Fantasy Playoff Reactions: Week 16
Were we victorious? I was. I am in the championship in 6 of my leagues. Now time to finish the mission. I’ll update you next week on how it goes!
I hope you all had a merry Christmas and happy holidays. I know I did. Way too much food and cookies. Christmas cookies are my weakness. Christmas day was tough, the Dolphins lost a terrible, terrible game. Inexplicable. Time and time again the Dolphins let me down as the end of the season approaches. Shrug it off, I guess. ANYWAYS, there was some solid action this weekend in the NFL, so let’s get right into it.
Jaguars vs Jets
You know when Michael Carter is the leader in fantasy points and the Jets scored 3 points, that there was very little fantasy production on the team. Michael Carter led with 10 points and Tyler Conklin with 7.4 points. Not great. The Jets had to play their 4th different quarterback this season. They already announced that Mike White will be the starter against the Dolphins. Jets now are facing a 4-game losing streak and will be facing the Dolphins who also are on a 4-game skid. Should be interesting!
The Jaguars had a better night. It was rainy and gross for most of the game but they scored, unlike the Jets. Plus, Riley Patterson had 4 field goals (14 points). I’m guessing he helped out someone’s lineup big time. I had Travis Etienne going in a 2-week championship, so I was hoping he’d find the endzone when they gave him the ball 3 times in one goal-line series. Unbelievable that he didn’t fall in. He finished with 14.2 points. Trevor Lawrence managed to score 18 points despite no passing touchdowns. He had a superman dive at the goal line for a TD. Evan Engram with an excellent 18 points as well. I’m going to be facing him next weekend in a championship game. Although, the guy has Hockenson too, so hopefully he doesn’t start both…
Bills vs Bears
Chicago got off to a quick start and then had a very long break in production. Scored at 9:41 in the first and never saw the end zone again. Just a field goal in the 2nd quarter (3:21) and another in the 4th quarter (10:19). Plus, looking at the Bears players’ scores, and seeing David Montgomery leading them with 10 is rough. Justin Fields hadn’t scored sub-10 points since week 3. Cole Kmet had a couple of big weeks a few games ago, but he only ended up with 7.7 this week. Rough outing for Bears fantasy scores.
The Bills came into town, got trapped in town, and left town with a dub. Josh Allen led with just under 23 points. He threw for 172 yards and 2 TDs, but also had 41 rush yards and a TD on the ground. Not the typical week from Josh, but 22.98 points is nothing to scoff at. Stefon Diggs with another letdown week. Only a measly 4.6 points from him. That makes it 22 total points in the last three weeks from Diggs. Hopefully, he can put together a huge championship week for the fantasy managers out there relying on him. *Cough* *cough* TOTALLY not me… Anyways. Dawson Knox had another impressive week. 12.8 from him this week after the touchdown late in the 4th quarter. The real production came from Devin Singletary (20.5 pts) and James Cook (17.8 pts). Singletary had 106 rushing yards and a TD and Cook had 99 yards and a TD. Great production from the duo. Bills move on to Cincinnati next Monday night which is a huge game for playoff purposes. Both teams want a chance at the first-round bye.
Saints vs Browns
Cleveland had the smallest of chances to make the playoffs before this game. Afterward, they were eliminated. Bummer. The future is bright (ish?) in Cleveland. Regroup next season with a normal offseason under Watson’s belt. Another offense with very little fantasy production. Seems to be a theme in the freezing-cold games. Amari Cooper (surprisingly) led the Browns in fantasy points. He had 13.2 off 6 catches for 72 yards. Cooper had the chance to reel in a TD pass late in the 2nd quarter, but dropped it on 3rd & 10, resulting in a field goal. Bummer. Could have been a 20-point week. Deshaun Watson had 11.8 and Nick Chubb managed to score 11, breaking his 3-game streak of sub-10-point weeks. Hunt, Njoku, and Peoples-Jones all had less than 5 points each. Bad week.
The Saints who often play in a dome, came to Cleveland and played in a polar vortex, and went home with the win! Home-field advantage my ass! Alvin Kamara returned to form, scoring 19 points finally. We hadn’t seen him score big since week 8 when he dropped 42. Taysom Hill wound up scoring 10+ again this week with 11 points. Solid option to use as a TE if you were smart enough! Rashid Shaheed had the opportunity for another big week with Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry out, but he only score 8 points. Not much of a deep ball threat in high winds and freezing temperatures. Maybe next week for the rookie. The Saints got the win!
Seahawks vs Chiefs
The past two weeks haven’t been great for Geno Smith. At least, from a fantasy football perspective. 15.3 points last week and 12.2 this week. Only 215 yards and a touchdown. The only other person to score better than Geno was D.K. Metcalf with 15. His 7 catches for 81 yards got him there. No touchdown, however. That only TD from Geno went to Noah Fant and his 2 catches for 12 yards (9.2 pts). Kenneth Walker had a good real-life day, but not so much a fantasy day. He had 107 yards rushing and 12.5 pts. No touchdown for him this week, but 100+ yards is great. D.K. is going to have to step up in a big way down the stretch here.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are close to being on autopilot. They want to secure that first-round bye and I believe if they win next week against the Broncos and the Bills lose to the Bengals, they will get it. But I’m not 100% sure about that. Mahomes in this game threw for 224 yards and 2 TDs. Good for 23.7 points. Helping lineups into championships across the world I am sure. Travis Kelce had a solid week, no surprise there. He caught 6 passes for 113 yards. No touchdown this week, but man that would have been awesome if he got one on top of the big day. Outside of the Mahomes and Kelce, McKinnon and Pacheco took care of business. Pacheco had 90 all-purpose yards, giving him 10 points and McKinnon had 3 catches for 31 yards and a TD. Which was 12.8 points. Continuing to help rosters down the stretch. JuJu had a quieter week, scoring 5.7 pts on 3 catches for 27 yards. A bounce-back week for him would be great next week.
Giants vs Vikings
The Giants have now lost 4 of the last 6 and also tied once in that span. So, one win in 6 weeks. Not a great second half of the season for the G-men. They competed in this one, though. Daniel Jones threw for 334 yards and a TD. Also tacked on 34 rush yards giving him 20.7 pts on the week. Solid. Saquon Barkley also had a big week. 84 rush yards and a TD with 8 catches for 49 yards on top of it. 27.3 points in the semifinals from Saquon. You love to see it. Isaiah Hodgins out of nowhere scored 22.9 points. He caught 8 passes for 89 yards and a TD. Big day. If you played him, well done. I did not. Even Richie James had a solid night. 17 points from 8 catches for 90 yards. Solid fantasy day from the Giants’ skill players.
The Vikings have had 11 games decided by 1 score this season (one was technically 8 points but it still counts). I feel like the past two years they were always on the losing end of those games, now the script has flipped. Kirk is ballin’ out. Justin Jefferson is ballin’ out. Kirk had 299 passing yards and 3 TDs. A big 24-point week from Kirk. T.J. Hockenson was the story of the day. A massive 35.9-point week from Hockenson. 13 catches for 109 yards and 2 TDs. Justin Jefferson ALSO had a huge day. 12 catches, 133 yards, and a TD (31.3 points). Dalvin Cook wound up having a quieter day, only scoring 10.7 points. 64 rushing yards and 3 catches. Great win by the Vikings.
Bengals vs Patriots
The Bengals got out to a quick lead, up 22-0 in the second quarter. The problem was, that was the only points they would score in the game. The Patriots were the only team to score in the second half. Kendrick Bourne had a solid day at the office. 6 catches for 100 yards and a TD (24.9 pts). I guess he is out of the dog house now?? Jakobi Meyers was fortunate to reel in a deep pass and score on that play. He finished with 6 catches for 100 yards and that TD I mentioned. Google it if you didn’t see it, it’s very funny how it occurred. Mac Jones was the last fantasy-relevant player for the Patriots. Finishing with 17.5 points from 240 yards and 2 TDs. The second half of the season has not been great for the Patriots.
The Bengals and their fans had to have been a little worried as the Patriots were given chance after chance near the end of this game. The defense held strong though and got the win. Tee Higgins was a large part of why the Bengals got this win. He had 8 catches for 128 yards and a score. A whopping 26.8 points this week. Ja’Marr Chase had plenty of opportunities, as he saw the most targets with 9. Only caught 8 for 79 yards, with no touchdown. 13.9 points after his fumble. Joe Burrow had a solid 23.5 points, but dammit it should have been more considering that all came in the first half. Trenton Irwin had the biggest day with 2 touchdowns (19.5 points), but I doubt anyone was playing him. Mixon had 17.8 points, not bad! I wish he was getting more work. They seem to be saving him for the playoffs. I dunno, just a guess.
Lions vs Panthers
Has Sam Darnold been resurrected? The Panthers have been the most efficient offense in the NFL the past few weeks. 250 passing yards and 2 total TDs. 21.9 fantasy points as well. The run game is truly what gave the Panthers the win this week. Chuba Hubbard had 125 rushing yards and D’Onta Foreman had 165 yards and a TD. Huge day for the duo. 22.5 points for Foreman and 12.5 for Chuba. D.J. Moore had another solid week. 5 catches for 83 yards and a TD (20.1 points). The Panthers players are going to be solid going forward. They have A LOT to play for, so they will be playing their best football (we assume).
Falcons vs Ravens
The Falcons haven’t had the greatest fantasy production since Desmond Ridder took over. This week, Tyler Allgeier and Drake London were able to put together solid weeks. Allgeier finished with 15.7 fantasy points. He had 74 rushing yards and a handful of catches (four) for 43 yards. No touchdown, although that would have been a killer week. Drake London caught 7 passes for 97 yards, but again, no score. Hopefully, Ridder can learn and take over this offense for next season. He completed 66% of his passes (22/33) and had 218 yards to go with it. The no-touchdowns thing hurts. Maybe next week!
The Lamar Jackson-less Ravens are now 10-5 thanks to this victory. The Ravens can win without Lamar but the Dolphins can’t even hold a 10-point lead. Sorry, off-topic. Tyler Huntley and Gus Edwards were the main reasons Baltimore secured the victory. On the flip side, there was little to no fantasy production in this game. Tyler Huntley led with 13.2 points, and Gus Edwards was the next-highest scorer with 9.9 points. And those 9.9 were entirely his rushing yards. Mark Andrews with another crappy week. His 7.5 didn’t do much for your team (most likely). J.K. Dobbins came back down to earth this week as he only had 5.9 points on 59 rush yards. Pretty boring game, but at least they got the win.
Texans vs Titans
Shocker, Derrick Henry had a bunch of rushing yards against the Texans. Just another Texans/Titans matchup, I dunno what to tell you. Henry had 126 yards and a touchdown. Good for 18.6 points. Helped me move into a title game! Malik Willis is still going through his struggles. Only 99 passing yards, threw 2 INTs, had 43 rushing yards, and was able to scamper into the endzone for a TD. He had 10.2 points this week. That would be it for fantasy production from the Titans. Robert Woods was the next best score with 7 points. Tough.
The Texans, who have no reason to win, came in and stole this one from the Titans. It even pushed the Titans out of a playoff spot. Yikes. Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel handled the QB duties, yes, they use a 2QB rotation sort of thing. Driskel didn’t see too much action, however. Mills threw for 178 yards, a TD, and an interception. 9.92 points for the sophomore QB. Brandin Cooks returned to action this week. He caught 4 passes for 34 yards and a touchdown giving him the Texans’ high-scoring fantasy week with 13.4 points. It gets pretty bleak after that. Rex Burkhead had 8.7 points as the third-highest scorer. Strange game, but the Texans go home with the victory.
Commanders vs 49ers
Well, the Taylor Heinicke experience wasn’t working out so the Commanders put Carson Wentz in to see what he could do. Both QBs played okay, at least in my opinion. But the coaching staff was not satisfied with Heinicke’s production. 18 points combined from the two QBs. Jahan Dotson was the Commanders’ high scorer. Dotson scored 19.6 points this week, making it two weeks in a row with big games. He had 6 catches for 76 yards and a score. Terry McLaurin had another good week as well. He caught 4 passes for 77 yards and a TD. 17.7 points for the veteran WR. Three wide receivers with solid production this week. Curtis Samuel got in the action too, he had 16.4 points off his 5 catches for 52 yards and a TD. The run game was different. Brian Robinson had all of the opportunity in front of him but was unable to get much going. 22 carries for 58 yards.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers can’t be stopped! Huge 37-20 win this week. 234 yards and 2 TDs (both to Kittle) was good for a 16-point week for Mr. Irrelevant. As I just mentioned, Kittle had a huge day. Caught 6 passes for 120 yards and 2 scores. A massive 30-point week from the veteran tight end. The next high scorer was Christian McCaffrey. Only 13.8 points, but they didn’t need him much this week. A quiet week with 46 rush yards and a score with 2 catches for 12 yards. Not horrible, but not great. Ray-Ray McCloud had a huge play for 74 yards. He ran an end-around handoff to the end zone giving him 13.1 points. I don’t think many, if any, were playing him this week, but if you did, congrats! Brandon Aiyuk had a decent day and caught 5 passes for 81 yards (13.1 points). The 49ers keep on rollin’!
Eagles vs Cowboys
What a game this was! The Eagles were without Jalen Hurts but apparently, Gardner Minshew is still capable of going toe-to-toe with one of the better defenses in the NFL. Love me some Minshew Mania. He threw for 355 yards and 2 TDs in the air and one on the ground. The two interceptions hurt. Either way, he finished with 22.7 points. Big week filling in for Hurts. DeVonta Smith was the star player for the Eagles’ offense. A massive 31.3-point week in the semifinals from DeVonta. A.J. Brown took the backseat this week, scoring 16 points off 6 catches for 103 yards. Dallas Goedert had a decent day in his return from injury. 9.7 points off 3 catches for 67 yards. Solid production from the Eagles, but not enough for the win.
The Cowboys took care of business and dropped 40 points. Dak Prescott led the charge with 347 yards and 3 TDs. Also tacked on 41 rushing yards giving him 27.9 points this week. CeeDee Lamb benefitted greatly from Dak’s big week. Lamb caught 10 passes for 120 yards and 2 TDs giving him 34 points this week. Massive during the semifinals. Tony Pollard came in third with 14 points coming almost entirely from his 6 catches for 61 yards. No touchdown for him this week. Ezekiel Elliott handled the rushing work. He had 55 yards and a touchdown giving him 13.1 points on the week. Michael Gallup also got involved. Caught 4 passes for 36 yards and a TD. A big week at the right time for those of you who needed to play him. Cowboys get one game closer to winning the division.
Steelers vs Raiders
I’m not sure who is better a blowing leads, the Raiders or the Dolphins. I’m going with the Raiders because they’ve done it COUNTLESS times this season. And against the Steelers now? I mean, I enjoy the Steelers as much as any other non-Steelers hater there is, but this offense is no powerhouse? How do you blow that? Oh well. You know when Hunter Renfrow is leading the Raiders in fantasy points either something weird happened or they were stinking it up. Turns out, it was a little of both. Renfrow caught 4 passes for 42 yards and a TD which gave him 14.2 points this week. Waller came in at 9.8 points, which is fine for a tight end, but it’s not giving you any sort of advantage in your matchup. Rough day for the Raiders’ offense.
The Steelers won this for Franco. No doubt about it. Their offense was abysmal the whole game. The final drive was led by Franco, I know it. Pickens caught the game-winning touchdown giving him 5 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. A solid 16.7-point week. Najee Harris is putting together a solid finish to the season. He had 15.5 points this week off 53 rushing yards and 6 catches for 42 yards. No touchdown, but that could have given him a huge day. Pat Freiermuth and Diontae Johnson each had double-digit scores. Muth scored 13.6 from 7 catches for 66 yards and Diontae had 11.4 on 5 catches for 64 yards. The Steelers need to find the end zone more next season. I miss those days. Great win for the Steelers, giving them playoff hopes for another week!
Packers vs Dolphins
It pains me to write this one. Had the lead going into halftime and blew it in the second half. Three interceptions in the 4th quarter will do that. Fricken Tua. And then we find out on Monday that he was concussed (most likely) in the second half. Just super unfortunate. Two concussions in the same season is not good for a player. I’ll turn my focus to the skill players as they had some good weeks. Jaylen Waddle exploded for 25.3 points this week. He had a massive 84-yard TD catch. 5 catches for 143 yards and a TD for Waddle. Tyreek Hill took the backseat this week. He had 4 catches for 103 yards, but no touchdown. 14.3 for Tyreek. Jeff Wilson got to 11 thanks to his goal-line touchdown, but hopefully, he can open it up next week as we will be without Tua I am assuming. Tough, tough loss for the Dolphins, and our December Depression continues…
The Packers played the better game. There are 4 quarters in football and you have to execute in all 4 to win. The Packers did just that. Rodgers threw for 238 yards and a score. Good for 13.3 points and the team leader. Gross. A.J. Dillon was the next high scorer with 12.8 points. He had 36 rush yards and a touchdown. Aaron Jones was kept in check this week. Only 5.4 points for the veteran running back. Allen Lazard and Christian Watson both managed to score double digits. Lazard had 11 and Watson had 10.1. Decent weeks, probably not making a huge difference in your matchup. Packers get the win and move closer to a playoff spot. You’re welcome, Packers fans…
Broncos vs Rams
I’ll tell you what, I was “watching” this game while spending time with family, so I am so confused about how the Rams ended up with 51 points. Despite only having 14 points, the Broncos had some decent fantasy scorers. Jerry Jeudy led the team with 17.7 points. He had 6 catches for 117 yards. No score, but that would have been cool! Greg Dulcich had another good week. He caught 4 passes for 39 yards and a TD. Solid score from him this week with 13.9 points. Cortland Sutton put together a double-digit week. He scored 11 off 5 catches for 64 yards. Not great, but not bad. That’s about it for this offense. No rush attack and only 2 touchdowns.
The Rams dropped a 50-burg in week 16 with Baker Mayfield and Cam Akers leading the backfield. I surely did not expect to be writing this and talking about Cam Akers scoring 34.7 points and being the RB1 on the week. Hell, even Tyler Higbee scored 30 points! (9 for 94 yards and 2 TDs) What is happening?! Baker wound up with 17.4 points from 230 yards and 2 TDs. Hell of a day for the Rams. Curious to see how the offseason shakes down for them.
Buccaneers vs Cardinals
This was another gross game to watch for most of it. It got a little spicy late in the game and then we wound up in overtime. Trace McSorley did his best to keep the Cardinals in this game, he just came up short. James Conner was a large part of why the Cardinals were in this game for most of it. Conner had 25 fantasy points. Ran for 79 yards and a touchdown while also adding 7 catches for 41 yards. Huge comeback at the end of the season for him. Greg Dortch out of nowhere scored 22 points. Caught 10 passes for 98 yards and had a couple of rushing attempts. Their next high-scorer was Marquise Brown with 8.8 points.
The Bucs had to grind this one out, but they got the win. Tom Brady finished with 281 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs (11.3 pts). Leonard Fournette had the biggest day for the Bucs. 25 fantasy points from 72 rushing yards and 9 catches for 90 yards. Realistically, he was the only one getting it done for the Bucs. Rachaad White scored 15.3 points. He ran for 36 yards and caught 4 passes for 17 yards and a TD. Chris Godwin managed to score 14 from 8 catches for 63 yards. He was so close to a TD at one point. Oh well. The Bucs got the win here, but it was ugly. They did fall out of 1st place in the NFC South, however. So they need to beat Carolina next week to get in!
