Best:
Jay Ajayi, Running Back Miami Dolphins
Talk about making a statement in your last couple of games. The second year running back out of Boise State has really been lighting up opposing defenses. Ajayi barely touched the ball the first four weeks, his workload picked a little in week five. Then last week, he broke the 200 yard mark. Guess what? He did it again this week. Ajayi had 28 carries for 214 yards and a touchdown in the Dolphins 28-25 win over the Bills. When you can pull something like that off, it puts you in rare air. Jay Ajayi joins OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams as only NFL players with back-to-back 200-yard rush games. He's done it twice, while no other running back in the entire league has hit the 200 yards mark once. Maybe the last two weeks, with a performance like this, could be a sign of things to come for the Miami Dolphins.
Worst:
Matt Ryan, Quarterback Atlanta Falcons
Don't get me wrong, on paper he had a solid day. Ryan went 22 of 34 for 273 yards and a touchdown. But he was sacked three times. That's not even the worst of it. San Diego pulled out a 33-30 win over the Falcons in Overtime on Sunday. Here's why I put Matty Ice here on this list. Ryan threw a crucial interception late in the game Sunday. He tried to force the ball to Julio Jones, which isn't too bad an idea conseidering Jones is one of the top receivers in the league and should be able to haul in the pass. I mean JOnes did have 9 catches for 174 yards in the game, the top numbers for any wide out in the league this week. But if your Matt Ryan in this case, its late in the game and there are three guys on him in the middle of the damn field. Jones had no chances of catching that ball and it cost the Falcons the game.
Best,
Matt Forte, Running Back New York Jets
I've been saying this the last couple of weeks now, they need to use this guy more and more then they have. He had 30 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground and he also caught 4 passes for 54 yards and another touchdown as the Jets snapped a four game losing streak, beating the Ravens 24-16. If you look at the work load that Forte has had the last few weeks, he hasn't really been used that often. Of the seven games, the Jets have really used Forte a lot in three games. They barely lost to the Bengals in week one, they beat the Bills week two and now the win on Sunday against the Ravens. Do you see the trend here? Memo to the Jets, use Matt Forte more often. The more you use Forte, maybe Ryan Fitzpatrick wouldn’t be forcing the ball into places he shouldn’t on a weekly basis.
Worst:
Geno Smith, Quarterback New York Jets
For some small, weird reason I almost feel bad for Geno. Almost. Geno lost his starting job last year due to his immaturity. Fitzpatrick has a fantastic year and the Jets just miss out on the playoffs. This year, Fitz is back and plays bad. I mean worse then Geno did at the start of his rookie year. So Geno gets named the starter for the Jets win over Baltimore on Sunday. He doesn't finish the game. It had nothing to do with a bad performance. He was 4 of 8 for 95 yards and a touchdown (69 of those yards came ona catch and run with Quincy Enunwa). But in the 2nd quarter, Geno was trying to avoid a sack, got hit wrong and blew out his ACL in his knee. His season is over, as is possibly his career with the Jets. Talk about a turblent run.
Best:
Andrew Luck, Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
Things didn't look good for the Colts on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Had the Titans held onto a lead, it would have dropped the Colts to 2-5 and made it impossible really to come back into the division and wild card race. Andrew Luck wouldn't let that happen. On third-and-13 in the fourth quarter, with the Colts trailing 23-20, Luck avoided the rush and made an unbelievable throw to Devin Street for 20 yards. Then, later in the drive, Luck found Jack Doyle in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. The Colts scored a defensive touchdown after that, and they won 34-26. Luck finished 27 of 39 for 353 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. While a 3-4 record isn’t ideal for the Colts, their quarterback always gives them some hope for better days ahead. Sunday was one of Luck’s finest days.
Worst:
Case Keenum, Quarterback Los Angeles Rams
Things really have been going from bad to worse for the Rams. Case Keenum has been playing bad football the last couple of weeks, look no further then the 17-10 loss in London Sunday to the Giants. Case went 32 of 53 for 291 yards and a touchdown. Here's the downside to his performance. He got sacked three times and he threw four interceptions. Four picks is just awful. Can't be happening at this level for a guy who might have this level of talent. After the game, head coach Jeff Fisher wouldn’t even fathom the idea of benching Keenum. Instead, he placed more blame on his receiving corps. I'm not totally sold on that. I say it might not be such a bad idea to have Jared Geoff ready to go if Keenum struggles again.
Best:
Marquette King, Punter Oakland Raiders
Punters, they have more skills then you think. Look at what King did in the Raiders win over the Jags on Sunday. He was setting up for a punt ion the fourth quarter. He got the ball and expected a block to be coming. He flubbed the snap, picked the ball up and just ran with it. And he ran fast. The 27-yard gain was the low point of a bad day for the Jaguars (more on them in a bit) but a fun highlight for a Raiders team that is 5-2 and the only NFL team that has banked four road wins.
Worst:
Stephen Gostkowski, Kicker New England Patriots
Its strange, the Patriots are playing good football right now, but one of their best and most reliable players, isn't playing all that well at the moment. Sure New England beat up on Pittsburgh, walking away with a 27-16 victory, but Stephen Gostkowski had an off night, at least by his standards. Gostkowski missed an extra point on Sunday, the fourth he has missed this season. He has also missed three field-goal attempts, and if his 75 percent mark on field goals holds, it would be the worst of his career. The good news is none of his kicks have cost the Patriots a game. A bit of an unexpected slump for one of the best kickers in football.
Best:
Matthew Stafford, Quarterback, Detroit Lions
I think its safe to say that Matthew Stafford is pretty good at leading a group of cardiac kids in Detroit. The Lions pulled out a 20-17 victory. He was sacked three times, and finished the day going 18 of 29 for 266 yards and a touchdown. Average numbers for a guy of his talent. But here's why he was put here on the list. Washington had kept him in check most of the day. But the Lions had one last drive left in them down by three. They needed to go 75 yards to get down the field and score. Stafford did that, connecting on four of five passes on that drive, including his game winning score to Anquan Boldin. Detroit started the year off losing three of their first four games, now they're 4-3 and Stafford has lead the team down the field on game winning drives each of the last two weeks.
Worst:
Gus Bradley, Head Coach Jacksonville Jaguars
This was supposed to be the year for the Jaguars. They had the pieces in place. Blake Bortles looked like he could have something to work with on offense. He had Chris Ivory behind him in the backfield, he had Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson to throw to. On paper, the defense looked like they could hold their own and maybe have the Jags challenging for a Wild Card spot in the AFC. That hasn't happened. Last week, the Jags were trounced by the Raiders, losing 33-16. Sunday’s loss to Oakland featured three turnovers and 13 penalties for 122 yards. The Jaguars now feature a minus-seven turnover mark. You just cannot win with that formula. On more then one occasion this season, Gus Bradley has been put on the hot seat. Nearly at the midway point of the season, we’re as convinced as ever before that he is not going to provide the answers this franchise needs to troubleshoot out of the mire.
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