Week 16 on the NFL schedule is almost in the books (we still have a Christmas Day tripleheader and Monday Night Football) and the best performances deserve to be recognized by our MMQB staff. Even if you’re feeling down because your team didn’t win, maybe one of your favorite players or coaches gets awarded a game ball by our staff.
Here are this weekend’s standouts:
Mitch Goldich: D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard, RBs, Panthers. The Panthers stunned the Lions 37–23 Sunday, and yes, I’m using the word stunned, given how hot the Lions have been and how quickly this upstart Carolina jumped out in front. Both Panthers running backs topped the 100-yard mark—in the first half. Foreman finished with 21 carries for 165 yards, and Hubbard ran it 12 times for 125, amassing most of a franchise record 320 yards on the ground between them. Who needs Christian McCaffrey anyway? And this is one of those games where the numbers are impressive, but the way they did it said even more. Ignore the final score; the Panthers set the tone early and never looked back. Carolina improved to 6–9, a record that matters because a Buccaneers loss on Christmas Day would create a three-way tie atop the NFC South. The Panthers face the Bucs and Saints the next two weeks and control their destiny, making this a potentially season-altering win for a team that fired its coach and traded its best player.
