Sheesh Report. The Biggest Misses from Fantasy Football Week 10.

Week 10 has come and gone. Fourteen 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 10. 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, let’s break down three rather brutal drops that prevented six points from being put on the board.

Get your butterfingers jokes ready

There were three fairly clear-cut dropped TDs in Week 10, which sucks because, you know, football is pretty cool when players make great catches and score points.

Their subjective ranks in terms of sheesh-ness are as follows:

3. Titans TE Chigoziem Okonkwo (6-yard TD dropped)

The Will Levis bullet hit Chiggy right between the eyes before being batted up in the air and nearly intercepted. Luckily, DeAndre Hopkins put his cornerback hat on and managed to force an incompletion.

Special shoutout to Hopkins for then hilariously doing the DB seat belt celebration that all the kids seem to be doing these days. You know, the one where it looks like they are sheathing a sword? Good times, other than the dropped TD, of course.

2. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (7-yard TD dropped)

Evans has had a great season by all accounts and is currently pacing for 81 receptions, 1392 yards and eight TDs despite going from Tom Brady to, you know, Baker Mayfield.

However, there have been more than a few occasions this season where it’s been Evans, not Mayfield, responsible for a missed TD.

Buccaneers fans and fantasy managers were treated to both sheeshes within a span of three plays on Sunday, as Mayfield first underthrew Evans on what could have been a 51-yard score before the veteran WR brutally dropped a WIDE open potential seven-yard TD.

Evans' fantasy managers and anytime TD bettors still got to witness a sterling 6-143-1 performance — just realize the good times were oh so close to being extra good for all parties involved.

1. Bengals WR Tyler Boyd (13-yard TD dropped)

Boyd “wins” the top spot thanks to the reality that hauling in this very catchable potential 13-yard score would have given the Bengals the lead with just 1:37 remaining. Not necessarily the victory — C.J. Stroud and company wound up driving to Cincy’s 20-yard line to set up the game-winning field goal — but a clean catch certainly would have helped matters.

Credit to Boyd for otherwise having a great day (8-117-0); the veteran even set up the game-tying field goal in the first place with a 64-yard catch and run. That said: Sheesh.

“Shoutout” to Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell for an honorable mention thanks to having a potential 19-yard score hit him in the chest before falling incomplete, although I truly can’t decide if slow-mo replay shows an ever-so-slight deflection or not.

That’s right: Chris Olave should have had an even BIGGER day

The Jameis Winston experience immediately proved to be fruitful for the second-year Saints WR, as Olave wound up posting a 6-94-1 performance despite having just one scoreless 15-yard reception on a single target during the first 38 minutes of the game with Derek Carr (shoulder/concussion) under center.

And yet, Olave still found a way to rack up 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.

Nine players racked up at least 75 unrealized air yards in Week 10 specifically:

• Saints WR Chris Olave (162)
• Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (162)
• Texans WR Tank Dell (138)
• Jaguars WR Christian Kirk (108)
• Raiders WR Davante Adams (105)
• Bears WR D.J. Moore (85)
• Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf (83)
• Saints WR Rashid Shaheed (82)
• Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (79)

Olave’s 936 unrealized air yards on the season are a full 289 more than any other player. Hopkins (647), Adams (623), Marquise Brown (588) and Garrett Wilson (566) round out the top five. That is a LOT of sheesh.

Speaking of the artist known as Hollywood…

Great to have you back Kyler, but sheesh

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: Cardinals QB Kyler Murray had No. 1 WR Marquise Brown WIDE open on what is probably a 28-yard TD nine times out of 10. Sadly for fantasy managers and anytime TD bettors: Sunday happened to be the one where the duo sheeshes.

Overall, there were 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 Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (potential 75-yard TD sailed long)
• Texans WR Tank Dell (59 — at least the rookie drew a 42-yard defensive pass interference penalty on the underthrow)
• Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (51 — but did catch the underthrow for a 43-yard gain)
• Ravens WR Zay Flowers (41 — this one joins our Brown example as two of the most brutal-such sheeshes of the week)
• Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins (40)
• Cardinals WR Marquise Brown (28)
• Patriots TE Mike Gesicki (15 — and the horrendous throw directly led to Mac Jones being benched)
• Ravens TE Mark Andrews (11)
• Patriots TE Hunter Henry (5 — this was also a really bad miss from Jones)
• Bears WR Darnell Mooney (4)
• Bengals WR Trenton Irwin (4)
• Chargers TE Stone Smartt (2)

At long last: The streak is over

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey post-game on failing to extend his TD streak to an NFL-record 18 straight games:

“Yeah, I suck. Everyone else on the team scored except for me.”

Fantasy managers shouldn't be too bummed out about McCafrey's 142-yard performance; just realize anytime TD bettors all over continental America were rendered unconscious following the 49ers’ inability to get their stud RB into the end zone on not one, not two, not three, not four, but five straight attempts … up 34-3 with just six minutes remaining.

Well, you can’t blame head coach Kyle Shanahan for not trying. Shanny even admitted after the game that it was a bit nerve-racking because obviously he didn’t want to see McCaffrey get hurt. Luckily, that wouldn’t be the case, but still: Sheesh.

Taylor Heinicke slid so Bijan Robinson could fly

*Puts conspiracy sunglasses and hat on*

I believe Falcons QB Taylor Heincke is such a good teammate and leader of men that he purposely chose to slide inside the five-yard line on this 16-yard scramble so RB Bijan Robinson could score the TD instead and stick it to head coach Arthur Smith.

Was this really the case? Probably not. Actually, definitely not. But you could imagine what it’d be like if it was.

Either way: Thank you Taylor. Sincerely, one slightly less frustrated Bijan fantasy manager. 

Have we considered if Tony Pollard is actually cursed by the TD Gods?

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.

This sheesh is particularly hard to handle when it happens to someone who simply hasn’t been able to find the end zone for quite some time.

Enter: Cowboys RB Tony Pollard, who has now gone an NFL-high 151 consecutive touches without a TD. He nearly reached pay dirt on two separate occasions in Week 10 during the Cowboys’ 49-17 win over the Giants, but unfortunately was stopped just short of the goal line both times.

Nov 5, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) is stopped by Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham (52) and safety Reed Blankenship (32) at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s the full list of Week 10’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:

• Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (x2)
• Chargers RB Austin Ekeler (x3 — on the same drive)
• Lions RB David Montgomery (x2 — on the same drive)
• Chargers QB Justin Herbert (x2 — on the same drive, but did throw a TD to Quentin Johnston)
• Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
• Colts WR Michael Pittman
• Cardinals WR Michael Wilson (extra sheeshy because the Cardinals decided to feature backup QB Clayton Tune on the next play for the score)
• Colts QB Gardner Minshew

Cardinals RB James Conner also deserves mention for pulling the ever-sheeshful Brian Westbrook/Todd Gurley "stop just short of the goal line even though the defense is inviting you to score a TD so the clock won't run out” move. Technically a good decision by Conner so the Cardinals could win the football game or whatever, but few events are more sheeshful for fantasy managers to deal with.

On a brighter note: Shoutout to the Lions for being persistent and finding a way to get RB Jahmyr Gibbs into the end zone after the rookie was stopped at the one-yard line on two separate drives. Gibbs wound up with two goal-line scores, while Montgomery relied on an electric 75-yard TD run to produce — just like we all expected.

“Congrats” to Ekeler for now racking up a league-high six-such sheeshes. Latavius Murray, D’Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, A.J. Dillon and Montgomery are all tied for second with four instances of this sheeshy event in 2023.

Chargers rookie WR Quentin Johnston was oh so close to a HUGE day

Yes, Johnston was interfered with on the following play, undoubtedly throwing off his concentration and ability to catch the football.

Also yes, it was still a catchable pass, and it objectively would have been a lot cooler if the much-maligned rookie could have held on to what sure looked like was going to be an 86-yard house call.

QJ wound up drawing three separate defensive pass interference penalties for a total of 29 yards, including one in the end zone to set up his first-career TD later in the game.

Drawing these DPIs undoubtedly helped the Chargers in real life, but sadly fantasy managers were left sheesh-ing.

The top five players in most yards gained courtesy of drawing DPI flags were as follows in Week 10:

• Texans WR Tank Dell (42 yards)
• Falcons WR Drake London (32)
• Chargers WR Quentin Johnston (29)
• Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley (23)
• Browns WR Cedric Tillman (19)

Also shoutout to Steelers WR Diontae Johnson for drawing a 17-yard DPI and holding penalties on two separate drives that ended in TD runs, as well as Bengals TE Tanner Hudson for getting a DPI call in the end zone to set up a one-yard Joe Mixon TD plunge.

Jordan Love played far better than his counting numbers indicate

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

Roughly nine specific interceptions occurred in Week 10 that shouldn’t be overly blamed on the men who threw them:

• Packers QB Jordan Love did indeed throw a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions, but the first was more of a brilliant play by Steelers CB Patrick Peterson than a horrible throw, while the second occurred with just three seconds left in a last-gasp attempt to try and win the game.
• Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence was under heavy duress and attempted to check the ball down to RB Tank Bigsby before Nick Bosa took him down … too bad Bigsby dropped the target and the pass would be intercepted. T-Law's second interception of the game also came under heavy pressure on fourth and 15 when he had no other choice but to force the ball downfield.
• Browns QB Deshaun Watson had his first pass attempt of the game picked off thanks to Ravens S Kyle Hamilton putting forward one of the week’s best individual efforts by tipping the pass at the line of scrimmage before corralling it himself and taking it the other way for six points.
• Cardinals QB Kyler Murray may have taken the blame for his lone interception, but it sure did seem like TE Trey McBride should have probably sat down in between zone defenders. Clearly, this was a miscommunication issue as opposed to a porous throw or decision from Murray.
• Ravens QB Lamar Jackson had an interception occur after the ball was deflected by a defensive lineman at the line of scrimmage.
• Titans QB Will Levis was hit while throwing, leading to the football sputtering into the sky and directly to a Buccaneers defender.
• Bills QB Josh Allen hit WR Gabe Davis in the hands for what should have been a first down … but instead the ball was dropped and deflected directly to the defense for an interception. Not ideal!

Poor Jameson Williams

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 10 there were six such instances.

*Law and Order Music*

These are their stories:

1. 49ers S Ambry Thomas managed to recover a fumble and take it 92 yards the other way to the end zone … only for the scoop and score to be nullified by "unsportsmanlike conduct" AKA half the 49ers sideline came onto the field early.
2. Vikings RB Ty Chandler nearly added a 29-yard TD run to his day, but the score was nullified on a hold by OT Brian O'Neill.
3. Lions WR Jameson Williams took a screen pass 10 yards into the end zone — showing off an objectively cool dive/celebration combo along the way. One problem: LT Taylor Decker was flagged for an illegal low block.
4. Ravens RB Justice Hill had a six-yard TD run nullified by holding on C Tyler Linderbaum.
5. Jets RB Breece Hall’s three-yard TD run was nullified on hold by TE CJ Uzomah, who found himself matched up with Raiders game-breaker Maxx Crosby one-on-one. Makes sense.
6. Texans WR Robert Woods initially looked to have corralled a three-yard score in the back of the end zone following some great play-extending ability from C.J. Stroud. Sadly, replay would lead to the officials determining that Bobby Trees stepped out of bounds before being the first person to touch the ball — AKA illegal touching.

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

We’re on to Week 11.