Week 13 saw a huge winning streak snapped and a new team take over the lead in the NFC. Some teams stayed alive in the playoff race, others pulled ahead, and some were eliminated. It was a good week for several contenders, but less impressive for several defenses and a rather large handful of wide receivers.
Here’s a look at 15 big disappointments from Week 13 that were unable to deliver.
Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots
Gronkowski surely knows better than to do what he did late Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. His cheap shot against Tre’Davious White makes no sense and will likely result in some sort of discipline. It was stupid, dangerous, and it was reckless. Frankly, a one-game suspension wouldn’t be out of order. He’s going to get a lot of criticism for that inexplicable action, and it’s fair to say that he has it coming.
Jones fell victim to Xavier Rhodes on Sunday, and credit should go to the Minnesota Vikings’ star cornerback. Jones was shut out of the first quarter and much of the second half. He ended his day with just two catches for 24 yards. Julio was always going to be facing a tough time with Rhodes on him, but Jones’ Sunday was about as bad as one could imagine. It’s fair to say that his inability to get things going was a big reason the Atlanta offense was so lackluster.
Alex Smith went off on Sunday, so you can’t blame him or the offense for the team’s loss. Instead, the latest culprit in the ongoing collapse of the Kansas City Chiefs is a defense that gave up 38 points and nearly 500 yards to a New York Jets offense quarterbacked by Josh McCown. The big issue? The Jets were an astonishing 13-of-20 on third downs. Kansas City simply couldn’t get themselves off the field, thanks in part to eight penalties that continued to give the Jets opportunities. Their defensive performance was a huge disappointment.
Coleman returned from injury two weeks ago and quickly became one of DeShone Kizer’s favorite targets. For whatever reason, that came to a grinding halt on Sunday. Coleman didn’t catch a single pass, which perhaps was a side effect of the return of Josh Gordon. After 144 yards over his last two games, Coleman was shutout on the stat sheet. He also was targeted just four times. Gordon appears to be Cleveland’s primary receivers, as he was targeted 11 times.
Buffalo’s passing game
Returning to Tyrod Taylor did nothing for the Buffalo Bills. He racked up only 65 yards with an interception before leaving due to injury. His replacement, Nathan Peterman, was even worse. Peterman was 6 of 15 for 50 yards. As a whole, the Bills went 15 of 34 for just 85 passing yards. Things were going well for Buffalo early in the season, but benching Taylor may have rattled him a little, and Peterman has shown that he’s not up to the task. The Bills need a quarterback, because they’ve somewhat messed up the position in 2017.
Arizona Cardinals WRs not named Larry Fitzgerald
Larry Fitzgerald had a huge ten-catch day in the Cardinals’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. He was great, and quarterback Blaine Gabbert was great throwing to him; every time Gabbert targeted Fitzgerald, he got a completion, going 10-for-10. The problem was everyone else. Gabbert was a lowly 8-for-22 when not targeting Fitzgerald and threw two interceptions. Aside from Fitzgerald, no Cardinals player had more than two catches. It is a remarkable dichotomy and one of the crazier stats of the week.
The Lions have had their fair share of hit-or-miss games defensively in 2017, but they had to be encouraged going up against Joe Flacco and a Baltimore offense that has had its own problems with consistency. Detroit’s defense instead allowed 370 total yards, 24 first downs, surrendered four touchdowns, and didn’t force any turnovers. Flacco’s 269 yards were a season-best, and it was only the third game of the season in which he threw for multiple touchdowns. The low point? On a key third down, the Lions were caught off-guard and had only nine men on the field. That cannot happen at this level.
Leonard Fournette, RB, Jaguars
This wasn’t Fournette’s worst performance, but he probably was expecting to do more against an Indianapolis run defense that isn’t exactlys a stone wall. His 57 yards on 20 carries was decent, but the performance marked his second straight underwhelming week against a defense that can be beaten. With three sub-standard performances in his last four games, one has to wonder whether Fournette is hitting the dreaded rookie wall.
