What We Saw: Week 15

Vikings and Raiders and Jaguars - oh my!

Ben Brown
What We Saw 2 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
49ers @ Seahawks
Colts @ Vikings
Ravens @ Browns
Dolphins @ Bills
Falcons @ Saints
Steelers @ Panthers
Eagles @ Bears
Chiefs @ Texans
Cowboys @ Jaguars
Lions @ Jets
Cardinals @ Broncos
Patriots @ Raiders
Titans @ Chargers
Bengals @ Buccaneers
Giants @ Commanders

Patriots @ Raiders

Final Score: Raiders 30, Patriots 24

Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)

 

The Patriots rallied back from a 17-3 halftime deficit and went up 24-17 late in the game. With roughly 30 seconds left, Keelan Cole Sr. caught a pass in the endzone for the game-tying touchdown. The replay appeared to show his foot come down out of bounds, but the play stood anyway.

That led to the wildest ending in the history of the NFL.

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/drivelinebases/status/1604643100194144256?s=20&t=slHFl9sPaaHdhMjrkFHa7g

 

 

 

New England Patriots

 

Quarterback

 

Mac Jones: 13/31, 112 Yards | 4 Carries, 10 Yards

 

Mac Jones did not have a good game, as you can imagine from the box score. He took a few shots downfield, narrowly overthrowing Jakobi Meyers on one of them. He was once again hampered by poor play calling and bad coaching decisions, but he was still bad regardless of it all.

 

 

A few plays earlier he also overthrew an open Jonnu Smith in the back corner of the end zone, which should have been a touchdown.

 

 

 

Mac is a bottom-10 QB for fantasy purposes for the rest of this season.

 

Running Back

 

Rhamondre Stevenson: 19 Carries, 172 Yards, TD | 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, -4 Yards

Kevin Harris: 5 Carries, 19 Yards

Pierre Strong Jr.: 4 Carries, 25 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 12 Yards

 

Damien Harris was inactive for this game, but Rhamondre Stevenson did play and he had himself a great day. Even with an injured ankle, Stevenson benefitted from a bunch of extra yards on the infamous final play of the game, but he was still really well nonetheless against a bad defense.

 

 

 

Once again, Rhamondre put the team on his back and put them in a position to win a football game. He scored the go-ahead touchdown with under four minutes to go, and the entire drive was basically the Rhamondre show.

 

 

He has a tough matchup next week against the Bengals, but as long as he’s healthy he’s a must-start.

Kevin Harris is the one who actually took the first handoff of the game, but he wasn’t a factor in this one. Pierre Strong Jr. was also used and threw a couple of nice jukes on defenders. If Rhamondre were to go down, it would be a committee approach with questionable fantasy implications. I’d still lean more toward Harris being the traditional bruiser back with the most fantasy appeal, but Strong improved upon his success from last week and now I’m starting to doubt that a little. Either way, neither is worth playing as long as Stevenson is healthy.

 

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Jakobi Meyers: -20 Yards rushing | 6 Targets, 2 Receptions, 47 Yards | 1 Fumble (Lost)

Jonnu Smith: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 24 Yards

Tyquan Thornton: 4 Targets, 1 Reception, 21 Yards

Hunter Henry: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 9 Yards

Nelson Agholor: 6 Targets, 1 Reception, 3 Yards

Kendrick Bourne: 1 Target

 

Jakobi Meyers is obviously the one to blame for the way this game ended, but his return this week certainly sparked the offense in a way they needed badly. He had a big catch that put them in position for Rhamondre’s go-ahead touchdown. He put a slick move on a defender and was wide open to catch a 2pt conversion.

But his final play, where he lost 20 yards rushing and turned the ball over to the Raiders on the most inexplainable play of all time, was an absolute disaster. That’s -4 (or -5, depending on your scoring settings) points on one play for the only reliable fantasy WR in this offense, and that swing could have potentially lost some people some fantasy playoff games. It’s a fluke play but hurtful nonetheless. Hopefully better days are ahead for Jakobi.

 

 

 

DeVante Parker was inactive after sustaining a concussion last week. Tyquan Thornton was a bit more involved but still not enough. Jonnu Smith had two catches early but was quiet after that. Hunter Henry was poked in the eye and missed a few plays but he would return to make a terrible drop on 3rd down. Nelson Agholor didn’t have any terrible drops in this one (surprisingly), but he did catch a ball down the sideline and was unable to get his second foot down. For what the Patriots are paying Henry and Agholor, you’d think they’d be able to make plays like these:

 

 

Kendrick Bourne dropped his only target of the day.

 

Las Vegas Raiders

 

Quarterback

 

Derek Carr: 20/38, 231 Yards, 3 TD, INT

 

For fantasy purposes, Derek Carr was solid. His day could have been a lot bigger had he connected with Davante Adams and Mack Hollins on deep balls in the 1st half, both of with were either knocked away or were slightly overthrown. Carr’s only mistake was the pick-six by Kyle Dugger, who said postgame he saw something in film study this week that helped him on that play.

 

 

 

Dugger’s interception got the Patriots back in the game, and their defense stepped up in a big way in the second half. Carr was under pressure for much of the 3rd and 4th quarters, but when rubber met the road on the last offensive drive of the game, Carr was able to stand in the pocket and make good throws downfield to keep the Raiders alive. The game-tying throw to Keelan Cole in the end zone was a great throw, as was the touchdown throw to Mack Hollins earlier in the game. There weren’t a lot of near mistakes for Carr, either. He wasn’t spectacular, but he did enough to not lose them the game.

 

Running Back

 

Josh Jacobs: 22 Carries, 93 Yards | 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 17 Yards | 1 Fumble (Recovered)

Ameer Abdullah: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 14 Yards

Zamir White: 1 Carry, 4 Yards

 

Josh Jacobs came into this game with a right pinky injury and wore a splint under his glove. His day was modest by his recent standards, but the Patriots’ defense really deserves a lot of credit for keeping him mostly bottled up. Running room was hard to come by for Jacobs, and he wasn’t able to really break out for that one huge run that has been a staple of his recent success. The Patriots’ defense identified him as the one weapon to stop on Sunday, and they did their job.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Keelan Cole: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 50 Yards, TD

Darren Waller: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 48 Yards, TD

Mack Hollins: 8 Targets, 4 Receptions, 40 Yards, TD

Davante Adams: 9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 28 Yards

Foster Moreau: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 20 Yards

Hunter Renfrow: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 14 Yards

 

Hunter Renfroe and Darren Waller both returned for this game. Waller caught a touchdown, a seam pass up the middle of the field in the first quarter. He’s a mismatch nightmare and the Patriots were lucky he wasn’t more involved in the offense today.

Mack Hollins had a nice diving catch for a touchdown in the end zone right before the half. He was also targeted on multiple deep shots, with one passing just through his hands and another just past them. He was a few inches away from a monster day.

Davante Adams was human on Sunday. Marcus Jones did a good job in coverage, and he even knocked away a surefire touchdown in the early minutes of the game. Later, Adams had his man beat and Carr threw a bullet his way, but Darren Waller came out of nowhere and got his hands on the ball, knocking it away. It likely would have been a huge play for Adams had Waller not been there.

Keelan Cole. Oy. I think most of us will agree that he was probably out of bounds, but the lack of a definitive view is the reason for the play standing as called.

 

 

The officials essentially said as much after the game.

 

 

However you shake it, Cole scored the TD and salvaged Carr’s fantasy day.

Series Navigation
Introduction
49ers @ Seahawks
Colts @ Vikings
Ravens @ Browns
Dolphins @ Bills
Falcons @ Saints
Steelers @ Panthers
Eagles @ Bears
Chiefs @ Texans
Cowboys @ Jaguars
Lions @ Jets
Cardinals @ Broncos
Patriots @ Raiders
Titans @ Chargers
Bengals @ Buccaneers
Giants @ Commanders

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