3 NFL Takeaways: Michael Thomas Might Be the Best Player in the NFL

As his fifth season comes to a close, Jameis Winston may just be what he is. There’s certainly nothing else like him in the NFL - but he’s the type of player you enjoy watching play for someone else’s team significantly more than the one you root for or have wagered on.

After becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 450 yards in consecutive regular season games, Winston opened up the Week 16 Saturday slate of games by throwing a pick-six on his first pass attempt of the game. He’d also get picked off on his final throw of the day, part of a four-interception performance for the former No. 1 overall pick. Winston has been picked off 28 times in 2019, the highest interception total for a quarterback in 14 years.

Of course, the quarterback that led the NFL in interceptions 14 years ago was Brett Favre, and he finished the 2005 season with 35 interceptions. He would still go on to appear in two more NFC Championship Games, one with the Green Bay Packers and one with the Minnesota Vikings.

No one is suggesting that Winston is Favre. But, despite throwing four interceptions in Week 16, Winston still racked up 335 passing yards and had the Buccaneers in a game late against the now-AFC South Champion Houston Texans.

However, over the course of half a decade, most quarterbacks show you what they are, and it’s on you to evaluate if they are good enough to help achieve organizational goals.

The Buccaneers can hope that in a second year under Bruce Arians, Winston figures out how to limit his turnovers. If he does, it’s not hyperbole to think he could be an NFL MVP candidate. That said, he now has four games in 2019 with at least four interceptions, and six with at least three. That style has a ceiling, and it almost certainly isn’t in the playoffs in most years.

It’s fair to wonder if the Buccaneers could upgrade over Winston this off-season, be it in free agency or the NFL Draft. That’s perhaps the best argument for retaining Winston, whose rookie deal expires at the conclusion of the season. Should they extend him, though, they can hope for the best, but it would be foolish at this stage not to think that Winston is always going to be super turnover prone. There’s five years of evidence.

Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson is going to win the NFL MVP, and there's a good chance that Seattle Seahawks' quarterback Russell Wilson will finish runner up. There's a case to be made, though, that New Orleans Saints' star wide receiver Michael Thomas should win the Offensive Player of the Year, as he's perhaps established himself as the most dominant player at any position in the sport.

In the Saints' 38-28 win in Tennessee in Week 16, Thomas hauled in 12 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown. It was his seventh game in 2019 with at least 120 receiving yards. It was his ninth game this season with at least 10 receptions, which is a fitting way to note that he broke Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison's record for receptions in a single season, a record that had stood since 2002.

A year ago, Thomas was an All-Pro, as he led the NFL with 125 catches, while also tallying 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns. The Saints rewarded the fourth-year pro with a five-year/$96.25 million extension prior to the season, guaranteeing him over $60 million. Thomas, still only 26, has rewarded the Saints in turn with one of the greatest individual seasons that a wide receiver has ever had. He's set a new record with 145 catches, and has 1,688 receiving yards entering the final week of the 2019 season, a staggering total.

Mind you, future Hall of Famer Drew Brees missed nearly six full games in 2019 with a thumb injury. In the five games that the Saints were without Brees entirely, they went 5-0 with Teddy Bridgewater under center. Some of that is probably indicative of Bridgewater being a starting-caliber quarterback. It's also a pretty good sign that Sean Payton's offensive genius will keep the Saints afloat after Brees' career ends. Still, though, Thomas is probably the biggest reason that the Saints will enter Week 17 in control of the No. 2 seed and in position to potentially still secure home-field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs.

Thomas, a 2016 second-round pick, has been an elite wide receiver since he entered the league. In his first NFL season, the former Ohio State Buckeye had 92 catches for 1,137 yards and nine touchdowns. That's his worst professional season to date. Sunday left you with the feeling that we've reached the point where the discussion is no longer about whether Thomas is the best player at his position, but at any position.

FOX showed it during Sunday’s Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game Sunday, and it's been shown during every nationally televised NFC East matchup for at least a decade. No team has won the NFC East in consecutive seasons since 2004, when the Eagles won four straight division titles. Ironically, an Eagles win Sunday seems like to keep that streak alive.

Despite being about as undermanned as possible, the Eagles defeated the Cowboys 17-9 Sunday, putting them a win over the New York Giants or a Cowboys' loss in Washington away from winning what's been a historically bad NFC East.

Fittingly, things weren't especially pretty in Sunday's Eagles win. Carson Wentz did throw for over 300 yards, but Miles Sanders led the team with 79 rushing yards and Dallas Goedert was the team's leading receiver with 91 yards on nine catches.

After taking a 10-0 first quarter lead, the Eagles scored just seven points the rest of the game. That was enough, though, as Jim Schwartz's defense limited the Cowboys to just nine points, with kicker Kai Forbath the only Cowboy that entered the scoring column in a 17-9 Eagles' win.

The Cowboys could still win the NFC East in Week 17 if the Eagles lose in New Jersey and the Cowboys take care of business at home against Washington. Even if that happens, though, it feels like it's just a matter of when Jason Garrett is fired, as opposed to if. The Cowboys have the No. 1 offense in the NFL, and yet, they're on the cusp of missing the playoffs.

As far as the Eagles, Troy Aikman called the team's Week 16 win the best team victory he's ever seen on FOX's broadcast. Winning the NFC East doesn't change the need for the Eagles to be retooled this offseason - they clearly overvalued the roster they entered the season with. It says something, though, about Wentz and head coach Doug Pederson that the team is one win away from going 9-7 and winning the NFC East in a season where they've been hit by injuries more than any team in recent memory. Elite organizations find a way to go 9-7, as opposed to 7-9, in years where they are undermanned.

Producers at FOX, NBC, ESPN and CBS slept well Sunday night. At least for another year, it appears they'll be able to lean on the NFC East parity graphic.