Hard to believe we’re already through the halfway point of the NFL season. Nine weeks down and nine to go.
It was a quiet start to Pat Freiermuth’s NFL career, but the rookie has officially entered the spotlight for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Freiermuth is quickly becoming a fan-favorite in the Steel City.
“MUUUUUUUTH,” as Steelers fans have dubbed Pat in the mold of “HEEEEEEATH” for former tight end Heath Miller, caught two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s Monday Night victory over the Bears.
Freiermuth is now tied with Falcons star Kyle Pitts as the two highest-rated rookie tight ends in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Pretty, pretty good.
Welcome back to the win column, Dolphins fans. Miami snapped a seven-game losing streak on Sunday by topping the Houston Texans, 17-9.
Mike Gesicki made some spectacular grabs in the Miami win. Despite all the struggles for the Dolphins this season, Gesicki has been a constant bright spot. He leads the team with 529 receiving yards on the season.
While Micah Parsons hasn’t appeared on our countdown each week, it certainly seems like he has.
Dallas’ six-game winning streak came to an end in a 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos, but Parsons shined once more. He led the Cowboys with 10 tackles while also recording 2.5 sacks.
If he’s not the NFC Defensive Rookie of The Year, it will be an outrage.
It’s been a tough year for the Detroit Lions but former Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye has been one of the bright spots.
Oruwariye snagged another interception on Sunday in the Lions’ loss to the Bengals. He picked off Joe Burrow toward the end of the first quarter and returned the ball 18 yards.
Hopefully this means he starts to get more and more involved in the Steelers offense moving forward.
Mike Gesicki, Tight End, Miami Dolphins
Speaking of former Penn State tight ends with a season-best showing on Sunday, Mike Gesicki balled out for Miami in an otherwise pretty poor afternoon for the Dolphins.
Despite the team’s loss to the previously winless Jaguars, Gesicki caught eight passes for 115 yards.
With Tua Tagovailoa back at quarterback we should see more performances like this from Gesicki in the games ahead.
Week 14 of the NFL season might have been the most productive and entertaining week thus far for Penn Staters in the NFL. We’re talking touchdowns galore!
KJ Hamler, WR, Denver Broncos
As FOX play-by-play announcer Tim Brando termed in a contest last season, “There goes KJ for a pay day!”
Hamler only caught two passes from Denver quarterback Drew Lock on Sunday, but they went for touchdown passes of 49 and 37 yards, respectively. How’s that for stretching the field?
Even though Denver is all but out of the playoff race, it’s got to feel good for Broncos fans to see a rapport developing between Lock and some of the talented young receivers at his disposal.
Read more on KJ’s big day in this profile from ESPN’s Jeff Legwold.
Mike Gesicki, TE, Miami Dolphins
Photo By Steve Manuel
It was a bittersweet afternoon for Gesicki and the Dolphins.
Gesicki terrorized the Chiefs secondary for most of this matchup between two playoff contenders, finding the end zone twice, including this ridiculous grab over three defenders that kept Miami within striking distance of the defending Super Bowl champs.
On a day where Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce proved once again why he’s the best in the league, Gesicki certainly made his case for being one of the best at his position.
Unfortunately, Gesicki had to exit the game early with an upper-body injury. Let’s hope it wasn’t as serious as it looked on the broadcast and Gesicki can play a part in Miami’s push for a playoff spot.
Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
It had been a quiet few weeks for Miles, struggling to make an impact in an Eagles offense that was stuck in neutral.
Photo By Steve Manuel
A quarterback change for Philadelphia sparked the offense back into life and Sanders benefited. Alongside Jalen Hurts in the backfield, Sanders erupted for 115 yards on 14 carries and found the end zone twice.
After a difficult stretch the Eagles are still very much alive in the NFC East title chase.
Allen Robinson II, WR, Chicago Bears
Photo By Steve Manuel
What can we say about Robinson II that we haven’t already? He’s one of the best wide receivers in football and Sunday was another showcase performance as to why.
On a day when Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was in a zone, Robinson II had one of his biggest outings of the season with nine catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
The former Nittany Lion has now surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in a single season for the third time in his NFL career.
The Packers will need him to continue to play at a high level as they push on for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
This also gives us a chance to share a pretty neat feature on Amos that recently ran in the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Amos has already raised $55,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association Wisconsin Chapter this season and now he’s looking to get fans involved.
Adrian launched a new fundraiser this month, asking fans to donate $31 to the chapter, in honor of his No. 31. In return, they’ll receive a green and gold T-shirt that reads “#ENDALZ”Read more about Adrian’s initiative, here.
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