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.
Honorable Mention: Garrett Wilson
The Jets blasted the Chicago Bears 31-10, with the offense finding life with Mike White at quarterback, more on him later. But Jets rookie Garrett Wilson was a large part of the Jets offensive revival, continually making big plays throughout the game. While he didn’t get tons of catches, he made the most of all of them finishing with 5 catches, for 95 yards, and 2 touchdowns. The Jets had a very strong 2022 draft class and Garrett Wilson is a big reason why.
Honorable Mention: Panther O-Line
The Panthers smacked the Denver Broncos 23-10, in a large part to their offensive line. The Broncos defense, is one of the stingiest defenses in the league, but they are only mediocre at stopping the run, if the Panthers wanted to win that is how they needed to do it. The Panthers O-line let them do just that, continually opening up holes for runningbacks Deonta Foreman and Chubba Hubbard. Foreman ran for 113 yards on 24 carries and Hubbard ran for 65 yards on 17 carries, the strong running game let the Panther dominate the time of possession with 37:03 minutes compared to only 22:57 for the broncos. When they did pass, the Panther offensive line kept Sam Darnold nearly as clean as possible, letting up no sacks and only 2 quarterback hits.
#5 Mike White
Mike White was tasked to replace Zach Wilson and take over a Jets offense that was embarrassingly bad against the Patriots the week before. Consider the challenge completed, the offense looked entirely different with White’s quick decision making, whether it was to fire it into his first look, or dump it down when no one was open. The Jets moved the ball all game against the Chicago Bears, ultimately crushing them 31-10. On the day, the Jets offense compiled 466 yards and Mike White was electric, throwing 22-28 for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns for a 149.3 passer rating. It was the second highest passer rating for any Jets quarterback, in a game, since 2015. Whether or not Mike White is the future for the Jets at quarterback, he looked the part in a whale of a game against the Bears.
#4 Foyesade Oluokun
The Jaguars pulled off the upset over the Baltimore Ravens 28-27, and while the offense deseres a lot of credit completing the comeback. The defense deserves some love keeping them in the game. Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun led the way, getting to the ball carrier 18 times, including 13 solo tackles. His 18 combined tackles, were the second most out of any player in the single game this year, only behind Alex Singleton’s 21 tackle effort against the Chargers week 6. His sure tackling was especially important when trying to contain someone as explosive as Lamar Jackson. Oluokun wasn’t just making the plays when they came to him, he went and was forcing the action, recording three tackles for loss. That is the second most tackles for loss in a single game this year, not counting sacking the quarterback. As the young Jaguars team builds for the future, Oluokun is doing his best to make sure his name is a part of it.
#3 Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence may have had his best game in his young career. His stats alone were very impressive going 29-37 for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns for a sparkling 129.8 passer rating. But it was much more than just the number he put up, Lawrence engineered a game winning 75 yard touchdown drive with 2:02 seconds left and no timeouts, against the stout Baltimore Ravens defense. During that drive the Jaguars overcame two third downs, including a third and 21 and scored with 14 seconds remaining, to make the score 26-27 Ravens. Instead of tying the game with an extra point, the Jaguars went for two for the win, and Lawrence threw a strike to Zay Jones to complete the comeback. It was the franchise’s first win when down by seven or more points with less than a minute remaining in regulation, previously, the Jaguars were 0-183 before Lawrence pulled it off. Lawrence’s 129.8 passer rating is also a franchise best for a single game, for everyone who threw for at least 37 times. The Jaguars might finally have a franchise quarterback and he just had the best game of his career.
#2 Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts is playing like an MVP, during the Eagles 40-33 win over the Green Bay Packers, Hurts was 16-28 for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns for a 96.3 passer rating. This by itself isn’t anything super special, but the story of the day wasn’t what he did in the air but what he did on the ground. In the first quarter alone, Hurts ran for over 100 yards, marking the first time in NFL history that a quarterback has ran for over 100 yards in any single quarter. By the time the game had finished, Hurts ran 17 times for 157 yards. He became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw and run for more than 150 yards joining, Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, and Colin Kaepernick. The Hurts led offense was nearly unstoppable as the Eagles racked up 500 total yards and 363 rushing yards alone on their way to dropping a 40-whopper on the Packers. It was the second most rushing yards in franchise history and the 4th most rushing yards by any team over the last 20 years. Hurts is in the thick of the MVP race, and he should as he is the engine behind the now 10-1 Eagles.
#1 Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs went off, destroying any and all Seahawks that got in his way. Last Sunday against Seattle he ran for a career high 229 yards and caught a career high 74 yards, he is the only player since 1950 with 225+ rushing yards and 70+ receiving yards. Combined, he had a grand total 303 total yards, to put that number in context, Jacobs by himself finished with more total yards than six individual teams this week. His rushing yards and total number of yards were both franchise records and the Raiders needed all of it. Playing off of Jacob’s career day, the Raiders pushed the game into overtime. Then it was, of course, Josh Jacobs who brought the game home for them, pulling off an 86 yard walk off touchdown. Jacobs finished the day with 33 carries, 6 receptions, 303 total yards, and 2 touchdowns. It was the most rushing yards in a game this year, and the most total yards in a game this year by a mile, no other player even has more than 230 yards in a single game. This might be the single greatest performance this year, and definitely the performance of the week.