FIVE & FIVE: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES/DISAPPOINTMENTS FROM SUNDAY

We wrap up the 11th Sunday of the NFL season by looking at a handful of players who exceeded expectations and a handful who failed to deliver.

Surprises

Chad Henne, Jaguars: Henne might not be the long-term answer in Jacksonville, but it certainly doesn't seem as though Blaine Gabbert is either. So at least Jags fans have some hope now that Henne has taken over for Gabbert and put forward a really good performance in an overtime loss to the Texans. His completion percentage wasn't high, but Henne made some very good throws.

Justin Blackmon, Jaguars: So yeah, the Jags were quite the surprise this week. And the best part is that their talented first-round pick had a breakout performance in Houston, nearly doubling his yardage total for the season with 236 yards on seven grabs.

C.J. Mosley, Jaguars: One more Jag for good measure. The veteran Mosley entered Sunday with nine sacks in 91 career games. But he sacked Schaub twice and forced a fumble in Houston.

Garrett Graham, Texans: Gotta give credit to the Texans, too, who had a massive day on offense. Not surprising, especially from Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, but Graham is the backup tight end and he entered this game with 161 yards and one touchdown in his career. But the 2010 fourth-round pick busted out with eight catches, 82 yards and two scores against Jacksonville.

Mark Sanchez, Jets: Right when the circus atmosphere reached a whole new level in New York, Sanchez delivered the best performance of his season against a solid Rams defense. Definitely didn't expect him to complete 75 percent of his passes while leading the Jets to a rebound-style victory.

Disappointments

Andrew Luck, Colts: It's not as though you can expect a rookie to be dominant week in and week out, but this was an important game for Luck to send a message against a big rival. But it was disappointing to see the first-overall pick complete only 54 percent of his passes while throwing three picks against a mediocre-at-best defense. 

DeSean Jackson/Jeremy Maclin, Eagles: I know the offensive line is terrible and they were dealing with a rookie quarterback making his first career start, but how do Jackson and Maclin combine for just two catches and five yards on 12 targets against a bad Redskins pass defense? 

Matthew Stafford, Lions: The hell was that? Big divisional game for Stafford and he was a dud at home against Green Bay, posting a horrendous passer rating of 54.0. That's unacceptable. With only an average performance from their young stud quarterback, the Lions probably beat the Packers Sunday.

Arian Foster, Texans: Houston still managed to hang on against the Jaguars, but no thanks to Foster. The All-Pro back averaged just 2.8 yards per attempt on 28 carries against a Jacksonville defense that had given up over 137 rushing yards per game coming in.

Michael Turner, Falcons: Turner makes this list for the second straight week because I really figured he'd bounce back after a terrible performance last week. But only 46 yards on 15 carries? That means he now has just 61 yards on his last 28 runs. Matt Ryan and the passing game need more support than that.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

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