Sheesh Report. Nullified Touchdowns, Missed Big Plays And More From Week 6.

Week 6 has come and gone. Fifteen 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 on all the “Sheesh” moments from Week 6. I’ve watched every game and combed play-by-play data to help determine instances when:

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

First, let’s break down just how much sheesh Buccaneers WRs had to go through in Week 6.

Baker Mayfield has had better days at the office

I’ve enjoyed the “Buccaneers country: Let’s Bake” era as much as the next guy, but Mayfield left a LOT of meat on the bone through the air during Tampa Bay’s 20-6 loss against the Lions.

Overall, Mayfield had *four* very unfortunate sheesh moments on Sunday:

1. A play-action-induced blown coverage led to Mike Evans getting all kinds of wide open on what seriously looked to be a likely 92-yard house call. One problem: Mayfield’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and wound up being intercepted instead.
2. Chris Godwin got free on a post for what had plenty of potential to be a 29-yard score, only for pressure and inaccuracy to lead to a low incomplete pass that gave the stud receiver *zero* chance to make a play.
3. No. 3 WR Trey Palmer broke open deep downfield for what should have been a 62-yard highlight TD. Mayfield had a clean pocket ... but still sailed it long of a diving Palmer's out-stretched fingertips.
4. Palmer AGAIN got very open deep, Mayfield AGAIN had a fairly clean pocket, and fantasy managers AGAIN were forced to sheesh as the pass sailed long and incomplete. This one probably wouldn't have been a full 67-yard TD, but an accurate ball likely would have netted at least 40.

It’s tough to overly blame Mayfield for the first sheesh since his interception was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but the latter three were truly rough to watch.

The 2018 NFL Draft’s No. 1 overall pick put far more good than bad on tape during the first month of the season; here’s to hoping things will be less sheeshy for everyone involved moving forward.

Saquon Barkley was so close, yet so far away

The Giants had done a great job marching 58 yards to the Bills’ one-yard line with just 14 seconds remaining in the first half. They had a first down with no timeouts remaining — enough time to run maybe two plays before worst case giving the field goal team a chance.

Instead, Tyrod Taylor took the snap, turned around and handed the ball to Saquon Barkley, who was promptly stuffed by a mass of Bills defenders at the line of scrimmage. Obviously the defense took their sweet time getting up, leading to the clock expiring after just one play and with no additional points on the board.

Here’s the full list of Week 6’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:

• Chargers RB Austin Ekeler (x2)
• Giants RB Saquon Barkley
• Commanders RB Brian Robinson
• Ravens RB Gus Edwards
• Bears RB D’Onta Foreman
• Bills RB Latavius Murray
• Texans WR Xavier Hutchinson

“Congrats” to Ekeler, Robinson, D’Andre Swift and Joe Mixon for being the only players with three such instances of this sheeshy affair so far in 2023.

The likes of Murray, David Montgomery, C.J. Stroud, Josh Jacobs, Rachaad White, Joshua Kelley, A.J. Dillon, Kyren Williams, Isiah Pacheco and Rashee Rice are the only other players with two such sheeshes this season.

Matthew Stafford should have had two extra TDs in his box score

A quick glance at Stafford’s 15-for-24, 226 yards and 1 TD box score would seemingly indicate a ho-hum efficient performance, but in reality the counting numbers should have been far bigger here.

Not once but twice (on separate drives mind you) did Stafford manage to deliver the football into his intended target’s hands … only for them to sheeshishly drop the potential TD. Both Puka Nacua (potential 16-yard score) and Tyler Higbee (6) are guilty, although the former admittedly deserves at least a little bit of slack for having to dive for the ball.

There were five additional HUGE drops that directly led to points not being put on the board:

• Cowboys WR Michael Gallup got open deep down the middle for what looked to be a likely 35-yard score thanks to a PERFECT throw from Dak Prescott … but Gallup couldn’t hang on to the absolute pearl of a pass. Yes: The replay showed that Gallup was indeed held prior to the pass arriving (no flag was thrown). Also yes: It goes in the book as a dropped TD. Sheesh.
• Titans WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine let a potential 14-yard TD bounce off his hands in the left corner of the end zone on a drive that ended in a field goal.
• 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk let a deep downfield ball bounce off his hands on what had the potential to be a 66-yard house call considering Browns CB Denzel Ward fell down after attempting to contest the target.
• Patriots QB Mac Jones lofted a b-e-a-utiful deep ball down the left sideline that hit DeVante Parker in his bread basket. One problem: Parker dropped it, pretty much ending all chances for a late comeback bid.
• Vikings QB Kirk Cousins also displayed some pristine deep sideline accuracy on a shot play to rookie WR Jordan Addison, who let the ball bounce out of his grasp upon falling to the ground. Wouldn’t have been a TD, but certainly 30-plus yards.

Texans TE Dalton Schultz also let a pass bounce off his hands in the end zone from the one-yard line, although it wasn’t officially charged as a drop. The Sheesh Advisory Board is aware of the matter and is looking forward to hearing our sheesh-quest inquiry on the matter being heard.

There were two additional WR mishaps that weren’t drops — but that didn’t make the lack of production any less sheeshful:

• Eagles WR A.J. Brown went deep and had a step or two of separation on his man, but seemingly slowed up on his route before realizing the pass was coming his way. The otherwise seemingly perfect deep ball fell just a bit too long and incomplete.
• Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy had a one-on-one chance to haul in a 22-yard score and help shut up a certain broadcaster. Sadly, Jeudy didn’t do a good job adjusting to the catchable pass and didn’t manage to do more than get a hand on the incompletion.

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown almost went nuclear (again)

The artist known as Hollywood highlighted this list last week, and here we are again.

Not once but TWICE Brown got behind the defense and gave QB Joshua Dobbs more than enough field to find him for what would have been 37- and 40-yard TDs.

Unfortunately, Dobbs underthrew the first target and allowed Brown’s coverage defender to catch up, while his second throw took the Cardinals’ No. 1 WR out of bounds to the point that he couldn’t get his feet down in the field of play. Talk about moments that just make you sigh and say, “Sheesh.”

Oct 15, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (44) knocks away a pass intended for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise Brown (2) during the first quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alex Gallardo-USA TODAY Sports

As you can expect: Brown pops up as one of the week’s biggest “near miss” leaders when it comes to unrealized air yards.

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.

The following 12 players racked up at least 75 unrealized air yards in Week 6:

• Marquise Brown (153)
• DeVonta Smith (137)
• Brandon Aiyuk (120)
• Trey Palmer (111)
• Chris Olave (109)
• Ja’Marr Chase (95)
• Michael Pittman (91)
• DK Metcalf (86)
• Terry McLaurin (86)
• Keenan Allen (79)
• Mike Evans (78)

Christian McCaffrey almost had quite a bit better Sunday

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, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey broke wide open deep for what had the looks of a 54-yard TD, only for Brock Purdy to sail the pass long and incomplete.

There were another six subjective instances of this occurring with differing levels of openness, difficult of throw and pressure:

• Falcons WR Van Jefferson (55-yard better ball TD)
• Panthers WR D.J. Chark (51)
• Chargers WR Keenan Allen (50)
• Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett (36)
• Raiders WR Davante Adams (33)
• Saints WR Rashid Shaheed (24)
• Cowboys WR Michael Gallup (22)
• Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (21)
• Texans WR Robert Woods (4)

Jalen Hurts wasn’t QUITE as bad as the box score makes him out to be

While the box score doesn’t account for who to blame on any particular interception, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that sometimes the QB isn’t to blame.

The following interceptions occurred in Week 6, but are tough to overly blame on the QB:

• Each of Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Baker Mayfield and Jalen Hurts had interceptions thrown because their pass was either tipped at the line of scrimmage or from a defender while applying pressure.
• Hurts had another interception that wasn’t really his fault occur on a TE screen to Dallas Goedert, who briefly corralled the on-target before having the football punched out of his hands and to the Jets.
• Derek Carr’s 4th-and-10 desperation heave at the end of game was intercepted but it was also obviously a necessary risk given the situation.
• Jimmy Garoppolo hit Davante Adams in the chest … only for the longtime stud WR to get absolutely leveled and have the football deflect straight to the defense. Seriously: Shoutout to Jabrill Peppers or this HUGE hit.

Ezekiel Elliott deserves better

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

In Week 6 there were three such instances.

*Law and Order Music*

These are their stories:

Browns TE David Njoku took a well-designed screen 32 yards to the house against the 49ers, showcasing some truly solid open-field elusiveness along the way. Alas, the score was wiped off the board due to a (not overly egregious) hold by G Wyatt Teller. Njoku would have another explosive play nullified by penalty later; the seventh-year TE played far better than his 3-24-0 receiving line indicated.

Patriots QB Mac Jones hit Ezekiel Elliott in the flats for a routine completion, only for the ex-Cowboys talent to turn on the burners and take it 74 yards to the house. Sadly, an obvious Hunter Henry holding penalty nullified the long score. Did the penalty directly allow the TD to happen? Yes. Is it still wild to see “Zeke” and “74-yard TD” in the same sentence in the year 2023? Also yes. Sheesh.

Chargers WR Joshua Palmer took a short curl 27 yards to the end zone less than three minutes into Monday night football. Unfortunately, it was an RPO play that featured the team’s linemen blocking like it was a run – leading to an ineligible man downfield penalty.

Many were wondering if Palmer (groin) would even be active, little did they know he’d be sheeshing.

Yes, I’m telling you Tyler Lockett could have had an even bigger day

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

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

• Bears WR Tyler Scott (36 yards gained via DPI penalty)
• Texans WR Noah Brown (34)
• Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (29)
• Chiefs WR Skyy Moore (24)
• Broncos WR Courtland Sutton (17)

Also note Texans WR Nico Collins (15), Giants WR Darius Slayton (10), Giants TE Darren Waller (9), Titans WR Kyle Philips (7), Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett (3) and Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle (2) drew defensive pass interference penalties in the end zone on drives that (sadly for their fantasy managers) didn’t end with them celebrating in the end zone. An extra sheesh in regards to Waller is warranted considering his ensuing end-zone target also sure looked to have a lot of defensive contact going on.

Finally, Mike Evans drew a hold that only resulted in a gain of five yards and a new first down; just realize the absence of the penalty would have given the stud receiver a real chance at hauling in a 27-yard TD with an accurate ball.