For many of us, yesterday was make-or-break to reach the semis or finals. For others, yesterday was about cashing in on another DFS 50/50 lineup, which finished in the top 25% despite getting almost no help from some of the previous week's top positionsal performers: Saquon Barkley, Amari Cooper, Rob Gronkowski, and the Giants DST. Instead, Dalvin Cook and Chris Carson (both posting top-5 RB numbers) proved to be the difference. This brings my season record to 9-5-1 and my two-year total to 20-10-1. Congrats to those who've made a few bucks. Nothing's guaranteed from week to week. But we'll keep riding the wave while we can.
And now, as always, each Sunday team's most notable fantasy storyline:
Cardinals -- Josh Rosen was mercifully pulled. Objectively, no QB with 10+ starts this season has been worse. As I've written many times, he was thrown into the fire too soon, though it's easy to see why Arizona felt it had not choice.
Falcons -- Tevin Coleman finally broke loose against one of the NFL's worst run defenses. Criminally under-utilized week after week, Coleman (4.7 YPC) -- a proven RB1/2 over the years whenever Devonta Freeman's been out -- continues to cede too much work to a rookie averaging only 3.5 YPC. It simply hasn't made sense.
Lions -- I'm sure a lot of people were hesitant to start Kenny Golladay this week. I would have been, too. He's now cleared 1,000 receiving yards and is primed for top-16 production next year.
Bills -- Remember when Zay Jones was all that? Well, Robert Foster has earned back-to-back 100+ yard performances while Jones has scuffled his way back to irrelevancy.
Packers -- A fitting end to an atrocious season in Green Bay where, after eight straight playoff appearances, the Packers are now officially eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight year. From a fantasy perspective, all eyes will be on Aaron Jones this week; if he can's suit up against the Jets, Jamaal Williams will be in most fantasy lineups.
Bears -- Who's the seventh highest scoring fantasy TE? Trey Burton. Surprised? If you ignore the two games when Chase Daniel was throwing, as well as Mitch Trubisky's first (rusty) game back last week, Burton's been fairly dependable: eight games with 9.5 or more fantasy points (for perspective, Gronk has only five). And Burton tied for the team lead in targets yesterday. He remains a solid TE1 with Mitch back to full health.
Raiders -- Three straight good games for Jordy Nelson after recovering from a midseason knee injury. Notice that only one other Oakland wideout caught any passes yesterday (two by Marcell Ateman). Jordy is primed for a strong finish with Denver and Kansas City on deck.
Bengals -- Tyler Boyd did just enough to help fantasy managers (and DFS competitors like me) before getting knocked out with a knee injury. If he misses next week, Cody Core and John Ross will enter the streaming conversation, though clearly the offense will focus even more on Joe Mixon.
Cowboys -- You have to wonder whether Dallas was prepared for this one. The Cowboys were shut out for the first time in 15 years against a bottom-half pass defense. Maybe RG Zack Martin's absence was the difference. Regardless, this is a reminder that Dak Prescott remains hit-or-miss: he's failed to reach 15 fantasy points in eight of 15 games.
Colts -- The return of Marlon Mack. He comes through after five straight outings that ranged from barely startable to unstartable.
Dolphins -- Frank Gore's injury opened the door for rookie Kalen Ballage, who coincidentally I mentioned a few days ago as one of my 13 vastly undervalued non-starting RBs highlighted this preseason. While admittedly I thought game flow would favor Kenyan Drake, the Dolphins stuck with Ballage for good reason. It's safe to say Gore's services will not be needed in Miami next season.
Vikings -- What's better than a healthy Dalvin Cook? Not much. Four consecutive impressive performances since getting healthy, each better than the last.
Titans -- So it wasn't a fluke. Yes, we all know Derrick Henry is talented. But you have to wonder what's changed the past two games (408 yards on 50 carries) versus the previous 12 (478 yards on 128 carries) and whether this sets up Henry as a bellcow RB2 in 2019.
Giants -- A few hours after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport claimed Eli Manning was "playing his way" into the Giants' 2019 plans, Eli demonstrated why he belongs at home in 2019, or perhaps in an office doing typing or filing or whatever. You can blame it on Odell Beckham, Jr.'s absence, or on Tennessee's tough defense. The Giants would be wise to find their QB of the future in 2019 rather than in 2020. It's not as if Eli will be better next year.
Redskins -- A surprising and much-needed victory. And Josh Johnson actually did pretty well. Of course, he'll have it even tougher next week in Tennessee, where realistically no Washington player will be startable.
Jaguars -- Leonard Fournette's bad season got worse.
Buccaneers -- It was easy to see this coming; been hyping it for weeks. I dropped Jameis Winston for good reason on Wednesday. He should remain on waivers next week against a hungry and talented Dallas D.
Ravens -- Gus Edwards out-touched and out-performed Kenneth Dixon, keeping him on the 1A track to Dixon's 1B.
Seahawks -- Doug Baldwin once again reminded people he was once a perennial top-16 WR. Don't sleep on him in drafts next summer.
49ers -- Dante Pettis shined once again, and Marquise Goodwin was invisible once again. It's hard to believe Goodwin was a semi-consistent streamer midseason.
Patriots -- James White's collapse continues. The former RB1 simply isn't part of the game plan. No doubt he'll emerge in the playoffs, or sometime next year, or in 2020. Bill Belichick knows what he's doing. I guess.
Steelers -- Jaylen Samuels compounded the notion that Le'Veon Bell is simply a system back. Fair? Maybe not. But it seems whoever Pittsburgh starts at RB (remember De'Angelo Williams in 2016?) dominates more often than not. If James Conner returns next week, I wouldn't be surprised if Samuels continues to play a 1B role, making both guys risky fantasy starts.
Eagles -- How did this happen? The biggest player story is the return of Wendell Smallwood, who'd earned only four carries in the previous five contests. It's fair to say that he and Josh Adams are looking like TD-dependent RB3/4's the rest of the way.
Rams -- Again, how did this happen? Most notably, Todd Gurley was hampered by a mid-game knee injury. The Rams need him in the playoffs more than the next two games. Keep a close eye on his practices this week. In a game they should dominate next week, I believe John Kelly will cut even more into Gurley's workload.
And now, as always, each Sunday team's most notable fantasy storyline:
Cardinals -- Josh Rosen was mercifully pulled. Objectively, no QB with 10+ starts this season has been worse. As I've written many times, he was thrown into the fire too soon, though it's easy to see why Arizona felt it had not choice.
Falcons -- Tevin Coleman finally broke loose against one of the NFL's worst run defenses. Criminally under-utilized week after week, Coleman (4.7 YPC) -- a proven RB1/2 over the years whenever Devonta Freeman's been out -- continues to cede too much work to a rookie averaging only 3.5 YPC. It simply hasn't made sense.
Lions -- I'm sure a lot of people were hesitant to start Kenny Golladay this week. I would have been, too. He's now cleared 1,000 receiving yards and is primed for top-16 production next year.
Bills -- Remember when Zay Jones was all that? Well, Robert Foster has earned back-to-back 100+ yard performances while Jones has scuffled his way back to irrelevancy.
Packers -- A fitting end to an atrocious season in Green Bay where, after eight straight playoff appearances, the Packers are now officially eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight year. From a fantasy perspective, all eyes will be on Aaron Jones this week; if he can's suit up against the Jets, Jamaal Williams will be in most fantasy lineups.
Bears -- Who's the seventh highest scoring fantasy TE? Trey Burton. Surprised? If you ignore the two games when Chase Daniel was throwing, as well as Mitch Trubisky's first (rusty) game back last week, Burton's been fairly dependable: eight games with 9.5 or more fantasy points (for perspective, Gronk has only five). And Burton tied for the team lead in targets yesterday. He remains a solid TE1 with Mitch back to full health.
Raiders -- Three straight good games for Jordy Nelson after recovering from a midseason knee injury. Notice that only one other Oakland wideout caught any passes yesterday (two by Marcell Ateman). Jordy is primed for a strong finish with Denver and Kansas City on deck.
Bengals -- Tyler Boyd did just enough to help fantasy managers (and DFS competitors like me) before getting knocked out with a knee injury. If he misses next week, Cody Core and John Ross will enter the streaming conversation, though clearly the offense will focus even more on Joe Mixon.
Cowboys -- You have to wonder whether Dallas was prepared for this one. The Cowboys were shut out for the first time in 15 years against a bottom-half pass defense. Maybe RG Zack Martin's absence was the difference. Regardless, this is a reminder that Dak Prescott remains hit-or-miss: he's failed to reach 15 fantasy points in eight of 15 games.
Colts -- The return of Marlon Mack. He comes through after five straight outings that ranged from barely startable to unstartable.
Dolphins -- Frank Gore's injury opened the door for rookie Kalen Ballage, who coincidentally I mentioned a few days ago as one of my 13 vastly undervalued non-starting RBs highlighted this preseason. While admittedly I thought game flow would favor Kenyan Drake, the Dolphins stuck with Ballage for good reason. It's safe to say Gore's services will not be needed in Miami next season.
Vikings -- What's better than a healthy Dalvin Cook? Not much. Four consecutive impressive performances since getting healthy, each better than the last.
Titans -- So it wasn't a fluke. Yes, we all know Derrick Henry is talented. But you have to wonder what's changed the past two games (408 yards on 50 carries) versus the previous 12 (478 yards on 128 carries) and whether this sets up Henry as a bellcow RB2 in 2019.
Giants -- A few hours after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport claimed Eli Manning was "playing his way" into the Giants' 2019 plans, Eli demonstrated why he belongs at home in 2019, or perhaps in an office doing typing or filing or whatever. You can blame it on Odell Beckham, Jr.'s absence, or on Tennessee's tough defense. The Giants would be wise to find their QB of the future in 2019 rather than in 2020. It's not as if Eli will be better next year.
Redskins -- A surprising and much-needed victory. And Josh Johnson actually did pretty well. Of course, he'll have it even tougher next week in Tennessee, where realistically no Washington player will be startable.
Jaguars -- Leonard Fournette's bad season got worse.
Buccaneers -- It was easy to see this coming; been hyping it for weeks. I dropped Jameis Winston for good reason on Wednesday. He should remain on waivers next week against a hungry and talented Dallas D.
Ravens -- Gus Edwards out-touched and out-performed Kenneth Dixon, keeping him on the 1A track to Dixon's 1B.
Seahawks -- Doug Baldwin once again reminded people he was once a perennial top-16 WR. Don't sleep on him in drafts next summer.
49ers -- Dante Pettis shined once again, and Marquise Goodwin was invisible once again. It's hard to believe Goodwin was a semi-consistent streamer midseason.
Patriots -- James White's collapse continues. The former RB1 simply isn't part of the game plan. No doubt he'll emerge in the playoffs, or sometime next year, or in 2020. Bill Belichick knows what he's doing. I guess.
Steelers -- Jaylen Samuels compounded the notion that Le'Veon Bell is simply a system back. Fair? Maybe not. But it seems whoever Pittsburgh starts at RB (remember De'Angelo Williams in 2016?) dominates more often than not. If James Conner returns next week, I wouldn't be surprised if Samuels continues to play a 1B role, making both guys risky fantasy starts.
Eagles -- How did this happen? The biggest player story is the return of Wendell Smallwood, who'd earned only four carries in the previous five contests. It's fair to say that he and Josh Adams are looking like TD-dependent RB3/4's the rest of the way.
Rams -- Again, how did this happen? Most notably, Todd Gurley was hampered by a mid-game knee injury. The Rams need him in the playoffs more than the next two games. Keep a close eye on his practices this week. In a game they should dominate next week, I believe John Kelly will cut even more into Gurley's workload.