Image via Complex Original
The NFL regular season may only be 25 percent of the way through, but we’ve already witnessed plenty of storylines begin to unfold: Many of last year’s playoff teams have struggled out of the gate. Unlike those squads, the Cardinals are one of the best teams in the entire league. Tony Romo is hurt, again. And it doesn’t seem to matter how much air is in Tom Brady’s footballs.
While the conversations about serious off-field issues like player conduct and the long-term damage football does to athletes persist, the focus has turned back to the action taking place on the field. It’s kind of funny how, once Aaron Rodgers starts slinging touchdowns, Von Miller does his pelvic thrusting sack dance, and Johnny Manziel sets foot on the field, everybody stopscaring about bumbling commissioner Roger Goodell. And really, that’s exactly what the NFL wants.
This new era of incredible athletes and competitive balance means that any player on any team at any moment can pull off something remarkable, and we’ve gotten to see plenty of that early on in 2015. Here are the Best Plays From the 2015 NFL Season (So Far).
Josh McCown
Play: Helicopter Dive, Hit, and Fumble
Date: Week 1
No offense to Josh McCown, but everybody wants to see Johnny Manziel. He’s just way more interesting as both a player and a human being. This isn’t the way McCown should end up coming off the field. He gets hit so hard diving for the endzone that he helicopters, fumbles, and suffers a concussion. Then again, is there any more quintessentially Cleveland way for a quarterback to get injured? The QB battle should be an interesting one the remainder of the season, especially now that TMZ is getting involved.
Brian Hartline
Play: One-Handed Catch From His Knees
Date: Week 1
The first week of the NFL season was overall a pretty cautious one, as most teams and players sort of tiptoed through their first game and tried not to lose by making dumb mistakes. The Browns’ Brian Hartline helped bail out quarterback Johnny Manziel from one of those crippling turnovers with this sick one-handed catch, which he somehow managed to pull off turning the wrong way and from his knees. The third down catch allowed the Browns to continue their drive, kick a field goal, and take a 10-7 lead over the Jets. Unfortunately, the Browns are still the Browns, and they did not score another point all day and ended up losing 31-10.
Danny Amendola
Play: Diving Catch
Date: Week 2
Must not make deflated football joke. Must not make deflated football joke. Must not make deflated football joke. OK, phew. Danny Amendola is sometimes a forgotten man in the Patriots’ star-studded offense, but just when you start to wonder if he’s even on the team anymore he pops up with an incredible catch, like this one from late in the Pats’ win over the Bills. Even though this 29-yarder was his only grab of the game, Amendola stayed focused, worked hard, and did not get deflated about his small offensive role. Damnit. Almost made it. Maybe next time.
Cam Newton
Play: Touchdown Flip
Date: Week 2
So the whole “Cam Newton loves to smile, he’s just like a kid having fun out there” angle has obviously been beaten into the ground, pulled back up, then beaten some more. But seriously, it doesn’t matter how big and strong you are (and at 6’5” and 245 pounds, Newton certainly is that), you have to respect the hell out of someone who completely goes all out for his team like this and can still pop up with a smile on his face. Is Newton smiling because he realizes that he just narrowly avoided paralysis? Maybe. But no matter the reason, a touchdown is a touchdown.
Julio Jones
Play: Leaping One-Handed Catch
Date: Week 2
Talent has never been Julio Jones’ problem. When he can stay on the field, he is perhaps the most productive wide receiver in the entire NFL. Through his first three games this season, he has caught 34 passes for 440 yards and four TDs. Projected to a full 16 game slate, and that’s 181 receptions for 2347 yards and 21 TDs. Yikes. Even if he doesn’t quite get those transcendent stats, with amazing catches like this one, would you really want to bet against him at least getting close?
DeMarco Murray
Play: Hurdle
Date: Week 2
The Week 2 Eagles-Cowboys game had plenty of storylines: A couple hyped divisional rivals facing off, Tony Romo vs. Sam Bradford, and the Eagles’ DeMarco Murray squaring off against his old team. The sizzle soon wore off, however the game was marred by penalties on nearly every play—Bradford was beyond atrocious, and through three quarters Murray had nine carries for negative 12 yards. But you know what? This ridiculous feat of athleticism (and the scuffle with kicker Dan Bailey that followed) really made the whole terrible game worth watching. Well, almost.
Luke Wilson
Play: Reach-Back One-Handed Snag
Date: Week 2
This sensational 24-yard grab on Seattle’s opening drive of the second half during their Week 2 matchup with the Packers temporarily gave the Seahawks some momentum. Seattle would end up punching the ball into the end zone to close the deficit to just three points. However, Aaron Rodgers woke up immediately thereafter and that was it for the defending NFC champs, who fell to 0-2 on the young season with a loss.
A.J. Green
Play: Catch and Run
Date: Week 3
Three weeks is nothing in the NFL. Nobody wins a Super Bowl after taking the field just three times. But the Bengals looked good after their opening trio of contests. AJ Green’s transcendent performance in Week 3 is a big reason why the best team in the AFC right now is not named the New England Patriots. The Cincinnati star hauled in 10 passes for 227 yards and two TDs in his team’s comeback win over their division rivals the Ravens. And while TD No. 2 was pretty impressive in its own right, this ridiculous string of broken tackles and just raw power shows why a healthy Green is one of the NFL’s top wide receivers.
Calvin Johnson
Play: Diving INT Takeaway
Date: Week 3
When healthy, and with quarterback Matthew Stafford on his game, there is absolutely no way any NFL cornerback can stop Calvin Johnson. Megatron is, after all, 6’5” and 237 pounds. That’s kind of tough to stop no matter how many Pro Bowls you’ve been to. Even when you think you’ve got Johnson out of sight—as Aqib Talib did here in the Lions matchup with the Broncos—you simply can’t lose track of No. 81. If you do, you’re going from a surefire INT to being on the wrong end of his long career-highlight reel.
Emmanuel Sanders
Play: Leaping INT Takeaway
Date: Week 3
Lions cornerback Darius Slay made a point to nickname himself “Big Play” in the player intros before their game against the Broncos, and in a weird way he actually did live up to his new moniker. The only problem? It was Denver wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders making the aforementioned big play with the game tied in the fourth quarter, ripping a sure-interception away from Slay and instead turning it into a 35 yard gain in a game the Broncos would go on to win 24-12.
John Phillips
Play: Diving, One-Handed Tip and Catch
Date: Week 3
There must be something about playing tight end for the San Diego Chargers that turns no-name players into legends. First, there was Antonio Gates. Now, it looks like (at least for one play) John-Phillips is next up to join Gates as a Pro Bowl TE coming out of San Diego. Wait, what’s that? Phillips has 39 career receptions over seven years? Maybe Canton will have to wait.
Damarious Randall
Play: Big Hit on Charcandrick West
Date: Week 3
The Packers were handling the Chiefs easily at Lambeau Field, and the final result was merely a formality as Alex Smith tried to drive his visiting Kansas City squad down the field for one last (meaningless) touchdown. Just don’t tell that to Green Bay cornerback Damarious Randall, who made it his personal business to almost decapitate Chiefs running back Charcandrick West on this short pass. You probably won’t hear anybody try to tell West that Smith’s penchant for checkdown passes isn’t dangerous any time soon.
Jonathan Stewart
Play: The Best Kind of Fumble
Date: Week 4
One of the running back's most important jobs is to hold on to the football. If they don't, it can spell disaster for both the team and the player. This play was kind of the opposite. The Panthers' Jonathan Stewart coughed up the ball on a wet day in Tampa, but fortunately for him tight end Ed Dickson was ready to rumble. Stewart's teammate reacted faster than everybody else, plucked the ball out of the air, and before anybody could even react, he was on his way to the end zone to double Carolina's lead and ultimately help his team improve to 4-0.
Adrian Peterson
Play: AP Can Still Burn
Date: Week 4
Many wondered if a year away from football and a lot of miles on him already would make Adrian Peterson a second tier player this season. Um, yeah...about that...AP is clearly not done. No wonder he thinks he can run for 2000 yards again.
Mario Williams
Play: The Piledriver
Date: Week 4
If he weren't one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, Mario Williams clearly has a future in WWE. Poor Rashad Jennings found that out the hard way on Sunday, as Williams got into the backfield and flipped the Giants running back's world upside down, literally. The lesson: It really hurts not to be the biggest dude on the field.
Odell Beckham Jr.
Play: The New Human Highlight Reel
Date: Week 4
This Odell Beckham Jr. thing is getting out of control. Even his incompletions are highlight-reel plays. This one was basically a mirror image of his miracle, career-defining catch against the Cowboys last year, but sadly for all of us it will just go down in the box score history as an incomplete pass. Sometimes life just isn't fair.
Kam Chancellor
Play: Launching #BatGate
Date: Week 4
What would a Seahawks Monday Night Football game be without a little controversy? Before Seattle’s K.J. Wright could launch a national controversy with his “bat,” it was Kam Chancellor who started it all with a timely strip of Calvin Johnson as the all-world wide receiver stretched out for a touchdown that would have put the Lions ahead with less than two minutes to go. Pay him, indeed.
