A little over two weeks ago, Washington was 2-7 and headed absolutely nowhere. Yesterday they lost their star running back early, and their star receiver was held to his worst performance in more than a year. On paper, there's no reason why Logan Thomas, Cam Sims, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber should have toppled the mostly healthy undefeated Steelers. Any fan of football has to appreciate what Washington achieved. It was as gutty a victory as any I've seen in a long time.
Had they lost, because of the tiebreaker, Washington would have been effectively two losses behind the Giants, who they've lost to twice this year by a combined four points. Instead, their odds of winning the NFC East are now at least 50-50, as the Giants are facing the Cardinals, Browns, and Ravens--all tough outs.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is now clinging to a #1 seed. Big Ben has thrown an insane 104 passes these past two games and has only 36 points to show for it--only .35 points per pass. For perspective, the Steelers averaged .63 points per pass in Ben's last full season (2018). Heading into last week, they were averaging .78 points per pass. Surely they're missing James Conner. But it's also possible Baltimore and Washington exposed arguably the worst late-season undefeated team in NFL history. They've won six games by a touchdown or less despite having three superb receivers and an elite defense. That just doesn't add up.
Fantasy-wise, Logan Thomas was the breakout TE star I talked about a couple days ago. And Cam Sims stepped up with Antonio Gibson getting hurt and Terry McLaurin getting ignored (Alex Smith threw conservatively, and it obviously worked). Sims' one-handed grab reminded me a little of an old Mark Clayton catch where he was lying on the ground with a receiver on top of him and still caught it with one arm (should be on YouTube somewhere). Basically, Sims could be a terrific #2 in 2021 if the passing game gets a little more aggressive.
And I warned against Benny Snell, who's been up and down all year, had a tough matchup, and hadn't exactly earned a bellcow role in James Conner's absence. The risk with Snell is that if he started slow, Anthony McFarland could swoop in, and that's what happened.
In the nightcap, Josh Allen could not be stopped despite rushing for only 11 yards. He's now the #3 fantasy QB. However, his final games are against Pittsburgh, Denver, and New England, and Miami. While his floor remains rock-solid, his ceiling is a question mark heading into the fantasy playoffs. This means Buffalo's fantasy-suspect backfield can't be trusted, though Stefon Diggs will remain a must-start, and Cole Beasley will be hard to bench as long as John Brown's out.
For the Niners, their top two receivers shared the field for the first time since October 25th. Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel would be top-20 WRs with a better quarterback. Beyond that, this was a pretty sad effort for a severely underperforming team. How could they not find the end zone on three tries from Buffalo's 2 in the first quarter, and why didn't Raheem Mostert get a try? And how did they fail on 1st and goal from Buffalo's 1 in the fourth--and again, where was Mostert?
In fairness, San Francisco's last eight games (in which they're 3-5) have come against the Rams (twice), Dolphins, Patriots, Seahawks, Packers, Saints, and now the Bills. The combined record of these teams is a whopping 58-25. And they've been competing with a backup quarterback and a weakened defense while frequently missing their top RBs and at least one top receiver. So have some sympathy. They deserved better.