Best:
Aaron Rogers, Quarterback Green Bay Packers
There have been some wondering if Aaron Rogers was the same quarterback. He got hurt early on in the season and it's been possibly bothering him. Maybe its the problems that have been going on with the coaching staff. Whatever has been going on, Rogers has seemed like he's had an off year. Sunday, in the overtime win over the Jets, Rogers had a performance for the ages. He lead Green Bay to a 44-38 overtime win over New York. Down 15 in the fourth quarter, Rogers had two rushing touchdowns and lead the Pack to force overtime. Rodgers’ overtime touchdown pass to Davante Adams, after Rodgers’ touchdown run was wiped out due to a holding penalty, was a beautiful throw. Rogers finished the day going 37 of 55 for 442 yards and two throwing touchdowns, to go along with the two more he ran for. He was sacked four times, but I think the passing yards and what he managed to do with his legs more than made up for it. Sure it meant nothing for the Pack, since they're out of the playoff race. But it was a showcase that Rogers can still be great at what he does.
Worst:
Nick Mullens, Quarterback San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco had a chance to take out the Bears on Sunday. Nick Mullens had himself set up in perfect position to teak out Chicago. Allen Robinson appeared to seal the win for the Bears, only to have the ball punched out by Tarvarius Moore. San Francisco defense gave Mullens a great chance to get the lead and back into this game. Mullens then made a couple of huge throws to get the 49ers into Chicago territory before finding himself in a fourth-down situation. On that fourth-down play, with just over a minute left on the clock, Mullens rolled out to the right and had nothing but green grass in front of him. He could have easily run for the first down and gotten out of bounds to stop the clock. He did not do that. Instead, Mullens made the unconscionable decision to heave a deep throw well out of bounds, ending the game. Can somebody please explain why the hell Mullens didn't just run for the first on that play instead of throwing? It's one of the few stupid mistakes that he's made since taking over in San Francisco, this one really costing them.
Best:
CJ Anderson, Running Back Los Angeles Rams
Anderson had to try and prove something to not only the Rams, but to the rest of the league as well. After getting dropped by the Panthers, Los Angeles picked him up as an insurance policy for Todd Gurley. Gurley missed this week with a knee injury, which lead some to wonder how well the Rams were going to handle Arizona. Los Angeles didn't have much trouble, coming away with a 31-9 win over the Cards and Anderson was a big reason for that. He finished with 20 carries for 167 yards, best this week amongst running backs, and a touchdown. Before this performance, Anderson had rushed for a grand total of 104 yards all year, playing the backup role to Christian McCaffery. Had he stayed in Carolina, it would have made things a bit tougher on the market next season, just fading away into nothing. Now he's getting a shot and not only helping the Rams keep pace ahead of the Bears and Saints for top spot in the NFC but he's also trying to keep himself a float for a big payday during the offseason.
Worst:
Adam Gase, Head Coach Miami Dolphins
This was a must win game for the Dolphins. They were still mathematically alive going into Sunday's action. What resulted was an underwelimg performance. Miami lost 17-7 yo Jacksonville, knocking them out of playoff contention. This has now lead to a two game losing streak for the Fish, ever since the miracle win over New England. In those last two losses, the Dolphins offense has really gone nowhere. To make matters worse, over the last few days rumors have started to surface that head coach Adam Gase could be in serious danger of losing his job. He is 23-24 in his time running the Dolphins, who did have a shot at making the playoffs this year, but its been falling short. Somebody needs to take the fall for the Dolphins not being able to keep up their steady play, and it has to be Gase. Can't get ride of the players when the coach couldn't really gameplan correctly.
Best:
Nick Foles, Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Talk about somebody playing like a man on a mission. He made two glaring mistakes all day on Sunday, throwing a pick and losing a fumble in the Eagles 32-30 win over the Texans. But those notwithstanding, he played out of his damn mind. He stood in and took some nasty shots from the Texans Jadeveon Clowney, which almost took him out of the game. But Foles hung in there like the MVP that he is. He went 35 of 49 for an Eagles record 471 yards and four touchdowns. Of those touchdowns, one of which was a beautiful 83-yard strike to Nelson Agholor. The other was the final two minute drive. Philadelphia started from their own 11 yard line. Foles marched them down the field, setting up the game winning field goal to get the Eagles back in the race.
Worst:
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh has been trying to stay in the hunt most of the year. Last week's win over the Patriots. You'd like to think that Pittsburgh would be able to keep that momentum up. Not the case this week, as they fell to the Saints 38-20. Many will point to coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to fake a punt from Pittsburgh’s own 42-yard line with just 4:11 left in the game. Didn't work, leaving Tomlin with egg on his face, and makes one wonder how well he has a handle on his locker room. And while it’s fair to question the play call, maybe run an actual offensive play on 4th and 1 instead of going for the fake pun, the concept of giving Drew Brees the ball back with a four-point lead is a very dangerous thing. It turned out to bite them right in the rear end and now has them running the risk of missing the playoff altogether. So now the Steelers need to win their game in the finale against the Bengals and need to hope the Browns beat the Ravens if they want the title. And if the Steelers miss out, you can bet two losses in three weeks against both Denver and Oakland will really sting.
Best:
Kyle Rudolph, Tight End Minnesota Vikings
Not only did Minnesota get a win, they dominated the Lions. The Vikings steamrolled to a 27-9 win over the Lions and tight end Kyle Rudolph was the key reason for it. He was the best player on the offensive side of the ball for either team. By the time all was said and done on this day, Rudolph had nine catches for 122 yards. Those receiving yards accounted for nearly half of Kirk Cousins’ passing yards on the day. Oh yeah, he had caught two touchdowns on the day as well, including an incredible Hail Mary reception right at the half. It's worth noting that he had only two touchdowns all season long before this game. He helped keep the Vikings alive and well in a highly competitive NFC race.
Worst:
New York Giants
On a day in which Saquan Barkley wasn't at his best, the Giants still had a lead. And it's gone. The Giants had a nice long drive in the 3rd quarter that resulted in a field goal. It gave the Giants a six point lead. Up to that point, Eli Manning had been on point. He had played almost mistake free football to that point. Then it all fell apart. Shortly after taking the six point lead, New York’s defense fell apart and allowed Andrew Luck and the rest of the club to come charging back with a late touchdown. With the game on the line and just under one minute remaining, Manning threw the game-sealing interception to Malik Hooker. It’s just been that kind of year for Big Blue. You have to feel bad for the Giants with the way things have gone for this year. But then again, with the way things have gone this season, it just seams like a Giants thing to do.
Best:
Cleveland Browns
Thanks to a Titans win on Saturday night, the Browns have been eliminated from playoff contention. Still, that didn't stop the Cleveland Crew from rolling right along and taking care of business on Sunday. Cleveland pulled out a 28-16 win over the Bengals and it was the usual suspects leading the charge. Baker Mayfield looked like a veterans playing well beyond his years, passing for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Jarvis Landry hauled in four passes, making his biggest contribution as a passer himself, connecting with Breshad Perriman on a 63-yard pass. Nick Chubb rumbled for 112 yards on the ground and broke a franchise rookie rushing record in the process. There is some excellent young talent on this roster, and the future looks bright. That’s something that nobody has been able to say about Cleveland in a long, long time. They got something to work with in front of the Dog Pound.
Worst:
Carolina Panthers
Seven. Straight. Loses. Things just seam to keep getting from bad to worse for the Panthers. They fell 24-10 to Atlanta, and to make things worse, it was another waste of a day for Christian McCaffrey. The star back picked up 173 total yards of offense. Backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke was a turnover machine, one who had three awful interceptions during the course of the day. To make matters worse, the defense wasn't any good. Carolina's defense gave up 194 yards on the ground to Atlanta's rush attack. To make the day get even worse, on the first play of the second half, that defense gave up an easy 75-yard touchdown to rookie Calvin Ridley. Just a terrible effort from a team that has been falling off a cliff ever since early in November.
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