When I lose, I like to drown my sorrows in a horror movie. Last night it was the 2016 South Korean classic, "The Wailing." Now what happened to my team doesn’t seem so bad. So kudos to very long-time FF4W community member Jaders Calcano for crushing me in the Premier League semis, and congrats to all of you who've advanced, or who are looking good heading into tonight.
Meanwhile, my DFS 50/50 fell short despite clearing 140 points--I believe the highest total I've ever had that didn't win. That's life in the high-stakes world of fantasy football, where "effort" and "almost" are meaningless.
And now, as always, the most notable fantasy impacts of each Sunday team:
Patriots -- Julian Edelman finally had a dud, and Tom Brady fell below his previous 2019 rock-bottom with 4.4 yards per attempt against a defense that had been second worst in the league (8.4 yards per attempt). Despite the 34 points, New England is limping into the playoffs after a contest that was way too close in the first 30 minutes. And I've gotta highlight Mohamed Sanu, who caught only two of eight passes and is as irrelevant as this page predicted, back when many folks believed he'd be a game-changer.
Bengals -- Joe Mixon has made some managers look brilliant. If you traded for him midseason or refused to let him go, you've more than earned every point since then. He's now the 14th best fantasy RB.
Buccaneers -- What injury? Jameis Winston is the same error-prone QB he's always been. But he's also posted back-to-back 450-yard performances despite missing Mike Evans for most of those games and Chris Godwin for a good chunk of one of them. Winston should easily exceed 5,000 yards by Week 17--a near-lock to lead the NFL in that category. Oh, and hats off to those who plugged in Breshad Perriman, the former first-round bust who's finally put it all together. And if you're still in the playoffs with Godwin, obviously brace yourself for what could be an absence next weekend.
Lions -- Wes Hills' fluky production aside, Danny Amendola came through. He was my biggest WR bargain of the week, and he'll continue to provide streaming value with Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson sidelined.
Bears -- I cautioned multiple readers yesterday to bench David Montgomery. He's now been unstartable in five of six games.
Packers -- Similarly, Aaron Rodgers has been unstartable in five of six games.
Texans -- If you rolled the dice on Carlos Hyde, you were braver and smarter than me.
Titans -- While Ryan Tannehill didn't get the W, he once again looked like a franchise QB. And to those who questioned me promoting Jonnu Smith, he's now been a TE1 in back-to-back weeks. As I often say, talent usually wins.
Broncos -- Phillip Lindsay busted as expected, and Drew Lock fell back to earth. But Courtland Sutton continued to prove me wrong.
Chiefs -- It took 15 weeks, but Darwin Thompson finally showed what he could do as the pseudo-lead back.
Dolphins -- For weeks I've been warning that Patrick Laird is overvalued and Myles Gaskin is undervalued. Yesterday Gaskin looked better and could help desperate fantasy managers next week against lowly Cincinnati.
Giants -- Saquon Barkley finally re-emerged, and Sterling Shepard had his best game since September. In fact, he's cleared 50 yards only three times. It's been that kind of season for 2018's 30th best fantasy WR.
Eagles -- Miles Sanders went bonkers despite yielding 13 touches to Boston Scott, and Greg Ward filled the receiver void. Ward now has 18 targets in two games and is a solid streamer heading into Week 16.
Redskins -- I pushed Terry McLaurin dozens of times yesterday morning on Twitter. He'll be a popular 5th-6th round pick next summer.
Seahawks -- The real Tyler Lockett returned.
Panthers -- Kept waiting for Christian McCaffrey to break down this season. I underestimated his superhuman-ness. He's on pace for 410 touches.
Jaguars -- With D.J. Chark out, Chris Conley made some of you very happy. Don't overcommit in Week 16, though. He's still catching only 53% of balls thrown his way--and under 60% for his career.
Raiders -- Darren Waller became just the 10th TE to go over 1,000 yards in the past 10 seasons. And to think he was a 2015 6th-round pick with 18 career catches entering this season.
Browns -- Nick Chubb got back on track, and Kareem Hunt certainly exceeded my expectations.
Cardinals -- Kenyan Drake was the ultimate Week 15 hero (and in my case, he ruined me). Beating a dead horse: If you listened to me on Drake and David Johnson many weeks ago, you struck gold.
Vikings -- My boldest Week 14 prediction was that Dalvin Cook (consensus RB-4 ranking) wouldn't finish in the top 16. We'll never know what would have happened because of his shoulder injury. But he was on pace for only a 10-point day—yet another example of the shortcomings of a blanket “start your studies“ strategy. Mike Boone might be the top waiver add this week.
Chargers -- Melvin Gordon with a costly performance. He's now sitting at 4.0 YPC, just above his first three seasons. His 2018 breakout is looking more and more like an outlier.
Rams -- Todd Gurley somehow came up big despite gaining only 20 yards on the ground. And Tyler Higbee made me look like an idiot for the second straight week.
Cowboys -- Once again, Tony Pollard showed he's ready to take over this offense if/when needed. What a terrific dynasty stash.
Falcons -- An incredible win for a team that's been playing very good football since their Week 9 bye. Matt Ryan threw to Julio Jones 20 times. Enough said.
49ers -- Raheem Mostert once again led the backfield, though he and Matt Breida lost fumbles. Still, Mostert dominated fourth-quarter touches; he'll remain the top guy for now.
Bills -- John Brown does it again; he's now the #15 fantasy WR vs. a preseason consensus WR-54 ranking.
Steelers -- James Conner inexplicably earned only 12 touches, while for some reason Devlin Hodges threw it 38 times, averaging a career-worst 5.4 yards per attempt. Stay away from Conner next week against a stingy Jets defense giving up a league-best 3.3 yards per carry--and what had been an incredible 3.0 before the Ravens crushed them Thursday.
Meanwhile, my DFS 50/50 fell short despite clearing 140 points--I believe the highest total I've ever had that didn't win. That's life in the high-stakes world of fantasy football, where "effort" and "almost" are meaningless.
And now, as always, the most notable fantasy impacts of each Sunday team:
Patriots -- Julian Edelman finally had a dud, and Tom Brady fell below his previous 2019 rock-bottom with 4.4 yards per attempt against a defense that had been second worst in the league (8.4 yards per attempt). Despite the 34 points, New England is limping into the playoffs after a contest that was way too close in the first 30 minutes. And I've gotta highlight Mohamed Sanu, who caught only two of eight passes and is as irrelevant as this page predicted, back when many folks believed he'd be a game-changer.
Bengals -- Joe Mixon has made some managers look brilliant. If you traded for him midseason or refused to let him go, you've more than earned every point since then. He's now the 14th best fantasy RB.
Buccaneers -- What injury? Jameis Winston is the same error-prone QB he's always been. But he's also posted back-to-back 450-yard performances despite missing Mike Evans for most of those games and Chris Godwin for a good chunk of one of them. Winston should easily exceed 5,000 yards by Week 17--a near-lock to lead the NFL in that category. Oh, and hats off to those who plugged in Breshad Perriman, the former first-round bust who's finally put it all together. And if you're still in the playoffs with Godwin, obviously brace yourself for what could be an absence next weekend.
Lions -- Wes Hills' fluky production aside, Danny Amendola came through. He was my biggest WR bargain of the week, and he'll continue to provide streaming value with Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson sidelined.
Bears -- I cautioned multiple readers yesterday to bench David Montgomery. He's now been unstartable in five of six games.
Packers -- Similarly, Aaron Rodgers has been unstartable in five of six games.
Texans -- If you rolled the dice on Carlos Hyde, you were braver and smarter than me.
Titans -- While Ryan Tannehill didn't get the W, he once again looked like a franchise QB. And to those who questioned me promoting Jonnu Smith, he's now been a TE1 in back-to-back weeks. As I often say, talent usually wins.
Broncos -- Phillip Lindsay busted as expected, and Drew Lock fell back to earth. But Courtland Sutton continued to prove me wrong.
Chiefs -- It took 15 weeks, but Darwin Thompson finally showed what he could do as the pseudo-lead back.
Dolphins -- For weeks I've been warning that Patrick Laird is overvalued and Myles Gaskin is undervalued. Yesterday Gaskin looked better and could help desperate fantasy managers next week against lowly Cincinnati.
Giants -- Saquon Barkley finally re-emerged, and Sterling Shepard had his best game since September. In fact, he's cleared 50 yards only three times. It's been that kind of season for 2018's 30th best fantasy WR.
Eagles -- Miles Sanders went bonkers despite yielding 13 touches to Boston Scott, and Greg Ward filled the receiver void. Ward now has 18 targets in two games and is a solid streamer heading into Week 16.
Redskins -- I pushed Terry McLaurin dozens of times yesterday morning on Twitter. He'll be a popular 5th-6th round pick next summer.
Seahawks -- The real Tyler Lockett returned.
Panthers -- Kept waiting for Christian McCaffrey to break down this season. I underestimated his superhuman-ness. He's on pace for 410 touches.
Jaguars -- With D.J. Chark out, Chris Conley made some of you very happy. Don't overcommit in Week 16, though. He's still catching only 53% of balls thrown his way--and under 60% for his career.
Raiders -- Darren Waller became just the 10th TE to go over 1,000 yards in the past 10 seasons. And to think he was a 2015 6th-round pick with 18 career catches entering this season.
Browns -- Nick Chubb got back on track, and Kareem Hunt certainly exceeded my expectations.
Cardinals -- Kenyan Drake was the ultimate Week 15 hero (and in my case, he ruined me). Beating a dead horse: If you listened to me on Drake and David Johnson many weeks ago, you struck gold.
Vikings -- My boldest Week 14 prediction was that Dalvin Cook (consensus RB-4 ranking) wouldn't finish in the top 16. We'll never know what would have happened because of his shoulder injury. But he was on pace for only a 10-point day—yet another example of the shortcomings of a blanket “start your studies“ strategy. Mike Boone might be the top waiver add this week.
Chargers -- Melvin Gordon with a costly performance. He's now sitting at 4.0 YPC, just above his first three seasons. His 2018 breakout is looking more and more like an outlier.
Rams -- Todd Gurley somehow came up big despite gaining only 20 yards on the ground. And Tyler Higbee made me look like an idiot for the second straight week.
Cowboys -- Once again, Tony Pollard showed he's ready to take over this offense if/when needed. What a terrific dynasty stash.
Falcons -- An incredible win for a team that's been playing very good football since their Week 9 bye. Matt Ryan threw to Julio Jones 20 times. Enough said.
49ers -- Raheem Mostert once again led the backfield, though he and Matt Breida lost fumbles. Still, Mostert dominated fourth-quarter touches; he'll remain the top guy for now.
Bills -- John Brown does it again; he's now the #15 fantasy WR vs. a preseason consensus WR-54 ranking.
Steelers -- James Conner inexplicably earned only 12 touches, while for some reason Devlin Hodges threw it 38 times, averaging a career-worst 5.4 yards per attempt. Stay away from Conner next week against a stingy Jets defense giving up a league-best 3.3 yards per carry--and what had been an incredible 3.0 before the Ravens crushed them Thursday.