
Ian Hartitz breaks down the near-misses for NFL players who came oh so close to fantasy glory in Week 13, including Puka Nacua and C.J. Stroud.

Week 13 has come and gone. Thirteen NFL games brought joy, laughs and tears to football fans and, of course, fantasy football faithful.
Today, we’ll focus on the latter sadness and break down just how close some came to achieving fantasy football glory.
What follows is a breakdown of all the “Sheesh” moments from Week 13. I’ve watched every game and combed play-by-play data to help determine instances when:
First, a rookie who truly had a great performance, yet still managed to leave all sorts of sheesh on the field this last Sunday.
Yes, 139 total yards and a TD qualify as a rather great afternoon at the office.
Also yes, the Rams’ stud rookie WR quite easily could have added another 100 yards and a score to that stat line with just a bit better luck against the Browns.
Fantasy managers are just happy Nacua’s early injury scare didn’t wind up keeping him sidelined. Credit to the stud receiver on yet another great performance: Puka’s 17-game receiving yards pace (1,458) now puts him ahead of Ja’Marr Chase’s rookie record (1,455) in the Super Bowl era.
This just goes to show that sheesh impacts NFL players and performances of all shapes and sizes — just like our next example.
Air yards measure the distance that any given pass travels (wait for it) in the air. Subtracting yards after the catch from every player’s receiving yards total before taking the difference with total air yards helps us pinpoint exactly how much opportunity through the air a player failed to come down with for one reason or another.

Dec 3, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) attempts to catch a pass as Houston Texans cornerback Steven Nelson (21) defends during the first quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Sometimes unrealized air yards are more akin to “prayer yards” because the pass wasn’t overly catchable in the first place, so grinding the ole film helps with identifying those sorts of situations.
Nine players racked up at least 85 unrealized air yards in Week 13 specifically:
The chunk of Sutton’s week-high unrealized air yards came on the very first two plays of the game, as the veteran receiver was first fed a slightly underthrown contested incompletion, while the second sheesh was a flat-out drop instead of a chunk 45-yard gain.
You know who can complain about Russ not getting them the ball? Jerry Jeudy, and head coach Sean Payton pretty much went out of his way to do so on his behalf: “Really, if you look at the tape closely and you watch all of it — I know some of you get to do that. If you watch all of it, holy cow, there are about two or three of those plays.”
Challenge accepted, coach: I believe these are the three plays Payton was referring to.
Say it with me everyone: Sheesh.
Our previous section helped quantify the most missed opportunities through the air, but there were an additional handful of targets that I can’t help call out because it sure seemed like the following players could have put six points on the board with a bit more accurate pass.
For example, Texans QB C.J. Stroud should have had not one, not two, but three additional first-half TDs last Sunday against Patrick Surtain II and company.
The included Nico Collins drop also didn’t help. Either way, there’s bound to be some missed opportunity in an offense so willing to keep taking shots downfield through the air consistently. Overall, Stroud is the only QB with over 4,000 air yards thrown this season (4,049).
Overall, there were roughly 11 instances where I subjectively believe pass-catchers didn’t receive catchable passes on what would have otherwise been TDs, although differing levels of openness, difficulty of throw and pressure hardly made all of these near misses of the layup variety.
As Benjamin Franklin once said: Not all sheesh is created equal.
Can I get a “Sheesh?”
Overall, there were roughly five clear dropped TDs in Week 13, which sucks because, you know, football is pretty cool when players make great catches and score points:
One could also argue this Tyler Lockett drop could have gone for a 55-yard score, although with all due respect: I have a tough time giving the veteran much benefit of the doubt in the YAC department.
There were three other drops that wouldn’t have gone for TDs themselves, but the lost chunk yardage certainly cost each respective offense a big-time chance to eventually cash in.
Rumor has it that on-field microphones actually heard Sutton mutter, “Sheesh!”
Getting all the way to the one-yard line but failing to score a TD is objectively a sheeshy feeling — particularly when fantasy managers are forced to watch someone else vulture away the score that was SO CLOSE to belonging to them.
Here’s the full list of Week 13’s players who managed to get the football within three feet of the goal line, but not quite across the plane, and ultimately didn’t score later on the same drive:
Also, note that Saints WR Chris Olave helped set up a pair of second-half TDs with receptions of 33 and 30 yards … both down to the two-yard line.
This phenomenon also happened to Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs, who galloped 36 yards to the two-yard line … only for David Montgomery to come right on in and vulture the goal line score. Looks like Montgomery’s random act of kindness in letting Gibbs stay on the field to score a few weeks ago was a one-time deal.
There was a ridiculous sequence (sheesh-quence?) on Sunday when Cardinals TE Trey McBride seemingly caught a five-yard TD. I say seemingly because the second-year stud possessed the pass, took three steps in the end zone, and only lost the football upon going to the ground. Former NFL official Gene Steratore said on the broadcast that he believed it was a catch.
And guess what? The game officials decided this wasn’t a catch.
So what did McBride do? Sit around and sulk about it? Nope, he got right back up and caught another five-yard TD on literally the next play. It was truly one of the better ball don’t lie moments that you’ll ever see.
While the box score doesn’t account for who to blame on any particular interception, Joshua Dobbs a rocket scientist isn’t always required to figure out that sometimes the QB wasn’t overly at fault.
Specifically:
Saints QB Derek Carr had an interception occur after TE Juwan Johnson let a perfectly thrown pass go right off his hands and to the defense.
Panthers QB Bryce Young's only pick came on an extended play downfield shot on 4th and 1 with just two minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the game. It would have been weird if Young didn't try to make a desperate heave downfield given the situation and lack of open receivers on the play.
Commanders QB Sam Howell's only interception was on a screen pass that featured Dolphins LB Andrew Van Ginkel never getting touched on his way to converting the pick-six. I'm not sure who missed the blocking assignment or if the plan was to leave Van Ginkel unblocked; either way, Howell was just throwing a ho-hum screen pass.
Broncos QB Russell Wilson might have had three INTs on the afternoon, but all three were at least somewhat excusable:
In terms of, like, fantasy football. Not in real life. Just wanted to make that clear.
Anyways, last week there were essentially four TDs that never actually happened because the officials decided to throw their stupid little yellow flags and ruin the fun of fantasy managers and anytime TD bettors alike:
Fun fact: Fantasy players don’t get rewarded fantasy points for drawing defensive pass interference penalties. Should they? I don’t really think so, but some people disagree with me, so here we are.
The top five players in most yards gained courtesy of drawing DPI flags were as follows in Week 13:
Additionally, Cardinals WR Greg Dortch (7) and Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (2) had shorter DPIs position their offense at the one-yard line, while Eagles WR A.J. Brown (11) got his offense down to the two.
I think I speak for all of us when I say for one last time: Sheesh.
We’re on to Week 14.
