially given their putrid wide receiver depth behind Julio Jones. Opportunity matters more than talent, and Christian Blake especially is clearly not an enduring NFL player. That's good news for Gage, because even after a nice showing against the Jaguars (five catches for 49 yards on six targets), Gage has problematic peripheral stats on the year. With Sunday's game included, Gage has caught 42 of 61 targets for 378 yards and one score (68.9 percent catch rate, 6.2 YPT). It's encouraging that Gage has earned targets at a rapid rate – 55 on 427 snaps coming into Sunday – but you need to be around an 80 percent completion rate to be useful at 6.2 yards per target. I furthermore don't see grounds for projecting skills growth with Gage, who will turn 24 in January and is in his fifth year of playing wide receiver. Gage was dreadfully unproductive at LSU, where he caught just 26 passes in his last two years and was otherwise just known as an end around-specialist who would make ill-conceived hurdle attempts. I would try to sell Gage in dynasty leagues, because I suspect Olamide Zaccheaus is a major threat to displace Gage as Atlanta's slot wideout before next year. Zaccheaus caught 178 passes in his final two seasons at Virginia, and 72 in the two years before that. Gage can't beat him in a fair competition, in my opinion, and I expect Zaccheaus to get one in the upcoming offseason.
-It's not clear whether Mark Ingram (calf) will miss time, but if he does the Ravens might be fine with Gus Edwards and rookie fourth-round pick Justice Hill. Hill showed some life against the Browns, taking three carries for 19 yards and a touchdown while catching three of four targets for 32 yards, but Edwards led Ravens running backs with 12 carries for 66 yards. Hill is doubtlessly a better receiving threat than Edwards, but Edwards was the top backup to Ingram for a reason. Edwards' hammerhead style of running and 230-pound frame keep the defense from widening its contain in an effort to cut off Lamar Jackson from the edge, because if they widen their gaps too much, Edwards presents a credible threat to hammer away big chunks of yardage. Hill can exploit space, but in base formation functions a player with Edwards' traits is the better overall fit. I know people get excited about Hill's speed, but he's more likely to be the next Ronnie Hillman or Nyheim Hines than the next Alvin Kamara. Hill's pedigree advantage over Edwards dissolves in the face of the fact that Edwards has 1,299 yards (5.2 YPC) in his first 25 NFL games.
-Propelled by the revenge energy of Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook, the Saints offense blew up on the road against Tennessee, where Kamara once suffered under fool coach Butch Jones as a Tennessee Volunteer (2015-2016) and Cook began his NFL career as a Titan (2009-2012). Michael Thomas and his record-setting 12 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown may have also played an important role. Kamara (80 yards and two touchdowns rushing, six catches for 30 yards) and Cook (three catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns on four targets) got their numbers too, though. Drew Brees (27-of-38, 279 yards and three touchdowns) did not look as good as his numbers might imply. Cook was doing a lot after the catch.
-Tajae Sharpe has shown a rapport with Ryan Tannehill in recent weeks, and his effort against the Saints was the most productive yet, turning six targets into five catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Sharpe had six catches on six targets for 53 yards in the two games before this one. He now has 24 catches for 300 yards and four touchdowns on 33 targets (72.7 percent catch rate, 11.0 YPT) this year – excellent numbers, for sure. I still think Sharpe struggles to produce on routine plays, though, and like Demarcus Robinson earlier this year in Kansas City, Sharpe struggled in his first two years in a way that make me suspect he'll fall back to earth – hard – in his upcoming games with Tennessee. Sharpe caught 67 of 130 targets in his first two years, yielding 838 yards and four touchdowns (51.5 percent catch rate, 6.45 YPT).
-So much for the Will Grier era. As it turns out, it's not a good thing if you're a quarterback and you can't beat out Kyle Allen for a starting job. At least Christian McCaffrey was able to get another 15 meaningful receptions. I can't immediately recall a team that cared as much about padding stats as the 2019 Panthers.
-Nyheim Hines returned two punts for touchdowns against the Panthers, jumpstarting his hype once again. I know people got their hopes high for him last year, but I think the evidence still makes a compelling case that he's limited from scrimmage. He's averaging 3.7 yards per carry through 129 career attempts, and his 134 career targets have gone for just 103 receptions for 725 yards and two touchdowns (76.9 percent catch rate, 5.4 YPT).
-Andy Dalton was a monster in fantasy Sunday, throwing for 396 yards and four touchdowns, but needing 56 attempts to do it. It also took a ridiculous collapse by the Dolphins in the final few minutes of regulation -- Dalton appeared on his way to more of a 280-yard, two-touchdown day until the final minutes. Tyler Boyd's owners could have used his nine catches for 128 yards and two scores earlier in the year. John Ross was inefficient but drew big target volume for a downfield receiver, drawing 13 and catching six for 84 yards.
-Maybe it's just because of the Bengals defense, but Ryan Fitzpatrick and his main pass catchers did a great job Sunday, his 419 yards and four touchdowns split among DeVante Parker (111 yards and one touchdown), Mike Gesicki (82 yards and two touchdowns), Albert Wilson (seven catches for 79 yards on seven targets), and even Isaiah Ford again (five catches for 68 yards on six targets). Patrick Laird (eight carries for 17 yards) was ineffective and clearly fell behind Myles Gaskin (16 carries for 55 yards and one touchdown) in the running back rotation, at least for this game.
-Washington was without their top three corners, but Daniel Jones was still very impressive in his first game back from a high ankle sprain, completing 28-of-42 passes for 352 yards and five touchdowns. Saquon Barkley announced his proper return by catching four of Jones' targets for 90 yards and a touchdown, torching Washington for 189 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries otherwise.
-Dwayne Haskins was strong before leaving with an ankle injury after 15 attempts, completing 12 for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Case Keenum threw for another 158 yards and a touchdown, the pass-catching effort led by Terry McLaurin (seven catches for 86 yards on nine targets), Steven Sims (six catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 10 targets), and Kelvin Harmon (five catches for 58 yards on six targets). Each of the rookie Washington wideouts is promising.
-It's interesting that Kerryon Johnson returned from his knee injury for Detroit, running for 42 yards on 10 carries against Denver, though it's hard to see what reason he had to return this year. David Blough stopped being a competitive quarterback at halftime on Thanksgiving.
-Blough wasn't the only quarterback to struggle at high elevation Sunday, as Drew Lock produced just 192 yards and a touchdown on 33 attempts, though at least he completed 25 of them. DaeSean Hamilton had his first good game of the year (six catches for 65 yards and one touchdown on six targets), while Courtland Sutton struggled to just five catches for 41 yards on 10 targets.
-The Chargers simply didn't show up against the Raiders, making for a rather pitiful potentially final career home game for Philip Rivers, who completed 27-of-39 passes for 279 yards and no touchdowns. Most of that production was empty calories, as the Chargers really struggled to move the ball most of the game.
-Dak Prescott wasn't exactly throwing the ball well as he played through his AC joint sprain, but the Cowboys receivers didn't help things any by dropping numerous passes on Prescott's way to 25-of-44 for 265 yards. This Jason Garrett thing just about has to be over now.
-It's probably fair to say that Carson Wentz played better than his numbers look, as he made a number of big plays despite playing without his top three receivers and Lane Johnson at right tackle. Wentz finished 31-of-40 for 319 yards and a touchdown, working primarily with Dallas Goedert (nine catches for 91 yards and one touchdown on 12 targets) and Miles Sanders (five catches for 77 yards on six targets). Sanders ran for 79 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries but could have had another 20 yards and a second touchdown if he hadn't knelt to extinguish the remaining time on the clock.
-Kenyan Drake torched Seattle for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, including an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter that would set the tone of the game. An unrestricted free agent after next week, the Cardinals might want to just let Drake walk instead of re-signing him. They traded a sixth-round (maybe fifth-round) pick for Drake, yet the way he played the last two weeks might have his market value high enough for the Cardinals to get a third-round compensatory pick. Of course, they'll probably just re-sign him. Kyler Murray's hamstring issue knocked him out of Arizona's victory, but Brett Hundley was able to hold down the fort in the 27-13 road upset.
-Chris Carson (hip) and C.J. Prosise (arm) somehow both suffered season-ending injuries in Sunday's catastrophic home loss to Arizona, leaving the Seahawks with just rookie sixth-round pick Travis Homer at running back on the depth chart. The Seahawks will sign multiple backs this week, but the wide-eyed rookie will have to play a major if not leading role in the Seattle backfield for however much longer their season lasts. Homer has struggled in his limited exposure to this point, producing just 23 yards on seven carries while catching six of eight targets for 26 yards, but he might get a better grip with a full week of practice with the first team. He won't turn 22 until August but produced at a high level at Miami (FL), where he averaged 6.0 yards per carry over 334 career attempts. His explosiveness also stood out at the combine, where he ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash and posted a 39.5-inch vertical to go with a 130-inch broad jump. There's some talent with Homer, the question is whether he's too raw to harness it at the moment.
