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: Sauce Gardner
The New York Jets were going up against the 6-1, offensive powerhouse, Buffalo Bills. The Bills were averaging the second most points per game and the most yards per game, the Jets needed a big game by rookie Sauce Gardner to have a chance. The Jets moved Gardner around all game, helping limit Josh Allen to only 205 yards passing, his lowest of the year. He also made big plays including an interception and coverage on a deep pass on the last play of the game. As well as leading the Jets with seven tackles, Sauce isn’t just one of the best rookies, he is one of the best corners in the NFL.
Honorable Mention: Tua Tagovailoa
Who would have thought that one of the best shootouts of the week would be Tua vs Justin Fields? But that was how it was this week, with the Dolphins pulling out the fourth quarter win 35-32. Tua played fantastic again, going 21-31 for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a sparkling 135.7 passer rating. The Dolphins are officially a passing team, having the leading receiver in the NFL, Tyreek Hill. Who himself could justifiably be on this list with 143 yards and a touchdown. But I am sticking with the quarterback who set him up and played a near perfect day against a weakened Bears defense who just traded starting linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Robert Quinn. The Dolphins, meanwhile, are 6-0 in games where Tua started and ended the game!
Honorable Mention: Davante Adams
Last week the Raiders only completed one pass to Davante Adams for three yards. This week they were determined to not have that happen again. Derek Carr threw the ball 17 times in Davante Adams direction, and Adams did not let him down. He hauled in 10 catches for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. Adams was all over and helped the Raiders jump out to a 17-0 lead, usually this meant the team coasts to the win, but it’s the Raiders so naturally they ended up blowing it. It’s the third time this year the Raiders have blown a 17+ point lead, but Davante Adams did his part as he continually got open.
#5 Justin Houston
Justin Houstin has been around forever and he is still wrecking games. The 12 year vet just had maybe his best game of the year, helping lead the Raven past the Saints 27-13. In the game, Houston dominated the offensive line en route to 2.5 sacks. Two of them on third down, ending drives, and to finish off a complete day, got an interception at the end of the third quarter which ended the Saints last hope to come back. The next drive the Ravens scored a touchdown to make it 27-6, the game ended 27-13. This was Houstin’s third straight game of 2 or more sacks, he is now up 8.5 on the year.
#4 Kerby Joseph
Kerby Joseph was all over the field for the Detroit Lions as they were trying to upset the Green Bay Packers. On the day, he finished with 10 tackles, 2 interceptions and a pass deflection. But it was the timeliness of the plays which gets him on this list, the Packers first drive, they drove all the way down the field and had first and goal on the five. The next play Joseph intercepted Aaron Rodgers in the endzone, ending the drive and the momentum the Packers had right out the gate. A similar situation happened in the second half. The Lions were only up 8-0, and had thrown an interception on their first drive of the third quarter, giving the Packers amazing field position to potentially tie the game. But on second and nine, on Detroit’s 22 yard line, Joseph again intercepted Rodgers, denying the chance to get back in the game. As well as being all over making 10 tackles, safety Kerby Joseph was instrumental in helping the Lions pull off the upset 9-15.
#3 Matt Judon
The Patriots dominated the Colts 26-3 behind a dominant defensive line. Super star Matt Judon is trying to become a household name, but football heads understand just how good this guy can be. More games like last Sunday should make that happen as he dominated the O-line and compiled 3 sacks and four quarterback hits, as well as 6 tackles. His mark on the game was more than just his play, because the offensive line was focusing on slowing him down it opened opportunities for teammates in one on one matchups. Outside linebacker Josh Uche took advantage, compiling 3 sacks of his own, opposite of Matt Judon. Judon is the heart of the Patriots defense and the Colts had no answer the entire game. After his 3 sack performance, Matt Judon is up to a NFL high 11.5 sacks for the year.
#2 Justin Fields
Justin Fields is trying to do the impossible, that is be a franchise quarterback on a Bears team. All jokes aside, he is doing everything he can to try to carry the Bears to a win. Last Sunday, he went 17-28 for 123 yards and 3 touchdowns while throwing no interceptions, while that alone is a solid day it was the work he did on the ground which gets him on this list. Fields ran the ball 15 times for 178 yards and a rushing touchdown. His 178 rushing yards by a quarterback is a NFL regular season record passing Michael Vick who ran for 175 in 2002, he fell just short of the all time mark by Colin Kaepernick who ran for 181 yards in the playoffs in 2012. It was a career game for Justin Fields as he continually kept the Bears in the game, the only thing that would have been better is if he had scored on one of the last two drives to win the game. Even though the Bears lost 35-32, Fields did everything he could to will the team to victory, including a 61 yard scramble for a touchdown. The Bears may have just found their QB of the future now can they actually get him some help?
#1 Joe Mixon
Joe Mixon had maybe the best game of his entire career. Entering the game, Mixon had been struggling due to his lofty standards, he only had three touchdowns on the year, and had not had a 100 yard rushing game so far. This week he decided to do something about that. In the first half alone, he ran for 3 touchdowns and caught a touchdown, Mixon also ran for 113 yards by halftime. His godly first half also included four catches for 58 yards, it was the first game that a player has over 150 scrimmage yards and 4 touchdowns since Shaun Alexander in week 4 of the 2002 season, more than 20 years ago. After the game was over, Mixon had amassed 4 rushing and a receiving touchdown, to go along with 211 yards from scrimmage. This was the single highest scoring game in fantasy football so far this year, in full ppr, Mixon finished with 55.1 points, more than 10 points more than the 2nd highest (Stephon Diggs, 44.8 points). Mixon helped the Bengals blow out the Panthers 42-21, even though the game wasn’t that close as the score was already 35-0 at halftime before the Bengals took their foot off the gas.