Week 11 of the NFL season is now officially in the books. With six weeks of play remaining, there is still plenty of time for players to record season-best performances. In this list, however, we highlight the worst of the worst at each position in Week 11.
Week 11 offense
Quarterback: Josh McCown, Cleveland Browns, 32.7
After taking over for the injured Cody Kessler, quarterback Josh McCown couldn’t get anything going for the hapless Browns offense, as he struggled with even the simplest of throws. When the Steelers didn’t blitz McCown, he completed just 9-of-20 passes for a mere 54 yards. That’s just 2.7 yards per attempt, by far the lowest mark of the week. The Pittsburgh secondary dared him to beat them with his arm, and he failed to take any kind of advantage.
Running back: Lamar Miller, Houston Texans, 42.6
Lamar Miller is a classic case of numbers not telling the whole story. On the surface, 24 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown surely can't stand as the lowest-graded performance among RBs in Week 11. In reality, though, Miller averaged just 1.8 yards after contact per rushing attempt, one of the lowest marks of the week. His offensive line opened up big holes, but he never really created anything for himself.
Wide receiver: Seth Roberts, Oakland Raiders, 38.7
Seth Roberts was shut down completely in Mexico on Monday night, catching just one pass for 6 yards on the evening. The only two other targets he saw, he dropped.
Wide receiver: Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders, 39.4
Michael Crabtree saw more targets, but was hardly any better than Roberts. He caught three passes on seven targets for just 5 (yes, 5) yards. He had two dropped passes, including one that should have been a touchdown, and he also fumbled the ball.
Slot receiver: Braxton Miller, Houston Texans, 45.8
There was a lot of below-average receiver play from the NFL’s game in Mexico this season. Braxton Miller wasn’t quite as bad as Roberts or Crabtree, hauling in his first touchdown, but he did gain just 25 yards on five catches, and had a dropped pass.
Tight end: Dwayne Allen, Indianapolis Colts, 36.2
Dwayne Allen was nearly invisible on Sunday, seeing just one target during the game—and dropping it. He also struggled with his blocking, allowing a pressure in pass protection in addition to a couple of run stops.
Left tackle: John Wetzel, Arizona Cardinals, 32.7
John Wetzel had a difficult time trying to pass protect for the Cardinals on Sunday. He allowed three quarterback hits and another five quarterback hurries. There were also a couple of other plays in which he was beaten, but no pressure recorded.
Left guard: Graham Glasgow, Detroit Lions, 34.8
Graham Glasgow also struggled when it came to pass protection and run blocking on Sunday. In fact, he allowed five quarterback hurries when pass blocking. In the run game, Glasgow often failed to seal his man out of holes, and was a big reason the Lions rushed for an incredible 21 yards on 21 carries.
Center: Daniel Kilgore, San Francisco 49ers, 39.5
Daniel Kilgore had a tough time in pass protection on Sunday against the Patriots. He ended the day with five hurries surrendered, totaling the most QB pressures allowed by any center in Week 11.
Right guard: A.J. Cann, Jacksonville Jaguars, 37.5
Nearly all of A.J. Cann’s struggles came in the run game, where he earned a 29.0 grade. Cann allowed four solo run stops, and was unable to open many, if any, holes for the Jacksonville ground attack. The Jaguars averaged just 3.1 yards per carry against the Lions.
Right tackle: Garry Gilliam, Seattle Seahawks, 30.2
As has been the case often this season, Garry Gilliam struggled when trying to block any pass-rusher he faced from the Eagles on Sunday. Gilliam surrendered one quarterback hit and six hurries; he was also beaten a few other times where Russell Wilson was able to get rid of the ball before pressure developed.
Week 11 defense
Edge defender: Preston Smith, Washington Redskins, 39.5
Preston Smith was invisible as a pass-rusher for the Redskins' defense on Sunday night. He recorded just one hurry off the edge, and it came very late in the play. Brown also didn’t record a single stop all game.
Interior defender: Ziggy Hood, Washington Redskins, 38.5
Ziggy Hood struggled all over the field for the Redskins' defense, which may come as a surprise considering the huge margin of victory. But Hood failed to record a single QB pressure all game, and he also had a tough time in the run game. He made just one solo stop.
Interior defender: David Parry, Indianapolis Colts, 38.7
Parry had a sack for the Colts, but it was a late cleanup sack. Otherwise, he really didn’t do much against the Titans, failing to clog up a Tennessee run game that averaged nearly 5 yards per carry when running at him.
Edge defender: Za’Darius Smith, Baltimore Ravens, 40.5
It was an opposite type of struggle for the other Smith on the list, as he had a tough go of it in the run game for the Ravens. Za'Darius Smith finished with zero run stops and a missed tackle, earning a run-defense grade of 31.8.
Linebacker: Kelvin Sheppard, New York Giants, 30.4
Kelvin Sheppard could not seem to shed any run blocks at the second level on Sunday, and his 26.6 run-defense grade reflects that. The Bears didn’t rush for a ton of yards, but it wasn’t because of Sheppard.
Linebacker: Benardrick McKinney, Houston Texans, 30.5
McKinney finished Monday night’s game with a pass-coverage grade of 25.6, so that should be enough to show how much he struggled there. He allowed all eight targets he saw to be caught for 114 yards and two touchdowns, good for a perfect 158.3 QB rating when targeted.
Cornerback: Perrish Cox, Tennessee Titans, 25.9
It was a tough day for Perrish Cox, who found himself targeted often and not being able to defend many of them. He gave up six catches on seven targets for 142 yards and a touchdown. That also equals a 158.3 rating when targeted.
Cornerback: Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns, 31.5
After a solid start to the season, Joe Haden has begun to struggle again, and finally those struggles were enough to land him on this list. He surrendered eight catches on 10 targets for 68 yards, including a bunch of big first downs.
Slot corner: Steven Nelson, Kansas City Chiefs, 33.9
Steven Nelson played almost exclusively in the slot for the Chiefs, and he struggled while being targeted often. 12 targets came his way; seven of those were caught. Nelson surrendered 114 yards, most of which came in the air (only 25 after the catch).
Safety: Patrick Chung, New England Patriots, 33.9
Patrick Chung wasn’t great in his run defense for the Patriots, as he didn’t make a single run stop on 25 run snaps from his safety position. Chung also allowed four catches for 53 yards as a primary cover man.
Safety: Eric Reid, San Francisco 49ers, 34.2
Eric Reid was even worse than Chung in the run game, making no run stops, but also managing to miss three tackles. His 29.4 run-defense grade was the lowest among all safeties this past week.
Week 11 special teams
Punter: Bradley Pinion, San Francisco 49ers
Pinion punted eight times on a rainy San Francisco afternoon, but just one of them ended up inside the 20-yard line. His 33.6-yard net average was among the lowest of the week.
Kicker: Mike Nugent, Cincinnati Bengals
On a day in which almost every kicker missed extra points, Mike Nugent outdid them all by missing two.
Kick returner: Tyler Ervin, Houston Texans
Tyler Ervin muffed a kick return on what was a pretty solid day for kick returners.
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