Ian Hartitz …

Week 15 has come and gone. We saw 16 NFL games that brought joy, laughs, and tears to football fans and, of course, fantasy football faithful.

Today, we’ll focus on the latter sadness and break down just how close some came to achieving fantasy football glory. Critics might call this unnecessary cruelty, while supporters could claim it helps with understanding the full context of what exactly happened last week.

Either way: Welcome to the Sheesh Report.

What follows is a breakdown of all the tilting, near-miss moments from last week that left fantasy managers and fans alike saying, "Sheesh!" I’ve watched hours of film and combed play-by-play data to help determine instances when:

  • Pass catchers could have scored or picked up big yardage with a more accurate pass
  • Pass catchers did receive an accurate pass that should have resulted in a score or big gain, but the ball was dropped
  • Ball carriers managed to get all the way to the 1-yard line, but didn’t score
  • Players scored or picked up big yardage, but the play was nullified by a penalty
  • Other random shit that managed to tilt fantasy football managers of all shapes and sizes

Let's kick things off with an example of a great day that could have been absolutely nuclear … 

Terry McLaurin was so close to an absolutely MASSIVE game

This season has generally been an awesome first chapter to the Terry McLaurin and Jayden Daniels partnership. The longtime stud receiver has already scored a career-high 11 TDs and should rack up his fifth consecutive season with 1,000-plus yards sometime next Sunday.

Week 15 wasn't exactly an exception to the good times, as McLaurin caught 7 of 10 targets for 73 yards and a pair of TDs. But here's the catch: The artist known as Scary Terry quite literally could have added an extra 100 yards and *two* additional TDs to the boxscore with a bit better deep-ball chemistry with his QB.

Note that the 62- and 54-yard misses both occurred on the same drive. Either way: Sheesh.

While McLaurin stood out as one of week's biggest examples of a pass catcher leaving plenty of yards on the field, he was hardly the only one …

Unrealized air yards are a helluva drug

We can help quantify sheeshy missed downfield opportunities using "unrealized air yards," which are derived by subtracting yards after the catch from every player’s receiving-yards total before taking the difference with total air yards to pinpoint exactly how much opportunity through the air (not including potential YAC) a player failed to come down with for one reason or another.

We're essentially measuring the total distance of everyone's incomplete targets. A high number indicates a player had lots of fantasy-friendly opportunities, but didn't capitalize on them for one reason or another. Cool? Cool.

ANYWAY: 11 players racked up at least 75 unrealized air yards in Week 15:

Say it with me everyone: Sheesh.

Of course, sometimes these unrealized air yards were far more the fault of the WR than the QB.

The Butterfingers Police: Dropped touchdowns

While drops are a somewhat subjective stat, you know one when you see one—and I sadly witnessed the following seven pass catchers drop what sure looked like reasonable chances to secure six points.

Sheeshy stuff indeed—almost as bad as when a missed TD was more so the QB's fault!

I could have made that throw! (Editor's note: No you couldn't)

I looked at every incomplete pass that was thrown at least 10 yards downfield and/or into the end zone to get an idea of who just missed out on some big plays last week—and there were quite a few instances that stuck out:

This category was certainly a bit subjective—our next one not so much.

Why Jonathan Taylor WHY

Getting all the way to the 1-yard line but failing to score a TD is objectively a sheeshy feeling—particularly when fantasy managers are forced to watch someone else vulture away the score that was SO CLOSE to belonging to them.

Here’s the full list of Week 15’s players who managed to get the football within three feet of the goal line, but not quite across the plane, and ultimately didn’t score later on the same drive:

Pretty much the only thing more sheeshy than this is when the player actually does score a TD … only for the points to come right back off the scoreboard.

TD! Wait: Flag.

TDs usually get nullified by a penalty for a good reason, but that doesn’t make the rollercoaster of adrenaline any less sheeshful for fantasy managers to deal with.

In Week 15 there were three TDs nullified by penalty.

*Law and Order music*

These are their stories:

  • Bills TE Dalton Kincaid: Caught a 10-yard *chest pass* from Josh Allen that would have put the Bills over 50 points, but just one problem: A holding penalty was called. Should this one have counted anyway simply by being really f*cking cool? I believe so. Unfortunately, Roger Goodell has yet to put that rule into practice. Sad!
  • Commanders WR Olamide Zaccheaus: Caught a 3-yard TD on a well-designed play-action pass to the flat, only for the score to come off the board because Zaccheaus committed an illegal motion by moving before the other Commander got set. Can't do that!
  • Bears RB D'Andre Swift: Bulled into the end zone from one yard out … only for the score to not count because backup center/FB Doug Kramer forgot to check in with the refs as an eligible receiver (confirmed by camera afterward). Yes, that is the same backup center/apparent FB who cost the Bears dearly against the Commanders earlier this season. Bold strategy, Bears, looks like it's not working out for you.

Additionally, Jaguars RB Travis Etienne (40 yards), Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (25), Titans TE Chig Okonkwo (23), Commanders WR Dyami Brown (23), Giants WR Malik Nabers (20), Seahawks TE Noah Fant (20), Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield (17), Jets RB Isaiah Davis (17), Saints WR Cedrick Wilson (15), and Patriots RB Antonio Gibson (15) all had explosive plays nullified for one reason or another.

Let's keep the sheeshy vibes going with more ref-aided near-miss moments!

That's right: Malik Nabers could've had an even bigger day

Defensive pass interferences can be finicky and don’t always occur in instances when the targeted receiver would have FOR SURE made the catch.

That said: They are very annoying for fantasy managers to deal with when the result could’ve, should’ve, would’ve been a chunk gain—and maybe even a TD.

Overall, eight players gained at least 20 yards courtesy of DPI penalties in Week 15:

Our last category of sheesh centers around determining which QBs perhaps deserve some slack for their on-paper turnovers …

Was that interception REALLY the QB's fault?

From pressure, to a bad route, to an essential arm punt on 3rd and forever: There are quite a few reasons why any given interception might not necessarily be the QB's fault, even if that context isn't provided in the boxscore.

Good news for you, a scholar: Our Fantasy Life Sheesh Experts (just me, actually) have looked closely at each and every interception thrown in Week 15 to get an idea of which QBs probably deserve a bit of slack despite technically committing a turnover.

Specifically: 

Also note that Bryce Young, Mac Jones, and Joe Burrow each had one interception that was essentially an arm punt considering they basically just chucked one deep on 3rd and long. The Burrow one was a bit iffy, though considering the Bengals had the ball at the Titans' 38-yard line and thus could have attempted a long field goal.

I think I speak for all of us when I say for one last time: Sheesh.

Thanks for stopping by. We're on to Week 16.