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The miserable performance by the Texas Longhorns’ special teams this season looks even worse when you remember back to the time Justin Tucker kicked for us. After making history with his kick that sent the Texas A&M Aggies on to a better life, he is writing his own legacy in the NFL.
He went undrafted in 2012 but signed with the Ravens, where he won the job over struggling veteran Billy Cundiff. Justin Tucker made several key field goals during his rookie season, including a perfect performance in the Super Bowl -- 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs, in a game they only won by 3 points. He wrote a new page last Sunday with two kicks that gave his team its first win of the season.
QB
| Name | Team | Depth | Passes | Yards | TDs | INTs |
| #16 Colt McCoy | Washington Redskins | #2QB |
Last Sunday Kirk Cousins gained some momentum in keeping the starting spot with a game-winning drive against the Eagles. The Redskins' starting QB played mediocre throughout the game but performed well when it mattered most. The Michigan State alum led his team to its second win of the season with a 19-play, 5:39 drive that ended with a touchdown throw to Pierre Garçon with 0:26 left on the clock. Colt is still awaiting his opportunity from the bench as RGIII hasn't been activated for any game this season.
RB
| Name | Team | Status | Rushing (Season) | Receiving (Season) | Turnovers | ||||
| #25 Jamaal Charles | Kansas City Chiefs | #1 RB | 11 carries (59) | 75 yards (306) | 0 TDs (4) | 6 recs (20) | 70 yards (151) | 0 TDs (1) | 0 (2 FL) |
| #43 Fozzy Whittaker | Carolina Panthers | #2 RB | 0 carries (3) | 0 yards (5) | 1 recs (4) | 10 yards (27) | |||
| #39 Malcolm Brown | St Louis Rams | PS | |||||||
Jamaal Charles repeated his 11 carries this week and the Chiefs repeated losing. The former Longhorn averaged 6.8 yards per carry, a stat that somehow wasn't enough to receive any more touches. Thanks to Alex Smith, also known as the "King of the Checkdown," JC25 added 6 catches for 70 yards. Smith threw 45 passes and the Chiefs were unable to score a single touchdown. Their kicker, Cairo Santos, made seven field goals, the second-most by any kicker in a single game in NFL history, behind only Rob Bironas, who kicked eight field goals in 2007 against the Titans.
WR/TE
| Name | Team | Status | Receptions (Season) | Yards (Season) | TDs (Season) |
| #88 Marquise Goodwin | Buffalo Bills | Inactive (ribs) | |||
| #87 Geoff Swaim | Dallas Cowbys | Inactive | 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 |
Marquise Goodwin was inactive for the fourth consecutive game. He is still dealing with the rib injury he suffered during preseason. It's likely he will be active this weekend as he is now practicing with the team. Geoff Swaim didn't dress last week and it looks like James Hanna has passed him on the depth chart.
OL
| Name | Team | Status | GP | GS |
| #63 Lyle Sendlein | Arizona Cardinals | #1 OC | 4 | 4 |
| #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 |
Lyle Sendlein and the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive line had their worst game of the season against the St Louis Rams. They conceded four sacks to the Rams’ aggressive defensive front after having allowed only one the previous three games. The Cards suffered their first lost of the season.
DL
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | Sacks (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #90 Malcom Brown | New England Patriots | #1 DT (Bye) | (2.5) | (1) | ||
| #97 Roy Miller | Jacksonville Jaguars | #1 DT | 1.5 (5.5) | 0 (1) | ||
| #96 Brian Robison | Minnesota Vikings | #1 LDE | 1 (10.5) | 1 (1) | 0 (2) | |
| #90 Henry Melton | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | #2 LDT | 2 (5) | 0 (1) | 0 (1 FR, 1 FF) | |
| #90 Cory Redding | Arizona Cardinals | #2 LDE | 0 (1) | |||
| #56 Cedric Reed | Buffalo Bills | Practice Squad | ||||
| #64 Chris Whaley | Dallas Cowboys | IR (Achilles) |
Veteran Viking Brian Robison had his first sack of the season during their loss against the Broncos. He tackled Peyton Manning for a loss of 7 yards on a third-down play in the red zone that limited the Broncos to a FG. Robison has now 44.5 sacks during his nine years with the Minnesota Vikings, which places him first among current Vikings players, and eighth-most in franchise history.
OLB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | TFL (Season) | Sacks (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #98 Brian Orakpo | Tennessee Titans | #1 ROLB (Bye) | (6.5) | (1) | ||
| #53 Jackson Jeffcoat | Washington Redskins | #2 LOLB | 1 (1) | |||
| #99 Lamarr Houston | Chicago Bears | #1 ROLB | 1.5 (2.5) | |||
| #57 Alex Okafor | Arizona Cardinals | #1 WLB | 0 (7.5) | 0 (2) | ||
| #49 Sam Acho | Chicago Bears | #2 LOLB | 3 (4.5) | 1 FR |
With Jared Allen’s departure to the Carolina Panthers, both Lamarr Houston and Sam Acho saw more playing time last week. Acho recovered a fumble by Latavius Murray, who couldn’t hold on to the ball after a toss from Derek Carr. The turnover didn’t lead to any Chicago Bears points, as Jay Cutler threw an interception six plays later, but it did help Chicago collect its first win of the season against the Oakland Raiders.
ILB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | Sacks (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #56 Derrick Johnson | Kansas City Chiefs | #1 RILB | 1.5 (18.5) | 0 (1) | 0 (2) | |
| #58 Jordan Hicks | Philadelphia Eagles | #2 RILB | 4.5 (21) | 0 (1) | 0 (1) | 1 FR (1 INT, 2 R, 1 FF) |
| #52 Keenan Robinson | Washington Redskins | #1 LILB | 1.5 (22.5) | 0 (1) | 1 FR | |
| Emmanuel Acho | Cut by PHI | Free Agent | ||||
| Steve Edmond | Cut by NO | Free Agent |
After being nominated for Rookie of the Week in Week 3, Jordan Hicks continued his monstrous rookie season with a fumble recovery against the Redskins. He has now been involved in four turnovers this season, more than any Longhorn thus far. After Mychal Kendricks reaggravated his hamstring injury, Hicks could play most of the snaps this week in a must-win game for the Eagles against the Saints.
DB
| Name | Team | Status | Tackles (Season) | TFL (Season) | PBU (Season) | Turnovers (Season) |
| #25 Tarell Brown | New England Patriots | #1 RCB (Bye) | (6.5) | |||
| #23 Aaron Williams | Buffalo Bills | Inactive (Neck) | (6) | (3) | (1 INT) | |
| #33 Michael Griffin | Tennessee Titans | #1 FS (Bye) | (15) | (1) | ||
| #28 Quandre Diggs | Detroit Lions | #2 Nickel | 1 (3.5) | 0 (1 FR) | ||
| #32 Kenny Vaccaro | New Orleans Saints | #1 SS | 2.5 (18.5) | 0 (2) | ||
| #29 Earl Thomas | Seattle Seahawks | #1 FS | 3.5 (15.5) | 0 (1 FF) | ||
| #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 |
Not much news about the DBU alums as two of them had bye weeks and Aaron Williams is still recovering from his neck injury. Earl Thomas was involved in the most controversial play of the week. He was trying to tackle Calvin Johnson when Kam Chancellor punched the ball out of the Lions’ wide receiver’s hands. KJ Wright batted the ball out of the end zone and the refs awarded the Seahawks the ball. Wright should have been flagged for illegal batting, and the ball placed on the 1-yard line with the Lions retaining possession. Had the refs made the correct call, Detroit could have won with a score. Instead, the Lions and Quandre Diggs are now the only team in the NFL with zero wins this far into the season.
ST
| Name | Team | Status | FG (Season) | LG (Season) | XPs (Season) |
| #9 Justin Tucker | Baltimore Ravens | #1 K | 3/3 (10/11) | 52 (52 x2) | 2/2 (9/9) |
| #9 Phil Dawson | San Francisco 49ers | #1 K | 1/1 (4/5) | 33 (47) | 0/0 (4/4) |
| Cullen Loeffler | Cut by MIN | Free Agent | |||
| Nate Boyer | Cut by SEA | Free Agent |
Justin Tucker continues to show why he is currently the best kicker in the NFL, and may be on his way to becoming the greatest in NFL history. He went 3 for 3 with a long of 52 yards in the Ravens’ first win of the season. He was successful in helping his team to win by kicking the field goal that forced the overtime (video), and then kicking the game-winning field goal (video).
The kicks by Tucker showed how important it is to have a reliable kicker in the NFL these days, even more so given that the opposing kicker, Josh Scobee, missed twice in the fourth quarter on back-to-back possessions that would have helped seal the game for his team. After those misses, the Steelers refused to trust Scobee in overtime, and they went for it on fourth down twice, missing both. Instead, knowing he had Tucker, John Harbaugh put the game on his kicker’s right foot. If not for Tucker, Baltimore would have been staring at an 0-4 start, the likes of which only the 1992 San Diego Chargers have overcome to make the postseason.