Whether it was a matter of players going down with injuries, failing to produce, or teams blowing games, there were plenty of disappointments in Week 14 of the NFL. We saw the Browns do their usual thing, a fight between a player and fans in Jacksonville, and even league officials not protecting a player the way they should have.
Here’s a look at the 15 biggest disappointments from Week 14.
Cleveland Browns
This was it. This was the chance. The Browns were at home and entered the fourth quarter with a 21-7 lead on the Green Bay Packers. Brett Hundley isn’t exactly an outstanding quarterback, and it seemed unlikely that he’d be able to drag the Packers back from two scores down. This is the Browns, though, and with the Browns all things are possible as long as they’re negative things. A game-tying touchdown with 17 seconds left was followed by a horrible DeShone Kizer overtime interception, and that was that. 0-16 seems more likely than ever.
Derek Carr, QB, Raiders
Carr and the Raiders finally had a chance to make up for most of their tumultuous season. They had the Kansas City Chiefs head-to-head with the opportunity to move ahead of them in the standings — a scenario that seemed impossible even a month ago. The Chiefs’ defense hadn’t been performing well, which should have led to Carr feasting. He didn’t. He was picked off twice while throwing for 211 yards and one touchdown. They didn’t score in the game until garbage time, which was also where he ran up his yardage total. How bad was Carr? He fell on the sword for his performance in this one.
NFL concussion protocol — again
The sight of Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage twitching on the field was shocking and frightening. His response to a big hit seemed like possible symptom of a traumatic brain injury, and Savage did come out of the game to go through the concussion protocol. That worked as designed until Savage was somehow allowed to return to the game minutes later before ultimately being pulled again for good. The NFL simply must answer as to how someone who was visibly shaking on the field in plain sight of a referee walked back on the field a few moments later after receiving medical clearance. How can anyone say the system works if something like that can happen right in front of everyone, especially when it happens far too regularly?
LeGarrette Blount, RB, Eagles
Blount had a second straight down week, this time against the Los Angeles Rams. Jay Ajayi hasn’t exactly been great for Blount’s personal production, as the former Miami Dolphin got the bulk of the action — and the yardage — in Week 14. Blount only got seven carries and didn’t make good on them, coming up with only 12 total yards. Ajayi looks like he might be taking over the lead back role, which will be disappointing to Blount, who has done serviceable work this year.
Marcus Mariota, QB, Titans
Coach Mike Mularkey admitted after the Titans’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals that his quarterback was playing on an injured knee, which explains a lot. Mariota was bad again on Sunday, throwing for only 159 yards and no scores in the loss. He turned the ball over twice, and those interceptions were key in allowing Arizona to win the game. Mariota has been on this list quite a bit recently. Perhaps his health — he’s dealt with hamstring and knee injuries this season — is a reason why.
Kirk Cousins, QB, Redskins
Cousins on Sunday became the latest victim of a steadily improving Los Angeles Charger defense. Cousins went 15-for-27 for only 151 yards, throwing one touchdown and one fairly brutal interception. The Redskins are more or less done at 5-8, so this wasn’t a particularly damaging defeat, but Cousins has a lot to play for. He’s due to become a free agent. And while opinions are pretty well baked in on him at this point, he can’t afford to struggle too much down the stretch.
Ending of Jaguars-Seahawks game
Seattle has, at times in the past, not exactly lost with grace and class. That happened again on Sunday. Things really kicked off when Michael Bennett inexplicably went for the low block as the Jaguars moved into their victory formation. Things got worse, though, as Jacksonville fans began throwing things at Quinton Jefferson, which nearly sparked an all-out brawl. Nobody really came out looking good at the end of this one.
