Ian Hartitz’s Week 13 fantasy football fallouts: Nullified touchdowns, missed big plays and more

• Close but not close enough: Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen and Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown had two of the week's six instances of a player getting all the way down to the one-yard line but not scoring on the same drive.
• Brutal drop: Cincinnati Bengals WR Tyler Boyd “wins” sheesh of the week thanks to his brutal 18-yard dropped touchdown.
• What could have been: New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson would have cleared 200 yards in style with a bit more accuracy from Mike White.

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

Week 13 has come and gone. 15 NFL games brought joy, laughs and tears, so today, we’ll focus on the latter sadness and break down just how close some came to achieving fantasy football glory.

What follows is a breakdown on all the “sheesh” moments from Week 13. I’ve watched every game and used PFF’s backend tools to help determine instances when:

• Pass-catchers did receive an accurate pass that should have resulted in a score or big gain, but the ball was dropped.
• Pass-catchers could have scored or picked up big yardage with a more accurate pass.
• Players scored or picked up big yardage, but the play was nullified by penalty.
• Ball carriers managed to get all the way to the one-yard line, but didn’t score.
• Other random shit happened that tilted fantasy football managers of all shapes and sizes.

But first: The single sheeshiest play of Week 13 goes to …

Cincinnati Bengals WR Tyler Boyd

There are drops, and there are drops. Boyd experienced the latter during the Bengals’ Week 13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs when he got absolutely wide open on a well-designed pick play — only to let a perfectly thrown ball from Joe Burrow bounce directly off his hands and facemask.

Sheesh pic.twitter.com/G2gFAw9hyV

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 4, 2022

Bengals fans will remember an inopportune drop in last year’s Super Bowl, but Sunday’s miscue represents Boyd’s only regular season drop on 151 targets over the past two seasons. Don’t count on the Bengals’ long-time slot receiver “sheeshing” too often for the rest of the season.

Everyone loves a good reverse sheesh

There were three instances in Week 13 where a player managed to quickly make up for what would have otherwise been a fairly brutal sheesh:

1. Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown had what was originally ruled to be a 41-yard touchdown overturned after further replay showed one of his feet was barely out of bounds. Fear not, AJB ran a double-move to break wide open downfield and convert the score on the very next play.
2. Bad news: San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey straight-up dropped a three-yard touchdown. Good news: Brock Purdy went right back to CMC on the very next play and converted the score.
3. Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling got some separation deep down the middle of the field on what could have been a 40-plus-yard gain; unfortunately, he couldn’t make the contested catch over S Vonn Bell. Don’t worry: Patrick Mahomes went right back to the ex-Packers wide receiver on a nearly identical route on the very next play, this time completing the pass for a gain of 42 yards.

Poor Jakobi Meyers

The New England Patriots’ No. 1 receiver has had some well-documented struggles with finding his way to the end zone over the years. Unfortunately, Meyers failed to haul in a well-thrown potential 15-yard touchdown upon getting absolutely smashed at the catch point by Bills S Damar Hamlin, who was ejected for the brutal hit. Hopefully, Meyers is able to clear the concussion protocol and get back on the field before too long.

Not the best day from Aaron Rodgers

On the one hand, none of the below sheeshes were exactly gimmes featuring a completely wide-open receiver. On the other, the two-time reigning league MVP failed to give his target anything close to a catchable ball:

• Randall Cobb doesn’t exactly have the world’s biggest catch radius, but either way, he couldn’t get a hand on potential 36- and 13-yard scores that could have resulted in six points with perfect passes. Note that Rodgers at least managed to finish the latter drive with a score to Christian Watson.
• Allen Lazard had a potential 30-yard gain overthrown, as his defender even fell down late in the route, so who knows if Lazard could have even made a house call with an accurate pass.
• Watson seemingly always manages to find the end zone no matter what is thrown his way, although a potential 64-yard score – if not at least a 40-yard gain – was underthrown and fell incomplete.

Maybe it’s time to try a new quarterback in Atlanta

No offense has a higher rate of uncatchable passes than the Falcons this season. Obviously, Marcus Mariota deserves most of the blame for that damning statistic. He added three more sheeshes to the record books on Sunday: 1.) KhaDarel Hodge was open for a potential 42-yard score, but Mariota’s badly underthrown deep ball led to a contested-catch scenario turned incompletion, 2.) Hodge again got open for a potential 20-plus yard chunk gain, but the target was thrown far too high and behind him to be caught, and 3.) Drake London got open deep for a 40-yard gain – best-case 64-yard touchdown – only to not receive a catchable pass from Mariota, who was under a decent bit of pressure to be fair.

Apparently Tua Taovailoa is human

The Miami Dolphins’ high-flying passing attack has been taking the league by storm for the better part of Tagovailoa’s time under center this season. However, Sunday’s loss to the 49ers showed that this group isn’t quite unstoppable. WR Jaylen Waddle had not one, not two, but three separate inaccurate targets lead to incompletions on what should have been 20-plus yard chunk plays while Tyreek Hill also had an overthrow prevent an explosive play. Still, the most egregious was a misfire to Jeff Wilson on what had the potential to be a 72-yard house call with a perfect pass. It’s fair to say that Wilson didn’t exactly display the best receiving chops in the world, but clearly, this one should have been a lot more than an incomplete pass.

Sheesh pic.twitter.com/PHIW1yPDt6

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 5, 2022

Dropped touchdowns

There were three plays that featured an official PFF drop on what would have otherwise been a touchdown:

• Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (potential two-yard touchdown)
• 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (three)
• Bengals WR Tyler Boyd (18)

Additionally, Los Angeles Chargers RB Austin Ekeler (17) and TE Gerald Everett (20) sure seemed to have catchable enough passes in the end zone even if they weren’t officially charged with a drop. The same goes for Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams (six), who certainly more than made up for any potential miscue during his otherwise brilliant performance.

It’s not fair to say that New Orleans Saints WR Jarvis Landry straight-up dropped a 19-yard touchdown just before halftime on Monday night. And yet, one of the more sure-handed receivers of the past decade had a reasonable one-handed opportunity that then bounced into his chest … before falling incomplete.

Touchdown! Wait, why is everyone walking back to the line of scrimmage

Penalties are obviously called for a reason, but there isn’t a more chaotic few seconds in the minds of fantasy managers between their player scoring a touchdown on a play with a penalty and the foul being announced.

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson got the edge and found the end zone from 10 yards out, but even he was well aware that this score didn’t happen by accident, as C-Patt immediately jogged back to the huddle as the officials (rightfully) nullified the touchdown due to a clear offensive hold.

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin seemingly won the game with a five-yard score over the middle with just 19 seconds remaining: however, an offensive holding penalty wiped out the touchdown. Luckily, Tom Brady and Rachaad White managed to connect for the score two plays later, but still a sheesh for Godwin fantasy managers.

Bills WR Stefon Diggs nearly had a gigantic Thursday evening when he corralled a 41-yard bomb for a touchdown from Josh Allen. Only one problem: TE Tommy Sweeney was called for holding, nullifying what would have been an electric score.

Pass-catchers who could have scored with a more accurate pass

The following players should have had a much bigger day at the office, but unfortunately, their respective quarterbacks weren’t quite up to the task for at least a moment. The following handful of players had to deal with some subjectively shitty near misses:

Bills WR Gabriel Davis had a nice double-move that got him some separation on what could have been a gain for at least 30 yards – best-case 56-yard touchdown – but Josh Allen overthrew his man. To be fair, Davis did appear to struggle to track the ball.

Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton managed to get a step of separation downfield, which quickly turned into all sorts of separation after his coverage defender fell down. The problem: Mac Jones overthrow his wide-open receiver on what coulda, shoulda, woulda been a 56-yard touchdown with a good throw.

Eagles WR A.J. Brown nearly added a 30-yard touchdown to his total upon breaking open deep on a Jalen Hurts scramble drill. While Hurts’ underthrown pass did draw a long defensive pass interference penalty, a perfect throw could have resulted in six points.

The Mike White experience left a pair of scores on the table down the stretch. The lesser evil was White’s potential go-ahead touchdown to Braxton Berrios on fourth-and-ball-game from the one-yard line, which did seem catchable even if it was thrown a bit behind him and was ultimately incomplete. Less forgivable was a missed potential 84-yard touchdown to Garrett Wilson, who had managed to break wide open deep upon cooking Patrick Peterson at the line of scrimmage. 

Sheesh pic.twitter.com/p7iedJ3K2V

— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 5, 2022

Houston Texans WR Nico Collins had a chance for a multi-touchdown performance in Week 13, but too bad Kyle Allen sailed a potential three-yard score wide and never gave his target a chance to come down inbounds despite Collins managing to get a step of separation on a short fade.

Both Jacksonville Jaguars WRs Christian Kirk (three yards) and Marvin Jones (24) were open enough to score touchdowns with a more accurate pass from Trevor Lawrence, yet here we are sheeshing about it. The good news is that Lawrence finished the drive in which both misfires occurred with a short touchdown to TE Evan Engram, although the same can’t be said for when he missed Zay Jones on a potential 28-yard score down the sideline earlier in the game. Of course, the Jaguars haven’t exactly helped their cause throughout the season: Lawrence has had a league-high 25 passes dropped through 13 weeks of action.

Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth was open down the seam on what sure looked to be a 28-yard touchdown with an accurate pass. Alas, Kenny Pickett never gave his trusty tight end a chance to make the reception and the pass fell incomplete. Pickett also missed a chance to find Diontae Johnson for his first score of the season from 17 yards out, but the underthrown pass gave A.J. Terrell enough time to break up the potential score. Johnson now has a league-high 102 targets without a touchdown this season.

Baltimore Ravens WR Devin Duvernay got lost in the middle of the Denver Broncos‘ defense on what had the potential to be a 22-yard score with a perfect pass from Tyler Huntley. Instead, the backup quarterback failed to deliver an accurate throw on the run and skipped the pass into the turf. The Ravens picked up a first down on the play anyway due to a defensive penalty, but six points certainly would have been a lot cooler.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had enough separation deep to score a 37-yard touchdown in the middle of the second quarter during Kansas City’s Week 13 loss to the Bengals. The problem was that Patrick Mahomes had a rare underthrow and never gave his BFF a realistic chance to make a catch on what should have at least been a chunk gain.

Los Angeles Rams WR Tutu Atwell got way behind the Seattle Seahawks secondary when they appeared to lose him deep on a wheel route. QB John Wolford surprisingly had all day to throw but still couldn’t get Atwell anything close to a catchable pass. What should have probably been a walk-in 75-yard touchdown was only an incomplete sheesh. Funny how certain media outlets interpreted this sheesh differently.

Special play from a special rookie @_Tariqwoolen ????

????: #SEAvsLAR on FOX
????: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/HIkZtH0OMm pic.twitter.com/MdHUr6bZrg

— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2022

Unrealized air yards are a helluva drug

PFF’s Josh Hermsmeyer breaks down the week’s top buy-low candidates with his handy-dandy air yards model; don’t be surprised if certain pass-catchers from the Texans and Vikings are featured ahead of Week 14. The following eight players had at least 80 unrealized air yards in Week 13, meaning they had a ton of downfield opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them for one reason or another:

1. Texans WR Nico Collins (35 receiving yards, 222 air yards = 187 unrealized air yards)
2. Bills WR Gabriel Davis (98)
3. Chiefs WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (95)
4. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (93)
5. Falcons WR Drake London (90)
6. Falcons WR Olamide Zaccheaus (89)
7. Packers WR Christian Watson (80)
8. Chargers WR Keenan Allen (80)

Other sheeshes

There were a number of other near misses throughout Week 13 that were tougher to fully blame one particular party, but that doesn’t make the near-miss result any less sheeshful for the fantasy managers and fans at hand to deal with.

49ers WR Deebo Samuel was open enough to at least have a good chance at converting a 29-yard touchdown, but the problem was that Brock Purdy’s throw was just a little bit behind his target, allowing Xavien Howard to “break up” the pass thanks to a lot of physicality at the catch point. Samuel, like myself, certainly seemed to think there should have been a flag thrown, but instead, here we are sheeshing.

Another near touchdown that wasn’t exactly the major fault of either party happened to Seahawks WR Marquise Goodwin, who had a potential 23-yard touchdown in both hands before letting the ball get knocked out by the defender at the last second while going to the ground. Great throw from Geno Smith on the play.

Dallas Cowboys TE Dalton Schultz was just about the only member of the Dallas offense to have a quiet night at the office last Sunday; just realize he had what would have been a 14-yard touchdown in his hands before the Indianapolis Colts made a great play on the ball and knocked it to the turf. Great throw, not a drop, but definitely a sheesh.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans nearly made up for a disappointing night with a 45-yard touchdown with just three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Alas, Saints CB Paulson Adebo prevented the touchdown by committing a pass interference penalty, giving the Bucs ball at the one-yard line. TE Cade Otton scored on the next play, but still a sheesh.

Good ball, no dice: Eagles WR DeVonta Smith had a potential 40-yard gain hit his hands, but the excellent defense managed to break up the pass and cause the incompletion. … Texans TE Teagan Quitoriano had a potential 20-plus yard gain in his hands on the game’s very first play, only to fail to hold on to the ball through contact, leading to an interception. … First-round Lions WR Jameson Williams got open late down the sideline on his first career target and received a catchable pass from Jared Goff, but the rookie let himself drift out of bounds and couldn’t make the catch. … Pint-sized Rams WR Tutu Atwell managed to haul in what would have been a 22-yard touchdown, but too bad the second-year receiver failed to get his second foot down inbounds. … Chargers WR DeAndre Carter was the target on fourth-and-ballgame for whatever reason late in the fourth quarter and he failed to corral an accurate sideline throw from Justin Herbert, which had the potential to gain at least 20 yards. Carter was officially charged with a drop on the play. … Raiders TE Foster Moreau briefly had a beautiful sideline toss from Derek Carr in his grasp, but the tight end failed to maintain possession to the ground. … Colts TE Kylen Granson had what would have been a 16-yard touchdown in his hands, but unfortunately, the small window led him just far enough to the sideline that he came down out of bounds. … Saints QB Andy Dalton literally hit WR Chris Olave in the head on what would have been a clutch 25-yard gain on third down. Alas, here we are sheeshing. Dalton also made a great throw to nearly convert a third-and-17 that would have had a chance to ice the game. The problem was that TE/whatever Taysom Hill dropped the potential 25-yard gain after briefly having possession.

Not the worst throw, but also not the best: Seven plays stood out that featured an off-target throw, albeit something close to perfection would have been needed to pull off the chunk-gain completion:

• Eagles WR Quez Watkins was in tight traffic and had a potential 25-yard gain sail just a bit too high off his hands before falling incomplete.
• Tennessee Titans TE Austin Hooper was overthrown on what had the potential to be a 20-yard gain.
• Both Washington Commanders TE Logan Thomas and WR Jahan Dotson had potential 20-plus-yard gains result in harmless incompletions due to typical inaccuracy from Taylor Heinicke.
• New York Giants WR Darius Slayton has done far more good than bad this season, but he did let a potential 35-yard gain slip right through both of his outstretched hands upon breaking wide open down the seam.
• 49ers WR Jauan Jennings had enough separation to gain 20-plus yards on a wheel, but Brock Purdy sailed the pass far too wide of his target while getting hit.
• Cowboys WR Michael Gallup managed to get behind both his assigned cornerback as well as the incoming safety on what could have been a 40-plus yard chunk gain down the sideline, but Dak Prescott sailed the bomb just a bit too long for Gallup to have a chance at making the catch.
• Buccaneers WR Julio Jones had plenty of separation downfield for what should have been a 40-plus yard gain, but Tom Brady sailed the pass long and incomplete. TB12 was naturally absolutely devastated after the pass, adding to the overall sheeshness at hand. The duo again couldn't connect on a deep shot early in the third quarter that wasn't exactly a layup, but then again expectations are understandably pretty high for Brady throwing to the artist formerly known as Julio Jones.

Just short. Sheesh: The following players were tackled at the one-yard line in Week 13. Note that sequences where a player was downed just short of the goal line, but later went on to score the touchdown themself on the same drive, aren’t listed:

• Bills QB Josh Allen
• Jets RB Zonovan Knight x2 (same drive)
• Texans RB Dare Ogunbowale
• Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
• Rams WR Brandon Powell