Across the Shield: Can't Guard Mike Thomas, Can't Block Joey Bosa & Can't Catch Ted Ginn Jr.

Still Can't Guard Mike

We're 12 weeks into the season and NFL secondaries still haven't figured out how to deal with Michael Thomas.

This week, the rookie had perhaps his best performance of the year, catching nine passes for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The monster performance gives Thomas 681 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 56 receptions – all highs among NFL rookies. He also leads the league in catch rate of balls thrown 20 or more yards downfield, according to @PFF.

It's almost as if some NFL teams made poor choices by allowing six receivers to be selected before him in the 2016 Draft.

Pryor Shrugs Off a Hater

The Browns lost again, but not due to the efforts of Terrelle Pryor. The quarterback-turned receiver has consistently been Cleveland's most consistent offensive threat, and that was true again Sunday afternoon as Pryor finished the day with six catches for 131 yards, leading all receivers.

Giants' cornerback Janoris Jenkins, however, was unimpressed.

After the game, Jenkins went promptly to his hot take machine to inform Pryor he did not think he was very good at football.

Jenkins, who took shots at Pryor earlier in the week by saying he was "just big," fired off two since-deleted Tweets criticizing the former quarterback's ability to play receiver.

"Lol, cause he sucks, he caught balls n Zone coverage.. HeASh*tEaterToMe"

@TerrellePryor You a Sh*t Eater to me, u really sucks.. #

Pryor's response was about as classy as it could have been.

You are a great corner. Solid defender! You played a solid game. God Bless !! Good luck rest of year https://t.co/Lomh8ke4YW

— Terrelle Pryor SR (@TerrellePryor) November 27, 2016

When asked if Jenkins was a top three corner in the NFL, Pryor responded with "Easily. Worth every dime."

If you would have told me five years ago that Terrelle Pryor would be taking the high road in social media spat, I would have called you a liar. Now, he's become a genuinely pleasant human being and it really is great to see.

Also, despite what Jenkins thinks, he's been pretty good at football:

Terrelle Pryor is on pace for 1,140 yards in his first full year as a receiver despite playing with a parade of QBs worse than he was.

— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) November 27, 2016

Big Bear Makes Big Plays

It's been a while since we've talked about how impossible is is to block Joey Bosa, so we're going to do that again.

Usually, Bosa's impact cannot really be seen in numbers as he spends a lot of time eating double and triple teams and forcing teams to run away from him. Sunday however, Bosa got his numbers.

The former Buckeye finished the day with seven total tackles, two tackles for a loss and combined for a sack. Still, those numbers don't tell the whole story about just how dominant he was nearly every snap.

So watch this (there's a nice cameo from Braxton Miller as well):

The dude is an absolute monster. It's absolutely terrifying to think he could still be playing college football, along with Michael Thomas, Ezekiel Elliott, Vonn Bell, Taylor Decker and all of the other members of the 2016 class who left early.

Joey Bosa has 4 more total pressures than any player has managed after their first 8 games in the NFL in past decade...after his first seven

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) November 28, 2016

Darron Lee Takes Blame

Despite playing a huge game for the Jets, leading the team in tackles with 11, rookie Darron took nearly full responsibility for the team's 22-17 loss to the Patriots.

New England trailed New York 17-16 in the fourth quarter and needed a late fourth-quarter drive to take the lead. On that drive, the Jets forced the Patriots to convert on fourth down with the game on the line, and they did.

Tom Brady hit running back James White for the first down. Lee had a chance to make the play before White got to the sticks, but he couldn't do it. He took full responsibility.

"That play is completely on me. I'm probably not going to sleep tonight because of that play, because of we stop them we win that game," Lee said on ESPN radio after the game. "I know it doesn't come down to one play, but that's why they brought me here – to make those kind of plays."

You have to feel for him, but it's pretty cool to see him take so much responsibility as just a rookie.

"I'm sick. I'm sick to my stomach," Lee said. "I feel like I let me teammates down, but I gotta get up and go back to work tomorrow."

Play of the WEek

It appears the Carolina Panthers have figured out the let-Ted-Ginn-Jr-outrun-everybody-and-then-throw-him-the-ball offense.

Ginn hadn't caught a touchdown pass all season until he burned New Orleans deep last week for a 40-yard touchdown.

This week, he did one better, hauling in an 88-yard touchdown catch during Carolina's 35-32 loss against the Raiders.

The best part is when Ginn caught the ball, there were about two yards between him and the defender. When he reached the end zone, there were over five.

Ted Ginn Jr. – still fast.

Ohio Against THe World

This might be it. This might be the week I do it. 

Thanks to big weeks from Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr., Terrelle Pryor, Ezekiel Elliott, and Carlos Hyde, I am within striking distance of my first fantasy win of the season. I need nine points from Eagles' defense.

Malcolm Jenkins, I'm going to need a pick-six.

Knowing my luck, I'm going to get 8 points and lose because the first tie-breaker is quarterback points scored. So...

**Player listed as "Injured/Physically Unable to Perform"