The Week 6 Awards
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Odell Beckham Jr., wide receiver, New York Giants.In a brilliant rebuke of all those who have ever questioned him—including, I assume, his third-grade gym teacher—Beckham had a Julio Jones-type game in the Giants’ four-point win over Baltimore. He had 204 yards in the second half, 222 for the game, and won it with a 67-yard catch-and-run of an Eli Manning pass late in the fourth quarter. Then he fell in love with the kicking net, all over again.
LeSean McCoy, running back, Buffalo.The man is on fire, and he’s doing it in a very neat and mathematically easy fashion. In the four games since offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn has taken the reins from Greg Roman, McCoy has rushed for 110, 70, 150 and, on Sunday against the Niners, 140 yards. He added three touchdowns Sunday. That means, in four games, McCoy’s produced 117.5 yards per game, 6.44 yards per carry, and five touchdowns. I’d guess he likes the play-calling of Lynn. And his offensive line. “They whipped the 49ers up and down the field,” McCoy said.
Jay Ajayi, running back, Miami.No Lamar Miller? No problem. Ajayi, in rushing 25 times for a career-high 204 yards against a legit Super Bowl contender in Pittsburgh, got the insurance touchdown late with a 62-yard gallop.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jatavis Brown, linebacker, San Diego.The 175th pick in last spring’s draft was the best defensive player on the field in the Chargers’ 21-13 win over Denver. The 5-11, 222-pound linebacker from Akron had a game-high 14 tackles and one sack, and he made the most significant play of the game. With 3:35 left and the Chargers up 21-10 and the Broncos driving, Siemian completed a pass to Demaryius Thomas to the Charger 27—and Brown promptly stripped Thomas. San Diego recovered and hung on to win 21-13.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wendell Smallwood, running back/kick returner, Philadelphia.Thanks to the dumb excessive celebration penalty on Washington’s Vernon Davis (dumb because a player shooting a free throw with a football should not be flagged, ever) on the previous play, Smallwood took the ensuing kickoff at the Eagles’ 14-yard line and weaved/sprinted 86 yards for the first kickoff returned for a touchdown in the NFL this season.
COACH OF THE WEEK
Sean Payton, head coach, New Orleans.In the Saints’ 41-38 win over Carolina—I didn’t see that coming—Payton showed again he’s one brilliant play designer. Though Payton has surrendered most play-calling to offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, he's still the man behind the curtain when it comes to play design and guts. And this one, to me, took guts to call. The situation: first quarter, fourth-and-one at the Carolina 2-yard line. Payton lines up fullback John Kuhn as the up-back, slight left and in front of Mark Ingram, in a power-left formation, with tight end Coby Fleener lined up to the left of the formation. At the snap, Fleener stepped back and sprinted right, as though on a jet sweep; Kuhn and Ingram steamed toward the back of the left tackle, as if to begin a power carry behind the left side of the line. For a split second—and I ran this back six times on NFL Game Pass Sunday—you could see Luke Kuechly, the most instinctive linebacker in football for my money, take a jab step to the right, buying the likely Brees handoff to Ingram. But nooooooo. Brees instead handed it to Fleener, who breezed in around right end, Kuechly trailing behind, for an easy touchdown. Now: This is Fleener’s fifth year in the NFL. He did not have a rushing attempt in 2012, 2013, 2014 or 2015. Ditto in 2016. Five years and 64 professional football games: zero rushes. Carolina couldn't have known this, but in Fleener's entire four-year, 51-game Stanford career, he never had a rushing attempt. So in nine seasons and 115 games, he never rushed the ball till Sunday in the Superdome. Imagine how Fleener must have felt when his number was called to score in the red zone. But Payton called for the jet sweep to a plodding tight end, and Fleener delivered. Tremendously smart—and, keep in mind, this came against the Panthers, a team the Saints play twice a year. So confusion is necessary.
GOAT OF THE WEEK
Aaron Rodgers, quarterback, Green Bay. There’s something amiss with Rodgers. Anyone who watches football can see. Case in point: Third quarter Sunday against Dallas, Green Bay has the ball twice, reaches Cowboys territory on both, and Rodgers coughs it up with bad turnovers both times. First he threw an interception behind his man that safety Barry Church picked off; then, at the Dallas one-yard line, late in the quarter, he ran a quarterback draw and had the ball stripped. Dallas led by 14 at the time of the second giveaway by Rodgers, and Dallas won by 14. These are the kinds of games Green Bay has won for years during the Rodgers Era, the slugfests with NFC peers. They’re not going to win many now unless Rodgers raises his game, and fast.
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Stats of the Week
Aaron Rodgers’ turnovers proved costly in the Packers’ loss to the Cowboys.
Matt Lutdke/AP
I
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was never lower than fifth in yards per pass attempt in the NFL in the five seasons between 2010 and 2014. Stat mavens love yards per pass attempt, because it encompasses completion percentage and depth of completion.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Rodgers, at a moribund 6.63 yards per attempt, is 33rd among all NFL passers (minimum 200 pass attempts).
Johnny Manziel (6.73) is better.
II
The relevant AFC East head-coaching stats this century:
| Total | Avg. Per Team |
New England Head Coaches Since 2000 | 1 | 1.0 |
Buffalo/Miami/Jets Head Coaches Since 2000 | 22 | 7.3 |
III
What A Difference A Century Makes Dept.:
One century and one day apart, a fairly amazing thing happened. On Thursday night the Dodgers played the decisive game of the National League Division Series, a century and a day after the Dodgers played the decisive game of the 1916 World Series. Turns out the game in 1916 took a grand total of 37 minutes longer to play than one inning lasted Thursday night.
Date | Span | Elapsed Time | Pitchers Used | Final Score |
10-13-2016 | 7th inning | 1:06 | 8 | L.A. 4, Washington 3 |
10-12-1916 | Full game | 1:43 | 3 | Boston 4, Brooklyn 1 |
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Right Combination of the Week
Drew Brees, quarterback, and Brandin Cooks, wide receiver, New Orleans. The same way Brees found such comfort with a possession receiver, Marques Colston, over the years, he’s now building great chemistry with the speedy Cooks, the third-year man from Oregon State. Cooks burned the young secondary of Carolina with an 87-yard rainbow catch-and-run from Brees to give the Saints a 14-0 lead near the end of the first quarter. Cooks is the perfect field-stretcher for Brees, and Brees is the perfect accurate deep thrower for Cooks—the right combination for a new era of Saints’ offense. In the 41-38 win over Carolina, Brees set the NFL record with his 15th game of 400 yards passing. He had 465. Cooks accounted for 173 of that.
