Week 15 has come and gone. Sixteen NFL games 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.

What follows is a breakdown of all the “Sheesh” moments from Week 15. I’ve watched every game 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 or pass-catchers managed to get all the way to the one-yard line, but didn’t score
  • Players scored or picked up big yardage, but the play was nullified by a penalty
  • Other random shit found a way to tilt fantasy football managers of all shapes and sizes

First, the one player who dealt with more excruciating sheesh than just about anyone else over the weekend…

“Sheesh.” — Justin Fields

The government would like you to believe that Fields threw for just 166 yards with one TD and two INTs during the Bears' Week 15 loss to the Browns.

And guess what? That technically happened — but it serves as a good example of why it’s important to watch the ole’ film before overly criticizing someone.

Overall:

  • Fields hit TE Robert Tonyan for what should have been at least a 50-plus yard chunk gain — if not a 73-yard house call.
  • His first interception was simply a Hail Mary at the end of the first half.
  • Fields’ second interception was a Hail Mary at the end of the second half that was in Darnell Mooney’s lap … before he somehow kicked the ball to the defense.

We’re talking about a swing of 13.72 fantasy points if the former and latter bullets were simply caught. I’d bargain that difference ended the fantasy season for hundreds if not thousands of squads around the globe. Sheesh.

Devin Singletary nearly added one helluva cherry on top of his awesome performance

Texans RB Devin Singletary had one helluva performance on Sunday, posting 26-121-0 rushing and 4-49-0 receiving lines during the Texans' overtime victory over the Titans.

Here’s the thing: Singletary nearly walked off the victory with a 34-yard TD jaunt straight through the heart of Houston’s AFC South rival, only for the score to be nullified on a downfield hold by WR John Metchie. The Texans only lost one play on the flag and kicked the game-winning field goal two plays later; just realize it certainly would have been a lot cooler if the initial heroics accomplished the task instead.

There were six more TDs that never actually happened because the officials decided to throw their stupid little yellow flags and ruin the fun of fantasy managers and anytime TD bettors alike:

  • Broncos FB Michael Burton one-yard TD run got nullified by an offensive offside flag. But wait: Nobody was actually offside? Very cool!
  • Chargers WR Derrius Davis took a punt 83 yards for a TD during last Thursday night's massacre, but sadly the return was nullified by a holding penalty on TE Stone Smartt.
  • The Bengals had a pick-six by LB Germaine Pratt nullified because of an offsides by Trey Hendrickson, whose pressure admittedly did help lead to the interception in the first place.
  • Bears QB Justin Fields scored on a Windy City Whoop (tush push), only for the TD to be taken off the board because TE Cole Kmet false started on the end of the line of scrimmage. It wound up being a savvy move by Kmet, as Fields wound up pulling off a SWEET TD to his trusty TE from five yards out to give the Bears their only offensive TD of the afternoon
  • Patriots TE Hunter Henry almost had a two-TD day to his name on Sunday, but his second score from three yards out was nullified on a penalty by OT Conor McDermott.
  • Commanders TE Logan Thomas scored a one-yard TD that was quickly wiped off the board because Thomas, you know, shoved his coverage defender to get open in the first place. Offensive pass interference, no TD.

What in the absolute hell is a catch

Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley (and I) would like to know.

While Ridley’s potential 13-yard TD was admittedly a close call, the extra sheeshy part of the equation comes down to the fact that NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay was adamant that the officials missed the call.

This isn’t the first time this phenomenon has occurred. Consistent readers of the Sheesh Report (The Sheesh Squad) will remember that CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore explained to the world that he believed both Diontae Johnson and Trey McBride had secured TDs … only for the officials on hand to disagree and rule both close-calls incomplete.

It’s one thing to watch your fantasy player or someone you have an anytime TD bet on come so close to securing a score — but the audacity to THEN have someone paid to understand the rules incorrectly get your hopes up before? That’s a special level of sheesh right there.

What pass-catchers had the most targeted yards left on the field?

Air yards measure the distance that any given pass travels (wait for it) in the air. Subtracting yards after the catch from every player’s receiving yards total before taking the difference with total air yards helps us pinpoint exactly how much opportunity through the air a player failed to come down with for one reason or another.

Sometimes unrealized air yards are more akin to “prayer yards” because the pass wasn’t overly catchable in the first place, so grinding the ole film helps with identifying those sorts of situations.

Side note: I got absolutely torched in the Twitter streets last week for referencing this. Turns out the world might not be ready for unrealized air yards. We’ll continue to watch the film and get better regardless.

DeAndre Hopkins

Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) reacts to a missed catch late in the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans during their game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023.

Anyway, 12 players racked up at least 80 unrealized air yards in Week 15 specifically:

  • Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (183)
  • Commanders WR Terry McLaurin (125)
  • Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley (118)
  • Bengals WR Tee Higgins (105)
  • Steelers WR George Pickens (98)
  • Jaguars WR Zay Jones (96)
  • Bears WR Darnell Mooney (95)
  • Eagles WR A.J. Brown (90)
  • Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks (86)
  • Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett (86)
  • 49ers WR Deebo Samuel (82)
  • Lions WR Jameson Williams (81)

DeAndre Hopkins should have had a MUCH bigger afternoon at the office

Our previous section helped quantify the most missed opportunities through the air, but there were an additional handful of targets that I can’t help call out because it sure seemed like the following players could have put six points on the board with a bit more accurate pass.

For example, Titans QB Will Levis badly under threw a WIDE-open DeAndre Hopkins on what should have been a relatively easy 82-yard score.

Overall, there were roughly 12 instances where I subjectively believe pass-catchers didn’t receive catchable passes on what would have otherwise been TDs, although differing levels of openness, difficulty of throw and pressure hardly made all of these near misses of the layup variety.

As Benjamin Franklin once said: Not all sheesh is created equal.

  • Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (potential 82-yard TD)
  • Cowboys WR Brandin Cooks (71 – maybe just a big gain, but he was open)
  • Bengals WR Charlie Jones (56 – this miss was BRUTAL)
  • Vikings WR K.J. Osborn (27 – and the pass was thrown by Justin Jefferson lol)
  • Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (15 – at 53 seconds in this video)
  • Colts WR Alec Pierce (14)
  • Broncos TE Adam Trautman (11)
  • Ravens WR Rashod Bateman (7)
  • Cardinals WR Rondale Moore (5)
  • Bears WR Darnell Mooney (5)
  • Packers WR Jayden Reed (4)
  • Broncos WR Brandon Johnson (3)

Also note that 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk had a pair of 40-plus yard gains that were just missed by Brock Purdy. Probably not TDs due to a late safety coming over, but Purdy’s first underthrow and second overthrow demonstrate the reality that Aiyuk’s 3-37-0 receiving line was hardly all his fault.

Would have been a lot cooler if Travis Kelce caught this

There were roughly seven clear dropped TDs in Week 15, which sucks because, you know, football is pretty cool when players make great catches and score points:

The NFL owes Javonte Williams an apology

Getting all the way to the one-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:

  • Steelers RB Jaylen Warren (x2, same drive)
  • Bears RB D'Onta Foreman (x2, same drive)
  • Titans RB Derrick Henry
  • Bills RB James Cook
  • Eagles RB D'Andre Swift
  • Vikings RB Ty Chandler
  • Broncos RB Javonte Williams (and it sure looked like he was in the end zone!)
  • Broncos RB Samaje Perine
  • Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin
  • Bills RB Latavius Murray
  • Rams RB Royce Freeman
  • Colts RB Tyler Goodson
  • Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez 
  • Commanders WR Terry McLaurin
  • Browns WR Cedric Tillman
  • Titans WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
  • Raiders TE Michael Mayer
  • Commanders QB Jacoby Brissett
  • Bengals QB Jake Browning

Additionally, even the official NFL account couldn’t help but say sheesh when Buccaneers WR David Moore NEARLY pulled a Leon Lett on a 52-yard TD that would stand after review, but the ex-Seahawks veteran was truly just inches away from having the ball knocked out inches before crossing the goal line.

Rachaad White kind of pulled a Todd Gurley/Brian Westbrook thing

The main difference was that White wasn’t guaranteed to make it all the way to the end zone when he iced the game with a first-down rush … but sheesh it certainly would have been a lot cooler to see him try!

“Not all interceptions are created equal.” — Nancy Reagan

While the box score doesn’t account for who to blame on any particular interception, Joshua Dobbs a rocket scientist isn’t always required to figure out that sometimes the QB wasn’t overly at fault.

Specifically:

  • Both of Bears QB Justin Fields’ interceptions were on literally final-second Hail Mary attempts at the end of 1st and 2nd halves.
  • Jets QB Trevor Siemian had one bad interception and one that simply occurred on 4th and 10 with 2:51 remaining in the game when the veteran journeyman was forced to heave the ball downfield to avoid the sack.
  • Texans QB Case Keenum's pick-six featured miscommunication with pass-down specialist Dare Ogunbowale. Tough to know exactly who was at fault here, but it’s possible that it wasn’t Keenum!
  • Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes had his first interception ripped away from Blake Bell and the second hit Kadarius Toney directly in the hands. Sadly, this wasn’t the first time this has happened this season.

Might want to skip this one, Jayden Reed fantasy managers

Fun fact: Fantasy players don’t get rewarded fantasy points for drawing defensive pass interference penalties. Should they? I don’t really think so, but some people disagree with me, so here we are.

The top six players in most yards gained courtesy of drawing DPI flags were as follows in Week 15:

  • Broncos WR Marvin Mims (44)
  • Packers WR Jayden Reed (32)
  • Texans WR Xavier Hutchinson (30)
  • Colts WR Alec Pierce (26)
  • Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf (25)
  • Lions WR Josh Reynolds (16)

Additionally, Commanders WR Terry McLaurin (from the 7-yard line), Saints WR A.T. Perry (6) and Bears WR D.J. Moore (2) drew DPIs in the end zone to set up their offense at the one-yard line on drives that did not culminate with them scoring a TD.

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

We’re on to Week 16.

Sheesh Report