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: Brett Maher
The Dallas Cowboys have one of the most complete teams in the NFL and that includes a top tier kicker in Brett Maher. Maher showed what he could do last Sunday going 4-4 on field goals and 2-2 on extra points, but it wasn’t just the field goals, it was the length that made it so impressive. Maher kicked 50, 53, and 60 yard field goals and his first attempt of the 60 yarder, which he made, was waved off as they wanted a late review of the previous play so he had to make it again. Maher now has 4 career field goals of 60+ yards, no one else has more than 2. Also shout out to Bills kicker Tyler Bass who went 6-6 on field goals, also super impressive.
Honorable Mention: Travis Kelce
I really thought about including Kelce on the list, and you could easily make the argument that he should be. Pilling up 6 catches for 115 yards and 3 touchdowns including a game winning 17 yard catch for the win with 31 seconds left. But I decided to put his teammate on the list, more on that later, and while he was incredible Kelce landed on the honorable mentions. For the year, Kelce is tied for the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL with 11, which also ties his own record for most in a single year and he has seven more games to go.
Honorable Mention: Davante Adams
Holy crap five spots is just so few! Unfortunately some incredible individual performances get relegated to the honorable mention list. Adams is one of those players, having a huge 7 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as a 35 yard game winning walk off touchdown in overtime. Derek Carr went to Adams early and often, throwing the ball his way 13 times, and of course Adams did not disappoint. The Raiders do not win this game without Adams as well as he did, against a very good Broncos’ secondary too. Adams is on pace for 1,572 yards and 17 touchdowns, he is still one of the best wide receivers in the game.
#5 Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy G is trying to prove that the “G” doesn’t stand for “Game manager” and if he keeps this level of play up, he is going to have no issues. Garoppolo played the offense perfectly in the 49ers 38-10 destruction of the Arizona Cardinals. In a balanced attack, the 49ers passed it 29 times and ran in 28 times, Garoppolo wasn’t asked to take over the game or carry the team. He was just asked to run the right play, find the open receiver and make good decisions. Well Garoppolo made it look easy, he picked apart the Cardinals defense going 20-29 for 228 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions and a 131.9 passer rating. It was just the fourth time in his career he has thrown for four touchdowns and the first time since week 14 of 2019. Garoppolo of course had help, the offensive line let up no sack and very little pressure, as well as over 150 yards from the run game, but he was the one who brought the entire offense together. To give him credit he played very well, and at some point if you’re throwing this many touchdowns with no interceptions, you’re not just a game manager you’re a really good player.
#4 Tony Pollard
The Cowboys crushed the Vikings 40-3 led by running backs Ezekial Elliot and Tony Pollard. Elliott had a rock solid day with 42 yards and two touchdowns but didn’t supply many splash plays as his longest run was 8 yards. Pollard was the back that really shone in the blowout. In the game, he compiled 15 carries for 80 yards and six catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Not only did he get nearly 150 more total yards than his counterpart but he averaged 9 yards per touch for the game. The Vikings had no answer for Pollard and the Cowboys, including a 68 yard pass to the running back early in the 3rd quarter to officially make the game a blowout as the score was pushed to 30-3. Tony Pollard is a star, and he is now officially the Cowboys number one running back.
#3 Maxx Crosby
The Raiders beat the Broncos in overtime 22-16 and Maxx Crosby was a big reason why. Near the end of the first half, the Broncos had the ball with a 3rd and 1 on the Raider’s three yard line. Broncos RB Melvin Gordan ran the ball for 2 yards and was trying to get into the endzone when Crosby punched the ball out and backwards, even with the Broncos recovering on the seven, the forced fumble saved at least four points as Gordon would have scored the touchdown or at least set up first and goal at the one. The next play, Crosby made another huge play blocking the short field goal to keep the score Broncos 10 – Raiders 7. In back to back plays Crosby single handedly saved seven points. In the second half Crosby harassed Russell Wilson, compiling 2 sacks and helped the Raiders hold the Broncos to only 6 points. Along with his two sacks, Crosby recorded 6 tackles, he is now up to 9 sacks on the year.
#2 Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes had another fantastic game against the Las Angeles Chargers. Overall he went 20-34 for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions and a passer rating of 120.8. Every time Mahomes completed a pass, the Chiefs marched down the field, averaging 16.45 yards a completion. Getting chunk plays all day, especially when the game was on the line. The Chargers scored a touchdown to go up by four with 1:46 left in the game, but Mahomes led the Chiefs 75 yards in 1:15 seconds and just six plays to reclaim the lead for good. Adding another game winning drive to his resume, his third one of the year. Patrick Mahomes had another fantastic week and should be the MVP favorite at the point of time.
#1 Andy Dalton
The Red Rifle, Andy Dalton had himself a day! Dalton was 21-25 passing for 260 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, with a passer rating of 149.6, which is the highest in his 11 year career. With also leading the Saints to a comeback win to beat the Rams 27-20 when they were down 10-14 at halftime, it is not too bold to say that his 156th game started might have just been his best game of his career. The Saints had a hard time ever getting the running game going, averaging just 3.6 yards per carry and rushing for less than 90 yards as a team. But the passing game was in full effect, averaging 10.4 yards an attempt as Dalton found 9 different receivers throughout the game. With Dalton shining against a solid Rams defense, he proved, at least for this week, that the Saints made the right decision going with him over Jameis Winston. The Saints might not make the playoffs, but if Andy Dalton keeps playing like this, then they are a threat against any team. Who would have thought, before the week, that Dalton would have one of the best performances against 3-time defensive player of the year Aaron Darnold and the Rams, the NFL is a weird place.