NFL Update: AFC East Player Performance Partition (Part 1)
With only five games left in the season, there is good knowledge about players who are indeed playing better and those that are just going down the drain. Some of the falling players in the AFC East include players who are suffering from inadequate playing
or breaking NFL regulations.
One of the falling players in the AFC East is Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson. No other player must feel as miserable as Johnson does. After Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson was quoted as saying "I'll never get over it. Ever."
Who would?
But before getting to that, it should be brought to light that Johnson actually got a lot of positive media attention before the Bills-Steelers game, with his explosive start to the season and three touchdowns in the Bills victory over the Cincinnati Bengals,
49-31.
However, nobody remembers all the great things that one did, and only knows them for one bad moment. Unfortunately for Johnson, this bad moment came during Sunday’s game against the Steelers. With the game tied, both teams went into overtime. Johnson was
wide open and the 40 yard pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick was perfect. The Bills were ecstatic that they had beaten a then 7-3 team. But their happiness was short lived, when the ball fell right through Johnson’s hands.
Johnson was humiliated, saying "I had the game in my hands and I dropped it. Humbled. Humbled."
Besides this almost-game-winning catch, Johnson also dropped four other perfectly thrown passes, but none with as much on the line as the 40-yarder that he dropped.
Ok so maybe Johnson had some bad plays. But he has only had one bad game so far. He performed well in Week 12 and did slightly worse in Week 13.
But New England Patriots receiver Brandon Tate is doing a lot worse. First of all, Tate is not getting as much playing time as he used to get. Aside from that, the few times that he is played, he makes rookie mistakes. He dropped his best chance to make
a good play on Thursday against the Detroit Lions and, since his first receiving TD in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings, has only three receptions in four games, with none in his last two games. However, with the Pats having won their last three games,
it seems that Tate is unneeded and should be prepared if he is waived.
Up next we have two cornerbacks for the Miami Dolphins who were not given their usual positions as starting CBs. Head Coach Tony Sparano won’t say what team rules Vontae Davis and Sean Smith violated, but they were benched for the opening series against
the Oakland Raiders. They did play later in the game and played well, with Davis making six tackles, all of which were total and one of which was a stuff, or behind the line of scrimmage, tackle with a two yard loss. Smith made two tackles, both solo.
After being considered by analysts as a probable season MVP, New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez actually had a less-than-average game against the Bengals in Week 12. He threw for only 166 yards, had only 1 TD and even threw an interception. That’s a lot less
than his usual 300+ yards and multiple TDs and no winning last-minute drive in overtime. His 166 passing yards were his lowest since Week 4 against the Bills in which Sanchez threw for only 161 yards but also had two TDs.
Now that the falling players in the AFC East have been taken care of, it is time to take a look at the players who are rising, playing much better than they were in the past. These players will be discussed in the next article. Take a look!
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