Every week dozens of players stand out and perform exemplary. Today I am going to be highlighting the top 5 players or units that stood out. Also if two players on the same offense or defense both have career games, only one will get top five as they worked off of each other. (The other will most likely be honorable mention)
Honorable Mention: Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes makes the incredible look normal. Last week against the Texans he was super efficient going 36-41 for 336 yards and 2 touchdowns, with also an extra 33 yards running and a rushing touchdown. This performance didn’t get much buzz because it was against the Texans and they needed overtime to win but 369 total yards and 3 touchdowns with no turnovers is still a crazy day against anyone. With Jalen Hurts only having a decent game (for most people it was a fantastic game) Mahomes might be back in the lead for MVP. This race might just go down to the final week of the year.
Honorable Mention: Dalvin Cook
The Vikings completed the largest comeback in NFL history and Dalvin Cook was a big reason why. Yes, he fumbled which helped build the deficit, but no one was playing well for the Vikings that first half. Also when you have a second half like the Vikings, out scoring the Colts 39-3, no one cares about the first half. In the game, Cook had 17 carries for 95 yards and 4 catches for 95 more yards and a touchdown. Including a 64 yard screen pass for a touchdown to tie the game up with 2:15 seconds left. Cook was a crucial piece in implementing the biggest comeback in NFL history, and that deserves an honorable mention spot.
Honorable Mention: JJ Watt
Ladies and gentlemen we have a JJ Watt sighting! These occurrences are becoming more and more rare with each passing year but for this week, Watt turned back the hands of time for a reminder of what life was like in 2015. Watt dominated the line of scrimmage, totalling 5 tackles, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble, then even when he couldn’t get to the quarterback he still disrupted the play with a pass deflection. Watt’s prime was so long ago, it’s easy to forget that he was the first defensive end to consistently bat down passes, completely changing how the position is played. This week he proved that when he’s healthy and in a grove, he can still be a force.
#5 Josh Allen
He’s back! Josh Allen over the last seven weeks had not quite looked like himself, averaging only 224 yards a game and having 9 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. While the Bills did go 5-2 over the stretch, they were missing the godly quarterback play that had Bills mafia dreaming about Super Bowls. They got it this week, against the Miami Dolphins, Josh Allen threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns with a shiny 119.2 passer rating. He also did some typical Josh Allen scrambling adding an extra 77 yards on 7 carries. Helping erase an eight point fourth quarter comeback, Allen showed that when playing at his best, he is as good as any quarterback in the NFL.
#4 Trevor Lawrence
Last week, Lawrence was incredible and one of his receivers went off and I elected to put the pass catcher in the top five. This week it is the same conundrum, except I am giving the nod to Lawrence. Against the Cowboys, the Jaguars quickly fell into a 17 point whole, down 27-10. Down by three scores in the second half, the Jaguars had to lean on their passing game, and Lawrence was up to the challenge. Lawrence led three straight touchdown drives to give the Jaguars the lead 31-27, before the Cowboys answered with a touchdown of their own. Lawrence did fumble, driving for a chance at a fourth straight touchdown and the led, but made up for it when he executed a 41 yard drive in one minute for a field goal to force overtime. At the end of it, the Jaguars prevailed to complete the 17 point comeback and put together one of his best games of the season. He went 27-42 for 318 yards with 4 touchdowns and one interception. His four touchdown passes were a career high, which combined with his career high in passing yards last week gives him his best two week stretch of his career. Over those games Lawrence had 714 total yards and 8 touchdowns as going 2-0. Looks like the Jaguars have a keeper.
#3 Kayvon Thibodeaux
Thibodeaux was drafted with the fifth overall section in last year’s draft, and while he has had occasional plays, he has yet to put together a complete game. Well we can’t say that anymore. Thibodeaux had by far his best game of his young career, finishing with 12 tackles, one sack, and three tackles for loss. He also had arguably the biggest play of the game when he sacked QB Taylor Heinicke, forced a fumble, recovered the fumble, and jumped into the endzone for the score. Considering the Giants beat the Commanders in a low scoring win 20-12, that one play could have easily been the difference. He also made a game saving tackle when he tackled a scrambling Heinicke on the one yard line with 1:02 left in the game, when it looked like he had a clear path to the end zone. But it was more than just those two plays, his 12 tackles were more than double his previous career high (5), and he was super disruptive setting another career high of three tackles for loss. With less than a year into his career, he has plenty of time to develop and grow, but a few more games like this will push him very quickly into the budding star category.
#2 Rayshawn Jenkins
Rayshawn Jenkins, safety for Jaguars, was all over the field against the Cowboys. Seemingly a part of every tackle, on the day he had 18 total tackles, the second most in a single game this year. While many were group tackles, he still brought down the ball carrier nine times himself finishing with nine solo tackles. But he wasn’t just running around, cleaning up the end of plays, he was making big plays. In the third quarter, down 27-17, the Cowboys offense had scored on five of their last 6 drives and desperately needed a stop. When Jenkins intercepted a disrupted Dak Prescott pass to set up the Jaguars on the Cowboys side of the field. After the Jaguars forced overtime, the Cowboys were again threatening to win. On third and 4 on their own 47, the Cowboys only needed about 15 yards to get into field goal range for a potential game winning field goal. Of course, Jenkins made sure that never happened, intercepting Prescott for the 2nd time and returning it 52 yards for the game winning touchdown. Jenkins just became the first person in NFL history to have 18 tackles and two interceptions. Add in the fact he had the game winning touchdown which sealed a 17 point comeback, he could have easily been number one. But another, even more historic comeback, elevated someone else to number one.
#1 Kirk Cousins
When you execute the largest comeback in NFL history, there is a good chance you’re going to be number one. Sure Cousins did not have a great first half but the second half more than made up for it. The Colts were up 33-0 at halftime, the second largest halftime lead of any team this year and the second largest halftime deficit for the Vikings in franchise history. Then the second half happened. In the second half and overtime, Cousins threw for 417 yards and four touchdowns as the Vikings outscored the Colts 39-3. Before the game, the last time any team had even come back from down 24 points in the regular season was October 25 2015, when the Redskins, led by Kirk Cousins came back and beat the Buccaneers 31-30. That was also Cousins’ famous “You Like That!” game. Well he might have to break out the ol’ line again because this performance was even more memorable. His 417 yards in the second half alone would be the 7th most yards in any game this year. For a player who has been much maligned for poor play in big games, this was a monster performance.