In last year's Week 17 Thursday Night Football matchup -- the lead-in to most fantasy leagues' championship week -- the Cowboys beat the Titans 27-13. CeeDee Lamb and Dalton Schultz were the only players with 15+ points. While in hindsight the results might have contributed to winning or losing the title, most managers probably didn't exit TNF gleeful or mournful.
By contrast, last night's first half was a game-changer for a lot of folks. While no one pulled an Amari Cooper, several guys punched above their weight (i.e. above their points-per-contest). Joe Flacco had 22 points in those first two frames, which was all the more remarkable considering he didn't have Cooper, and considering the Jets entered the contest yielding the second-fewest QB fantasy points.
Meanwhile, David Njoku had about 15 fantasy points in the first 10 minutes. Jerome Ford and Breece Hall stuffed the stat sheet. This was gearing up to be an insane offensive display that could have singlehandedly impacted a high percentage of fantasy finals.
Then both defenses took over in the second half. Or maybe both offenses lost some mojo. Flacco started making a lot of errant passes. Trevor Siemian's pluckiness and limitations were on full display. If your opponent started several key offensive players, maybe you breathed a little easier. If you had some in your starting lineup, maybe you went to sleep wistful about what could have been.
The biggest fantasy takeaways include how Breece Hall is making a push for RB1 in 2024. It's not crazy to think he could help anchor an improved offense and capitalize on many more scoring opportunities. He has only one rushing touchdown inside the opposing eight-yard line. Imagine how dominant he'd be if he had his fair share of goal-line touches.
Oh, and he has 8+ targets in five of his last six games. Alvin Kamara is the only RB averaging more targets per game this season. Hall's shiftiness and burst are unquestioned. If he plays next week, he'll have an outside shot at finishing as the overall RB2. So yeah, Hall in an improved offense could be an easy early first-round pick.
Elsewhere for the Jets, Tyler Conklin is fascinating. He's the only top-32 TE without a score. The 28-year-old set a career-high last night with 605 receiving yards, and next week he should surpass his career-high of 61 receptions. All that's missing are touchdowns. If he's the Week 1 starter next year, I'd be comfortable targeting him in deep leagues as a top-16 TE, knowing that a shift in TD fortunes could catapult him to the top 12.
For Cleveland, once again, a reminder that I warned against David Njoku this summer. Yes, I was wrong. After struggling for much of the year, he's averaged an incredible 23.3 points in the fantasy playoffs, accounting for more than one-third of his season-long production. Patient, savvy managers capitalized. I didn't catch on until it was too late.
Meanwhile, Jerome Ford is an intriguing dynasty RB. Will the Browns add another running back in the draft or free agency? Kareem Hunt will turn 29 in August and might be playing elsewhere. Pierre Strong is probably a depth piece at this point. Who knows whether Nick Chubb will be ready next September, and if he is, then how long it might take him to get back to "normal," if that's even realistic. At the moment, it's anyone's guess whether Chubb or Ford will score more points in 2024, as Ford gives this franchise the luxury of playing things more conservatively with Chubb if needed.
And finally, back to Flacco. He now has 11 TD passes in his last five games. He hasn't achieved that feat in more than seven years. Had the Jets held onto him, perhaps they would have locked down a playoff berth, while Cleveland would be looking ahead to next year. The NFL is loaded with personnel who are supposed to get this stuff right. It's no knock on them. Flacco didn't look great in New York. He looks terrific in Cleveland. A professional quarterback doesn't thrive or sink on his own. Flacco found the ideal spot to sustain his career and sustain the hopes of Browns fans hungry for hope.
Along those lines, this marked Cleveland's final home game. Next week they'll be in Cincy, and then -- as alluded to yesterday -- they'll probably have to win on the road throughout the playoffs to make their first Super Bowl appearance. It's quite a story.
Finally for the closest-score competition, the final winner of the season is . . . Bill Brown, who predicted a 31-23 Browns victory. How fitting that the winner shares a name with the winning team, and how fortunate he didn't have to face Jennie Jet or Nick New York.
A huge congratulations to Bill, and to every other winner this season: Chris Hupe, Chuck Freeman, Cody Anderson, David Garcia, Derek Anzalone, Greg Slack, Jason Ediger, Jason Livingston, Jay Harper, Jeffrey Holub, Jonathan Aaron, Josh Pledger, Joshua Pugh, Matthew Kennedy, Paul Levin, Ray Johnson, Rick Esterly, Robert Larson, Scott Korn, Sergei McNulty, Steve Biedenbender, Suminder Singh Puri, Tim Crandall, Tom Windedahl Jr., Wayne Landru, and myself.
Also, a very special congratulations to Scott Korn, who won this contest three times (the only person to win more than once), and who was one of only four people (the others being Sergei McNulty, Paul Levin, and Cody Anderson) to predict an exact final score. If there were an ultimate closest-score champion for 2023, it unquestionably would be Scott.