Week 14 has come and gone, and with it, a number of excellent—and some well-below-average—performances are recorded in the Pro Football Focus database. Earlier on Tuesday, Senior Analyst Sam Monson highlighted the best individual performances of the week. Here, however, we visit the opposite end of the spectrum, noting the lowest-graded players of Week 14.
Quarterback: Eli Manning, New York Giants, 29.0; Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys, 30.4
It was too difficult to pick one of these guys over the other given their almost equally-low grades. Manning finished the night with only one interception, but it should have been more. He was missing targets and making very poor decisions all night; he only hit on two-of-eight passes beyond 10 yards downfield. Prescott had his first truly bad game as a pro, completing under 50 percent of his passes and averaging less than 5 yards per attempt. While there was a lot of talk of him struggling under pressure, he was actually far worse when kept clean. When under pressure, Prescott completed 10-of-16 pass attempts for 74 yards and a 73.4 passer rating; when kept clean, he completed just 7-of-21 for 91 yards and two picks for a 24.2 passer rating.
Running back: Rashad Jennings, New York Giants, 48.2
It was a tough night for the Giants' offense outside of basically one play to Odell Beckham Jr. Jennings couldn’t get anything going all game. On 15 carries, he gained just 45 yards. He averaged a mere 1.7 yards after contact per attempt, and failed to break a tackle all game.
Wide receiver: Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys, 39.5
While Prescott’s struggles certainly played their part in Bryant’s poor outing, the QB wasn't the sole cause for the WR's 39.5 grade. Bryant had a hard time getting open and really didn’t contribute anything to this game. He was targeted eight times and caught just one of them for 10 yards. He also fumbled the ball on that lone catch.
Wide receiver: Brian Quick, Los Angeles Rams, 31.7
Quick was nearly invisible for a Los Angeles offense that desperately needed any kind of receiver play. He was targeted just three times and caught only one pass for 10 yards. He also had a bad drop on one of those two incompletions.
Slot receiver: Seth Roberts, Oakland Raiders, 39.3
While QB Derek Carr struggled on Thursday night, Roberts gave him very little help from his slot position. Despite being targeted nine times, Roberts brought in just two catches for 12 yards. He also dropped two passes cleanly.
Tight end: Dwayne Allen, Indianapolis Colts, 41.6
Allen didn't contribute to the Colts' passing attack at all in Week 14; he was targeted twice, but failed to haul either in. He also struggled in the run game as a blocker, finishing with a low 35.2 run-blocking grade.
Left tackle: Kelvin Beachum, Jacksonville Jaguars, 32.9
Beachum had a tough time in pass protection, giving up two sacks and four quarterback hurries. He was hardly better in the run game. Beachum was the only tackle to finish with run- and pass-blocking grades both lower than 40.0.
Left guard: Andrus Peat, New Orleans Saints, 39.3
Almost all of Peat’s struggles came in the passing game, as he actually earned a 73.3 run-blocking grade. However, he allowed three quarterback hits and three other hurries en route to a 29.1 pass-blocking grade.
Center: Marcus Martin, San Francisco 49ers, 39.4
Martin wasn’t great in pass protection, giving up four quarterback hurries. He also really struggled when blocking for the run, finishing with a run-blocking grade of just 44.4.
Right guard: Earl Watford, Arizona Cardinals, 30.9
Watford really struggled in pass protection, finishing with a 29.9 pass-blocking grade. He surrendered one quarterback hit and six hurries. He also had a really tough time run blocking, grading out at just 34.3 in that phase of the game.
Right tackle: Ulrick John, Arizona Cardinals, 33.1
Much like his teammate, it wasn’t a great game in pass protection for John. He allowed a sack, a hit, and two hurries, and was beat multiple other times on passing plays.
Week 14 defense
Edge defender: Brian Robison, Minnesota Vikings, 36.8
Robison finished with a sack and two hurries, which seems pretty solid. In reality, however, they all came pretty late in the play. He also didn’t help at all in the run game, missing a tackle and failing to make a single run stop.
Interior defender: Glenn Dorsey, San Francisco 49ers, 33.5
Dorsey’s 31.9 run-defense grade tells the whole story of his struggles on Sunday. He failed to clog up the middle and was a key reason the Jets gained 188 yards on the ground.
Interior defender: Tyeler Davison, New Orleans Saints, 36.8
Davison was mostly invisible, failing to record any pressure and making just one stop all afternoon. He was frequently blocked out of his gap and when he did manage to get at the running back, he missed a tackle.
Edge defender: Stephone Anthony, New Orleans Saints, 38.0
Anthony didn’t record a pressure rushing the passer, and against the run, he missed a tackle and was often blocked out of the play. He also struggled dropping into coverage, allowing three-of-four targets he saw to be caught for 35 yards and a couple of first downs.
Linebacker: Telvin Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars, 29.7
Smith really struggled in coverage, something his 27.4 coverage grade will attest to. He allowed five-of-six passes he saw to be caught for 56 yards and some first downs. He also missed three tackles on the afternoon.
Linebacker: Preston Brown, Buffalo Bills, 30.4
Brown wasn’t good in coverage, allowing all five targets to be caught against him for 55 yards. In the run game, he was frequently sealed off at the second level, and made just one stop all game.
Cornerback: Brandon Carr, Dallas Cowboys, 32.6
Carr was targeted 10 times and allowed five catches for 106 yards and the big touchdown to Odell Beckham Jr. He was beat on more than just five of those targets, however, and was lucky to be bailed out by bad throws from Eli Manning.
Cornerback: David Amerson, Oakland Raiders, 34.4
Amerson had a truly tough time on Thursday night against the Chiefs. He allowed seven catches on eight targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. His 33.8 coverage grade was the second-lowest mark of the week.
Slot corner: Jerraud Powers, Baltimore Ravens, 34.9
Powers had a tough Monday night in the slot. He allowed four catches on five targets for 46 yards, including some big first-down conversions. He also missed two tackles.
Safety: Duke Ihenacho, Washington Redskins, 34.9
Ihenacho missed three tackles on the day and failed to really make an impact anywhere. He also allowed all four passes he saw to be caught for 42 yards.
Safety: T.J. McDonald, Los Angeles Rams, 37.5
Almost all of McDonald’s grade comes from his poor coverage play (34.7 coverage grade). As the primary coverage man, he allowed four catches on five targets for 45 yards. He also missed two tackles and was late in safety help a handful of times.
Week 14 special teams
Punter: Drew Butler, Arizona Cardinals
Butler averaged just 36.8 net yards per punt on Sunday, and managed to land just one punt inside the 20. He struggled with his directional punting, as most landed in the middle of the field.
Kicker: Phil Dawson, San Francisco 49ers
Dawson missed both a 48- and a 44-yard field goal for the 49ers in a game San Francisco ended up losing in OT. Not a great day for him.
Kick returner: Cyrus Jones, New England Patriots
Jones was very close to muffing one punt early in the game when he almost didn’t get out of the way in time. Later in the game, he actually did muff a punt.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.