That closes the book on Thursday night football for the 2019 season. Any memorable games? Rams-Seahawks, 49ers-Cardinals. Not a great year. Scheduling Ravens-Jets for Week 15, the NFL was fortunate to get one playoff team out of that matchup. Playoffs semifinals are underway, let's look at how some of the drama has been sucked out of them.
Lamar Jackson:
Nothing like a 5-touchdown, 300-total yard quarterback performance to give you a huge early lead ...or seemingly insurmountable deficit. If anyone actually benched Jackson because of his quad injury that was obviously not an issue of any kind, my sympathies. Jackson has one more game to pile up huge numbers against Cleveland, clinch the AFC's No. 1 seed, and then take a rest, so if your league goes through Week 17, make sure you have a backup plan. If the Ravens put Jackson on the field against the Steelers they're idiots (but I don't really know why he was one the field passing the ball up 35-7, either).
It's pretty remarkable what Jackson is doing throwing the ball. There were few indications at any point last year that he could make the kind of touch passes he's throwing. All you can do is tip your hat to the guy and his coaching staff. If he's not the unanimous MVP I'm not sure what other people are seeing. An amazing season.
Sam Darnold:
Darnold made some nice throws in this game. There were a couple of plays where he scrambled and made nice downfield throws on the run, like a big 3rd-and-9 completion to Jamison Crowder that set up New York's first touchdown (which he had to throw twice, with Crowder dropping the first one). Unfortunately Darnold followed that drive up with a pretty bad throw on a downfield interception before the half (when New York could have pulled within 21-14) and then a sack-lost fumble in the 3rd that pretty much sealed the loss. He's a second-year quarterback; there will be ups and downs. He doesn't have much of a line or running game, and the target of his pick was his 3rd-string tight end who maybe ran a poor route.
Ultimately, I'm still stuck with wondering why the Jets hired Adam Gase and whether he's properly serving the team's franchise quarterback. Does anything in Darnold's play suggest he's being developed and instructed to one day be a great quarterback? He looks like the same scattershot youngster he was a year ago, alternating wow plays that make you think he's the future of the franchise with head-scratching miscues that hint at a lack of coaching whatsoever. Considering the team's record, it kind of seems likely he'll have a new coach and offensive system by 2021.
Ravens running backs:
So I gave New York's tough run defense more credit than it deserved against Baltimore's juggernaut ground game. Ain't no stoppin' this offense, which has opponents so petrified of Lamar Jackson's runs that Ingram's runs almost seem unexpected, an afterthought. And if they commit extra players to stop Ingram, Jackson beat them over the top with touchdown throws. Spoiler alert, start Ingram against Cleveland next week.
Jets running backs:
Nice game running it for LeVeon Bell. But no touchdowns and no passing game involvement to speak of, so a disappointing fantasy performance. And New York apparently hopes to fool some team into taking on his ridiculous contract in the offseason. Good luck with that. Even with Bilal Powell out the Jets threw only 2 passes for 1 yard to Bell. Wouldn't those plays help the team's young quarterback? Whatever. Ty Montgomery a factor only in the return game.
Ravens wide receivers:
A nifty bit of toe-tapping for a touchdown for Marquise Brown. You wonder if Jackson and Brown aren't going to have a decade of excellence together. Seth Roberts and Miles Boykin also caught touchdowns, obviously unusable except as cheap options in daily leagues, but those count too. Willie Snead had scored a lot lately but this was the kind of game that showed why he can't be used with any confidence. He's just a guy in an offense that spreads it around, you may as well put Boykin or Roberts into a lineup.
Jets wide receivers:
Robby Anderson finished with some serviceable PPR numbers, but clearly the Ravens paid him extra attention; Jimmy Smith did a nice job breaking up a possible touchdown early. May have gotten away with grabbing him early, but it was minor. The big star was Jamison Crowder, who'd been cold as ice lately but caught 2 TDs and dropped another, while also getting free for a big play downfield early. I assume most people benched him because he'd done nothing lately and the tough matchup. Benefitted also from Demaryius Thomas being out, so Vyncint Smith got those No. 3 chances. Anderson and Crowder aren't a bad duo, too bad Anderson is headed for free agency.
Tight ends:
Lumping Jets tight ends here because there's so little to say about them: Daniel Brown is their No. 3, he ran a downfield route on Darnold's red-zone pick to end the first half and didn't appear to be looking for the ball, not well anyway.
For the Ravens, there was probably early concern from those with Mark Andrews when Hayden Hurst caught the first pass of the game. No worries, Hurst wasn't heard from again, while Andrews caught 4 for 52 with a touchdown. Interesting that both he and Crowder lost touchdowns (Crowder a drop, Andrews a late penalty), but delivered scores on the very same series with second chances. I have Hurst in dynasty and it's a shame, all of this probably could have been his but for an August injury that enabled Andrews to leapfrog him a year ago and never look back. As is, Hurst and Nick Boyle get occasional looks but can just as easily get shut out.
Miscellaneous:
Seldom is there a juggernaut with such an up and down kicker contribution as the Ravens with Justin Tucker. This offense simply doesn't have to settle for field goals very often, leading to way more extra points (one of which Tucker missed last night, costing him another point after the next score because Baltimore went for 2). ... There's nothing special about the Ravens defense, but it gets favorable game script after favorable game script, helping it finish with good numbers in most fantasy leagues. Imagine if they'd hung onto a couple of the free agents they lost in the offseason (although obviously C.J. Mosley has been hurt all year).