On Fire: Doug Baldwin's latest four-game
stretch includes 24 catches, 433 yards and six touchdowns.
Grab a Helmet
Doug
Baldwin @ BAL: If I asked you who the most productive
wide receiver has been the last three weeks and gave you three guesses,
I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t use one of them on Doug Baldwin. If
it makes you feel any better, I’d have probably needed five times
that many. Doug Baldwin? Really? I even watch a fair amount of Seattle
action since I live in the Pacific NW and I had no idea he’s been
so productive of late (299 yards and five scores during that stretch).
Can he carry over that white hot momentum to the all-important Week
14 date with John Harbaugh’s Ravens? There’s no reason not to think
so since Baltimore’s given up the fourth most points to opposing
wide receivers and has literally nothing to play for at this point.
I’m always leery of Seattle pass-catchers, but this one might be
for real.
Danny
Amendola @ HOU: All Patriot pass-grabbers are for real
when Tom Brady feels like throwing it to them. Amendola definitely
fits that bill now that Gronk, Julian Edelman, and Dion Lewis are
on the shelf and he, for a change, isn’t. Though he missed Week
12 against Denver, the former Red Raider has commanded 11, 12, and
13 targets in his last three games, more than enough to do damage
in the New England offense. And damage he has done, to the tune
of 26 catches, 258 yards, and a score. It hasn’t, unfortunately,
equated to much recent success for New England, but after two consecutive
losses, one of them completely shocking, I suspect Tom Terrific
has a little in store for the Texans come Sunday night. If I owned
his most reliable pass-catching weapon, I wouldn’t hesitate for
a second to get him in my lineup. Start Amendola.
DeVante
Parker v. NYG (Mon): Just one week after throwing for
over 350 yards against the Jets, Ryan Tannehill managed a puzzling
86 in the Week 13 matchup against the lowly Ravens. Stranger still,
the Dolphins won, thanks mostly to a stout rushing attack and Matt
Schaub. Strangest of all, the rarely used rookie Parker, and not
Jarvis Landry, accounted for 63 of those 86 passing game yards and
the Dolphins’ only offensive touchdown. There’s no telling where
this Miami offense is headed with Zac Taylor now calling the plays,
something he’s literally never done as a coach. Nevertheless, a
return to basics (read: more Lamar Miller…finally) could open things
up for Ryan Tannehill to take some shots downfield, something he’s
never consistently done in South Florida and something the young
Parker excels at. Take a flyer on the former Louisville stud against
New York’s highly suspect secondary Monday night.
Grab Some Wood
Pierre
Garcon @ CHI: Garçon hasn’t been terrible in 2015,
which, in the NFC East these days, passes for pretty OK. His comparables
on a per-game basis (6.2) are Golden Tate, Kendall Wright, and
Reuben Randle. In other words, you could do a lot worse at the
wide receiver position. Then again, you could do a lot better.
The problem, as I see it, is that what started as a pretty steady
but unspectacular campaign has gotten a whole lot less spectacular
since DeSean Jackson reemerged. The electrifying Jackson didn’t
even suit up until Week 9 but since then, Garçon is only averaging
4.2 points/game. He also hasn’t scored since Week 6. Clearly,
Kirk Cousins favors the field-stretching talents of the more dynamic
Jackson and only looks Garçon’s way as an afterthought. Washington’s
still in the mix for a division title and Jackson could get hurt
again, but…too many ifs.
Tavon
Austin v. DET: Jeff Fisher finally canned offensive
coordinator Frank Cignetti, Jr. Monday, just twelve games into
his tenure as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. It was about twelve
games too late IMHO as Cignetti, Jr. made Brian Schottenheimer
look like Bill Walsh. At some point, the white hot spotlight’s
gonna fall on Fisher himself as he’s failed to move the meter
in the Gateway City despite four years on the job. The most glaring
deficiency of all has been the offense, of course, and the most
glaring offensive deficiency has been the inability to consistently
involve Austin. How does a guy who averages almost 10 yards every
time he touches the ball (whether receiving or running) get only
three touches in a game, as Austin did in Week 13? It was the
SEVENTH time this year he’s logged five or fewer. Not acceptable.
Do better, Jeff Fisher and Co.
Dez
Bryant @ GB: I’ve just picked on St. Louis’ moribund
offense and we don’t have the Chiefs’ famously pathetic
2014 receivers to kick around anymore, so…let’s move
outside the state of Missouri and see who else deserves a little
Shot Caller vitriol. Found someone. Bryant has several convenient
excuses for his stunningly average 2015 campaign (injuries to
himself and Tony Romo, most obviously), but the bottom line is
that top 5 receivers shouldn’t fall into the mid-50s range
just because a different QB lines up under center. I’m talking
mid-50s on a per-catch basis, BTW, not an aggregate basis. Most
damning of all was Bryant’s disappearing act against the
Panthers on Thanksgiving Day when the Cowboys still had Romo (for
three quarters, at least). Bryant caught just two targets for
26 yards that afternoon and couldn’t get open against Carolina’s
Josh Norman. Don’t expect much at rainy Lambeau Sunday.
