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Unlike previous years, the 2015 NFL season started off pretty well for the former Texas Longhorns, injury-wise --Aaron Williams and Marquise Goodwin of the Buffalo Bills were the only ones missing playing time due to injuries and both returned last week.
That changed on Sunday when Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles tore his ACL which will cause him to miss the rest of the season. He was probably having the best season of his career, leading the league in yards per carry. It is his second ACL tear (different knee) in four years.
Aaron Williams had more symptoms and will be placed on Injured Reserve with a designation to return based on test results.
QB
| Name | Team | Depth | Passes | Yards | TDs | INTs |
| #16 Colt McCoy | Washington Redskins | #2QB |
For a second week in a row the Washington Redskins were involved in a tight game. Last week Cousins led his team with a winning TD with under one minute to go, but this time he threw a pick six in overtime that allowed the Falcons to win the game and remain undefeated this season. It was Cousins' second interception of the day, as he threw one in the second quarter that set up a Falcons' TD. Despite his inconsistency, the former Spartan will remain the starter with Colt McCoy as the backup and Robert Griffin III inactive.
RB
| Name | Team | Status | Rushing (Season) | Receiving (Season) | Turnovers | ||||
| #25 Jamaal Charles | Kansas City Chiefs | IR (Knee) | 12 carries (71) | 58 yards (364) | 0 TDs (4) | 1 rec (21) | 26 yards (177) | 0 TDs (1) | 0 (2 FL) |
| #43 Fozzy Whittaker | Carolina Panthers | #2 RB | 0 carries (3) | 0 yards (5) | 0 recs (4) | 0 yards (27) | |||
| #39 Malcolm Brown | St Louis Rams | PS | |||||||
Before his injury, Jamaal Charles was having a solid game with 58 yards on 12 carries and an amazing effort on a 26-yard reception. Charles went to the ground on a third down, grabbing his right leg after a non-contact injury, before being helped off the field. He was cutting when his right knee appeared to buckle. In that moment everyone feared the worst, and the MRI on Monday confirmed it.
The Chiefs are a completely different team without Charles. After his injury, the Chiefs went three-and-out on four of their last six drives, and lost the game against a mediocre (to say the least) Bears team that they were leading 17-3 when Charles went down in the third quarter.
With JC25 out, there will not be as much news at the position (or for the other offensive players, to be honest) going forward. Fozzy Whittaker is still fulfilling a secondary role with the Panthers and Malcolm Brown was relegated to the St Louis Rams' practice squad.
WR/TE
| Name | Team | Status | Receptions (Season) | Yards (Season) | TDs (Season) |
| #88 Marquise Goodwin | Buffalo Bills | Inactive (ribs) | 2 receptions (2) | 24 yards (24) | |
| #87 Geoff Swaim | Dallas Cowbys | Active | 0 receptions (1) | 0 yards (0) | |
| #16 Jaxon Shilpey | Arizona Cardinals | Practice Squad | |||
| John Chiles | Cut by CHI | Free Agent | |||
| John Harris | Cut by ATL | Free Agent | |||
| Mike Davis | Cut by OAK ('14) | Free Agent |
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquise Goodwin made his first appearance of the season after being held out with a rib injury. He contributed to his team's come-from-behind-win against the Titans with two receptions for 24 yards. He also played on special teams and recovered a fumble on the initial kickoff of the game that was called back for a penalty. He now has more receptions this year in one game than he had in the whole 2014 season, when he went 10 games with just 1 catch.
OL
| Name | Team | Status | GP | GS |
| #63 Lyle Sendlein | Arizona Cardinals | #1 OC | 5 | 5 |
| #69 Michael Huey | San Diego Chargers | Practice Squad | ||
| #66 Trey Hopkins | Cincinnati Bengals | Practice Squad | ||
| #61 Donald Hawkins | Miami Dolphins | Practice Squad | ||
| Tony Hills | Cut by CAR | Free Agent |
After last week's bad performance, the Cardinals' offensive line returned to normal with a win over the Lions. Lyle Sendlein helped his offense to run for 187 and they have surpassed 100 rushing yards in every game this season.
DL
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | Sacks (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #90 Malcom Brown | New England Patriots | #1 DT | 1 (4.5) | (1) | ||
| #97 Roy Miller | Jacksonville Jaguars | #1 DT | 3 (9) | 1 (2) | ||
| #96 Brian Robison | Minnesota Vikings | #1 LDE (Bye) | (10.5) | (1) | (2) | |
| #90 Henry Melton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | #2 LDT | 0 (5) | 0 (1) | 0 (1 FR, 1 FF) | |
| #90 Cory Redding | Arizona Cardinals | #2 LDE | 0 (2.5) | 1 (1) | 1 INT (1 INT) | |
| #56 Cedric Reed | Buffalo Bills | Practice Squad | ||||
| #64 Chris Whaley | Dallas Cowboys | IR (Achilles) |
Last week Minnesota Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was the highlighted defensive lineman with a sack. This week that honor goes to the only defensive lineman among former Longhorns with more years than him in the NFL -- Arizona Cardinals defensive end Cory Redding. The 11-year veteran made the second interception of his career and almost returned it for a touchdown, but he was tackled on the Lions' 4-yard line after a 30-yard return. (Video).
Jacksonville Jaguar defensive tackle Roy Miller had his second sack of the season. Rookie defensive tackle Malcom Brown continued with his improvement after a solid game against the Cowboys, posting two tackles on 23 snaps, which made him the New England Patriots' defensive tackle with the most snaps played on Sunday.
OLB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | Sacks (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #98 Brian Orakpo | Tennessee Titans | #1 ROLB | 1 (6.5) | 0 (1) | ||
| #53 Jackson Jeffcoat | Washington Redskins | #2 LOLB | 0 (1) | |||
| #99 Lamarr Houston | Chicago Bears | #1 ROLB | 3 (5.5) | 1 (1) | ||
| #57 Alex Okafor | Arizona Cardinals | #1 WLB | 2.5 (10) | 0 (2) | 1 (1) | |
| #49 Sam Acho | Chicago Bears | #2 LOLB | 6 (11.5) | 1 (1) | 0 (1 FR) |
Once again this week, outside linebackers Lamarr Houston and Sam Acho were key for the Chicago Bears. Houston grabbed his first sack since last October after which he tore his right ACL while celebrating, while the older Acho made a career-high six solo tackles (8 according to Bear's coaching staff) and in the words of the Bear's beat writer Aaron Lemming, he could end up playing at ILB, something you wouldn't expect from a guy who played defensive tackle and defensive end in Austin.
Redding's teammate, Alex Okafor, left the game early with a calf injury. Despite an initial evaluation that he would be out until late November, he is now expected to only miss 2-4 weeks. The Cardinals have signed veteran Dwight Freeney to add depth at the outside linebacker position after Okafor's injury.
ILB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | Sacks (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #56 Derrick Johnson | Kansas City Chiefs | #1 RILB | 6 (24.5) | 0 (1) | 0 (2) | |
| #58 Jordan Hicks | Philadelphia Eagles | #2 RILB | 3 (24) | 0 (1) | 1 (2) | 1 FR (1 INT, 3 FR, 1 FF) |
| #52 Keenan Robinson | Washington Redskins | #1 LILB | 3.5 (26) | 0 (1) | 0 (1 FR) | |
| Emmanuel Acho | Cut by PHI | Free Agent | ||||
| Steve Edmond | Cut by NO | Free Agent |
The sensation so far this season has been Jordan Hicks of the Philadelphia Eagles. Since earning playing time due to injuries in the second week, he hasn't stopped showing why he was the best linebacker recruit in the country out of high school. He recovered his third fumble of the season, and is now tied with Darrelle Revis at the top of the list for recoveries.
There is no doubt that Hicks has become a very important player for the Eagles' defense and the guys at the SBNation Eagles site, Bleeding Green Nation, have a nice write-up about his ascension. Another recommended read is this analysis of a near interception off Drew Brees on a play where he showed his outstanding athleticism.
DB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | TFL (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #25 Tarell Brown | New England Patriots | #1 RCB | 6.5 (13) | |||
| #23 Aaron Williams | Buffalo Bills | IR (Neck) | 6 (12) | 0 (3) | 0 (1 INT) | |
| #33 Michael Griffin | Tennessee Titans | #1 FS | 4 (18) | (1) | ||
| #28 Quandre Diggs | Detroit Lions | #2 Nickel | 1 (4.5) | 0 (1 FR) | ||
| #32 Kenny Vaccaro | New Orleans Saints | #1 SS | 10 (28.5) | 0 (2) | ||
| #29 Earl Thomas | Seattle Seahawks | #1 FS | 2 (17.5) | 1 (1) | 1 INT (1 FF, 1 INT) | |
| #31 Adrian Phillips | San Diego Chargers | Practice Squad | ||||
| #33 Mykkele Thompson | New York Giants | IR (Achilles) | ||||
| Carrington Byndom | Cut by CAR | Free Agent | ||||
| Chykie Brown | Cut by NYG | Free Agent | ||||
| Curtis Brown | Cut by NYJ | Free Agent | ||||
| Aaron Ross | Cut by CLE | Free Agent |
Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas picked off the Bengals' Andy Dalton in the redzone on a second quarter pass intended for AJ Green. Thomas returned the ball for 68 yards, but a personal-foul penalty on former Aggie (even though he doesn't claim them in his intro!) Michael Bennett brought the ball back 36 yards (video). It was the first interception of the season for the Seahawks, which is somewhat surprising given the fame of their secondary.
After missing two weeks due to his scary neck injury, Williams made his comeback by recording six total tackles. Unfortunately, he had more symptoms on Sunday and has been placed on IR with a designation to return. Kenny Vaccaro and Tarell Brown also had good games this week after recording 10 and 6.5 tackles, respectively.
ST
| Name | Team | Status | FG (Season) | LG (Season) | XPs (Season) |
| #9 Justin Tucker | Baltimore Ravens | #1 K | 1/2 (11/13) | 23 (52 x2) | 3/3 (12/12) |
| #9 Phil Dawson | San Francisco 49ers | #1 K | 2/2 (6/7) | 43 (47) | 3/3 (7/7) |
| Cullen Loeffler | Cut by MIN | Free Agent | |||
| Nate Boyer | Cut by SEA | Free Agent |
One week after kicking two key field goals, Justin Tucker sent the Ravens-Browns game to overtime by making a field goal within the last 30 seconds. But this time Baltimore couldn’t secure the win, as they went three-and-out on their first possession of the overtime period, and the Browns then kicked a winning field goal. Earlier in the first quarter, Tucker missed his second field goal of the season, both of which were over 50 yards.