NFL Reactions: Week 15

-Perhaps the Patriots didn't really need to throw much against the Bengals, but it's still fair to wonder whether Tom Brady could have thrown the ball if it had proven necessary. Luckily for him, the Patriots defense got back to scoring points, and the running game did the rest of the lifting in the 34-13 victory. Brady finished 15-of-29 for 128 yards and two touchdowns, much of that propelled by James White's work after the catch (three carries for 13 yards, three catches for 49 yards and one touchdown on four targets. Sony Michel showed some life, taking 19 carries for 89 yards, but he's often failed to maintain his game-to-game momentum in the past.

-Chris Godwin suffered what sounds like a season-ending hamstring injury. Hopefully it doesn't linger into the offseason. A broken thumb brings out the best in Jameis Winston, who completed 28-of-42 passes for 458 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception against the Lions. Breshad Perriman stepped up in Mike Evans' place with five catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns on six targets, while rookie sixth-round pick Scotty Miller showed his upside by catching all three of his targets for 49 yards and one touchdown. Miller is skinny and 5-foot-9, but he's a burner who produced at an elite level at Bowling Green. 

-Mitchell Trubisky struggled against Green Bay, completing only 54.7 percent of his passes at 6.3 yards per attempt, but throwing 53 attempts has a way of alleviating that. Those 53 attempts didn't mean much for Trubisky's value, but it afforded volume to Allen Robinson (14 targets) and Anthony Miller (15 targets) that allowed them to provide excellent fantasy production despite Trubisky's struggles. Robinson caught seven passes for 125 yards while Miller caught nine for 118 yards and a score. David Montgomery (14 carries for 39 yards) looked flat.

-Aaron Rodgers wasn't really much better than Trubisky, completing 16-of-33 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown, but Green Bay still got the 21-13 win. To be fair to Rodgers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling inexplicably couldn't put his hands on what could have been a 70-yard touchdown on Green Bay's opening drive. Davante Adams was the only Packers wideout to step up, catching seven of 13 targets for 103 yards and one touchdown.

-The Texans weren't better than the Titans despite the 24-21 victory, as the Titans suffered a highly unlikely bad luck interception credited to Ryan Tannehill at the goal line, though it was probably more fairly thought of as a fumble on the part of Anthony Firkser. It was an unfortunate mistake for Firkser, who had been highly effective to this point in his career. It was disappointing for Tannehill of course, but he played at least a decent game, completing 22-of-36 passes for 279 yards, two touchdowns, and the dubious 'interception,' running for a third touchdown. A.J. Brown is clearly one of the best receivers in the league already -- I'm thinking something like top 15. The peripherals for Corey Davis (three catches for 57 yards on six targets) and Adam Humphries (DNP) have been good on the year, indicating quality work on their part, yet Brown has created clear distance from them. Earning more than a third of Tennessee's targets with 13, Brown caught eight for 114 yards and a touchdown. Tannehill's pass attempt volume might prove problematic for the indefinite future, but it's reasonable to assume Brown will be among the league's elite per-target producers annually going forward. If the Titans must refuse to give Jonnu Smith more routes to run, then they should keep giving him carries. He only had one in this game, but he took it for 57 yards while snagging all five of his targets for 60 yards. Smith is just waiting to break out as one of the league's standout pass-catching tight ends, but Mike Vrabel needs to stop making him block so much. Smith ran routes on about 71 percent of Tennessee's passing plays going into Sunday, but an athlete like him should be running routes at least 85 percent of the time.

-Patrick Mahomes was suspiciously comfortable with the heavy snow in Kansas City, completing 27-of-34 passes for 340 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. What was already an annoying backfield will only get worse, on the other hand, as Darwin Thompson (eight, 38 yards), Spencer Ware (seven, 26 yards), and LeSean McCoy (six, 16 yards) all saw carries. Damien Williams (ribs) is probably the best of them, but it's hard to see any of them getting an especially useful workload.

-I'd expect Patrick Laird to remain the lead running back in Miami for at least another week, but Laird's box score against the Giants (12 carries for 46 yards, two catches for eight yards on five targets) wasn't as explosive as that of rookie backup Myles Gaskin, who took nine carries for 43 yards and turned three targets into two catches for 29 yards. I think Gaskin is the better runner and Laird the better receiver, but so far Miami seemingly hasn't entertained a specialist rotation between the two of them. The Jets would be crazy to look at DeVante Parker this year and then keep Adam Gase around for even a day beyond Week 17. Parker saw seven targets Sunday, catching four for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

-Eli Manning was awful, completing 20-of-28 passes for 283 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions against the Dolphins, but at least he won in his last home game or whatever. Sterling Shepard hogged the targets, catching nine of 11 for 111 yards while Golden Tate (one catch for a 51-yard touchdown on four targets) and Darius Slayton (two catches for 31 yards and one touchdown on three targets) both had to strike deep on meager target volume. Saquon Barkley looked better to me back during the Giants' loss to Green Bay, and Sunday's matchup against Miami finally gave him a chance to test his repaired jets against a defense where space will come easily. He started a bit slowly but got hot in the second half, eventually finishing with 24 carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns while turning five targets into four catches for 31 yards.

-Although Carson Wentz put forth a solid fantasy box score (30-of-43 for 266 yards and three touchdowns) against Washington, it was Miles Sanders who was the star for the Eagles. The rookie took 19 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown, adding six catches for 50 yards and a touchdown on six targets. Boston Scott managed to maintain a peripheral role despite Sanders' dominance, taking six carries for 26 yards and earning seven targets, catching all of them for 39 yards. Greg Ward has done well since getting his opportunity in Philadelphia, and this was maybe his best game yet with seven catches for 61 yards and one touchdown on nine targets.

-Dwayne Haskins had his first truly encouraging game as an NFL player against Philadelphia, completing 19-of-28 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns. Terry McLaurin did a lot of work after the catch as he torched the defense for five catches for 130 yards and one touchdown on five targets. Fellow rookie receiver Steven Sims was inefficient but drew a mammoth 11 targets, catching five for 45 yards and one touchdown. The per-target numbers for Sims look dreadful this year, but he's earning targets at an incredibly high frequency, and he was a very productive player in college. I'm optimistic that he can turn into a useful PPR receiver as soon as next year if the Washington passing game can improve. I don't know how much optimism I can generate for the condition named there, but whatever the case, Sims has shown an extensive ability to present a compelling target to the quarterback. Adrian Peterson stayed running tough otherwise, taking 16 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown against one of the very best run defenses in the league.

-Russell Wilson overruled low pass attempt volume with explosive downfield completions, going 20-of-26 for 286 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers. Tyler Lockett flew back into frame with eight catches for 120 yards and one touchdown on nine targets, Josh Gordon caught an impressive, diving 58-yard catch, and DK Metcalf caught a 19-yard touchdown over the top of Carolina corner Donte Jackson. Chris Carson was of course unchallenged as Seattle's workhorse runner, taking 24 carries for 133 yards and two touchdowns, but it'll be worth monitoring C.J. Prosise (five carries for 15 yards, one catch for 10 yards on one target) and Travis Homer (two carries for seven yards).

-Some might be tempted to look upon Darren Waller as a potential one-hit wonder this offseason, but it'd probably be a mistake. The tone with which he's been discussed the past two months doesn't give him enough credit – expectations were suddenly sky high after his dominant first six weeks, so new investors were disappointed when his returns fell to more of a baseline level in the seven following games. After catching eight of 10 targets for 122 yards against Jacksonville, Waller is now up to 80 catches for 1,001 yards and three touchdowns on 101 targets. That's excellent production – 9.9 yards per target on a 79.2 percent catch rate. Going back to 1992, Waller's 2019 season is only the fifth where a player produced 750 or more receiving yardage at a catch rate of 79 or better and a YPT of 9.5 or better. Those players are Michael Thomas (twice; 2019 and 2018), Tyler Lockett (2018), and George Kittle (2019). Obviously the newer paradigm of NFL passing is the explanation for why all of these five instances are clustered within the last two years, but this only reaffirms Waller's present elite status, especially since his 1,001 yards rank third of the five (Thomas ranks both first and second).

-The Browns are too depressing to talk about, they just need to fire Freddie Kitchens.

-Kenyan Drake was rather impressive against Cleveland, taking 22 carries for 137 yards and four touchdowns, but you have to figure Kalen Ballage could do better. David Johnson had just three carries for six yards and zero targets.

-The Vikings defense did most of the work in their 39-10 victory over the Chargers, and Dalvin Cook aggravating his shoulder issue was an unwelcome development, but it was cool to see Mike Boone get a chance to play. The second-year undrafted player out of Cincinnati took 13 carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns, flashing some of the standout athleticism he possesses. It's doubtful he'll encroach upon Alexander Mattison's role once Mattison is healthy, however.

-Jared Goff was a mess against Dallas, completing 33-of-51 passes for 284 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception against a defense that was weak specifically where his favorite targets run. Tyler Higbee came through as one such case, turning 14 targets into 12 catches for 111 yards, but Robert Woods' nine targets yielded an awful four catches for 17 yards. I think it's safe to say that Sean McVay will find various ways to jumpstart Goff for brief stretches of time going forward, pending the matchup, but Goff can only take on so much polish and is generally a below average starting quarterback.

-It was a frustrating development for owners of Amari Cooper (one 19-yard catch on two targets) and Michael Gallup (one six-yard catch on three targets), but the Dallas running game erupted Sunday for 117 yards and two touchdowns from Ezekiel Elliott on 24 carries while Tony Pollard torched the Rams again with 12 carries for 131 yards and one touchdown. The Rams never had a chance.

-Julio Jones pulled off one of the year's most memorable wide receiver performances against the 49ers. To claim more than half of Atlanta's targets (20/39) and then catch 13 for 134 yards and two touchdowns in a dramatic 29-22 upset would constitute a career-best outing for the vast majority of receivers, but who knows whether it's even in Julio's top three. Matt Ryan threw for only 210 yards and two scores – Julio's 134-yard, two-touchdown effort is a case of single-handedly carrying an offense. Austin Hooper nearly scored Jones' second touchdown, but what was initially ruled a five-yard touchdown was overturned, to the benefit of Jones' owners, upon review.

-Building on the observation of Jones' remarkable single-handed win, it's amusing and implausible that George Kittle did almost the exact same thing for the 49ers, catching 13 passes for 134 yards on 17 targets. But Jimmy Garoppolo and pretty much everything else was a mess for the 49ers, as he fell back to earth with a box score of 22-of-34 for 200 yards and one touchdown against a weak and battered Atlanta secondary. It's difficult to grasp how Kyle Shanahan couldn't get Emmanuel Sanders or Deebo Samuel going in such a case, even if Garoppolo was off. Sometimes teams fail for no real reason, and maybe this is just one of those games for the 49ers.