Stick a fork in Week 6 of the NFL season, it’s done and over with. Quite a bit happened this past week, and as always, we saw some not-so-stellar play amidst the standout performances. While many like to push particularly poor games under the rug, here we bring those bad days into the light. What follows are the worst players at every position from the past week of football:
Quarterback: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders, 35.8
After a hot start to the season, Derek Carr had his first poor game of the year against the Chiefs. While his stat-line doesn’t look horrible (22-for-34 for 225, a touchdown, and an interception) it doesn’t quite tell the whole story. His pick was a really bad throw, and he had another dangerous pass attempt that should have been intercepted. Carr also dropped a snap and had another fumble in the game.
Running back: Matt Forte, New York Jets, 42.7
Matt Forte was less than stellar in his Monday Night Football appearance, as he gained just 19 yards on nine carries and failed to force a single missed tackle. In the passing game, he caught one of three targets for 3 yards; he dropped the other two.
Wide receiver: Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos, 38.5
Demaryius Thomas had a Thursday night game to forget, as he caught just five passes on 10 targets. He gained just 37 yards—a mere 13 of those coming after the catch. Thomas also had a dropped pass and a key fumble as Denver was driving down the field late in the game.
Wide receiver: Marquise Goodwin, Buffalo Bills, 38.8
It wasn’t a great afternoon for Marquise Goodwin, as he caught just two passes on four targets for 22 yards. Goodwin also had an offensive pass-interference penalty, and made a mistake that cost him a catch on another target.
Slot receiver: Seth Roberts, Oakland Raiders, 47.6
Seth Roberts wasn’t horrible in his game for the Raiders, but much like the entire Oakland offense, he wasn’t good, either. Roberts caught just three passes on six targets for 29 yards against the Chiefs; all of those yards came after the catch. He also recorded a dropped pass.
Tight end: Ryan Griffin, Houston Texans, 37.6
Ryan Griffin wasn’t much help when it came to run blocking against the Colts, and he struggled in the passing game, too. Griffin caught three passes for just 31 yards and dropped the other two targets he saw.
Left tackle: Ryan Clady, New York Jets, 34.2
Ryan Clady actually graded positively in run blocking, which goes to show how poorly he played when pass blocking last night. He didn’t allow a sack, but did allow two QB hits and six hurries, as well as two other passing plays where he was beaten cleanly. Clady also took a holding penalty.
Left guard: Zane Beadles, San Francisco 49ers, 39.1
Beadles allowed two hits and two hurries when pass blocking, but struggled even more in the run game. He allowed three run stops and had multiple other plays in which he lost his block and let it affect the rusher.
Center: Cameron Erving, Cleveland Browns, 36.7
Cameron Erving was equally poor at both pass and run blocking on Sunday. He allowed a hit and three hurries, as well as a few other plays in which he was beaten. In the run game, he was unable to open pretty much any holes for Clevelands' RBs, a group that gained just 37 yards on 14 carries.
Right guard: Germain Ifedi, Seattle Seahawks, 37.3
Another guard to struggle in the run game, rookie Germain Ifedi surrendered three tackles and another in which the tackle was missed by his man. He had a handful of other lost blocks, and in the passing game, allowed a QB hit and two hurries.
Right tackle: Donald Stephenson, Denver Broncos, 33.4
It was a stat-line to forget for Donald Stephenson on Thursday night, with two tackles surrendered in the run game, two quarterback hits, six hurries, twice beaten on pass plays with no pressure recorded, and two false start penalties. Not exactly a game for the ages.
Week 6 defense
Edge defender: Emmanuel Ogbah, Cleveland Browns, 38.1
While rookie Emmanuel Ogbah did record a sack in this game, it was a late-pursuit sack. In fact, it was his only pressure in the passing game, and in the run game he fared no better. Ogbah failed to make a single run stop, and only had one other tackle.
Interior defender: Vince Wilfork, Houston Texans, 36.2
The up-and-down season of Vince Wilfork continues with his worst game so far. Despite playing 47 snaps against the Colts, he failed to make any kind of impact. His stat-line looks like a baker’s dozen of donuts, as he had zeros across the board in pressures, stops, and tackles.
Interior defender: Corey Liuget, San Diego Chargers, 36.3
Corey Liuget was almost as invisible as Wilfork, were it not for the Charger's batted pass against the Broncos. That was literally the only difference, as Liuget made no other major contributions for San Diego.
Edge defender: Erik Walden, Indianapolis Colts, 39.0
Walden had just two late hurries in the pass-rushing game, and made just one run stop all evening for the Colts. He was also the man in coverage on Texans RB Lamar Miller’s touchdown catch-and-run.
Linebacker: Karlos Dansby, Cincinnati Bengals, 30.1
Dansby’s low grade comes from his poor coverage game, where he graded at 24.2 thanks to surrendering all five targets he saw for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He missed two tackles on those receptions, as 52 of those yards came after the catch.
Linebacker: Michael Wilhoite, San Francisco 49ers, 32.1
This grade was solely because of Wilhoite’s unfortunate struggles in the run game. He posted a 22.3 run-defense grade, which is extremely low. He missed two tackles and was otherwise sealed off at the second level at an alarming rate, offering almost no fight in getting off blocks.
Cornerback: Ladarius Gunter, Green Bay Packers, 24.8
Ladarius Gunter won’t look back fondly on this game. He allowed six receptions on eight targets for 119 yards and two touchdowns, as he was torched by the Cowboys' offense. Gunter didn’t offer much in the run game, either, losing the edge a handful of times.
Cornerback: Buster Skrine, New York Jets, 26.8
Buster Skrine was picked on often by the Cardinals, and responded by breaking the rules. He had three defensive-holding penalties and a pass-interference penalty, and still surrendered seven receptions for 69 yards on 10 targets.
Slot cornerback: Tavon Young, Baltimore Ravens, 45.9
It was a good week for slot corners not named Tavon Young; how unfortunate for the Raven. Young was targeted 11 times and allowed seven of those to be caught for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He did have a nice interception, though.
Safety: Eric Reid, San Francisco 49ers, 36.6
Eric Reid found most of his struggles stemming from the run game, where he missed two tackles. He was frequently sealed out of plays when trying to help out, and also surrendered two catches for 50 yards and a touchdown when in coverage.
Safety: Kemal Ishmael, Atlanta Falcons, 37.3
Kemal Ishmael saw most of his low grade result from his poor coverage. He was the lone coverage man on seven targets, and allowed five of those throws to be caught for 69 yards. Ishmael also recorded a missed tackle.
Week 6 special teams
Punter: Riley Dixon, Denver Broncos
Dixon had five punts on the day and averaged just 38.6 net yards per attempt. Four of the five were returned, and only two of them landed inside the 20-yard line.
Kicker: Cairo Santos, Kansas City Chiefs
Cairo Santos missed both an extra point and a 38-yard field goal on Sunday.
Kick returners: Kenny Wiggins and Travis Benjamin, San Diego Chargers
This is Worst Team of the Week history, as two players from the same team make it for the same position. Wiggins and Benjamin each had just one return, and they both muffed their opportunity.
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