The tough thing about the fantasy playoffs, which Week 13 was in some leagues and Week 14 will be in most, is that if you lose, you look at all the little stuff on the way to the defeat. A ref getting in Demaryius Thomas' way on what might have been a 90-yard touchdown. Jamaal Charles scoring after a pass play to another player ended inside the 1. Garbage production your opponent got. Garbage production you didn't get. Little things.
I say this without knowing if I'll win or lose my playoff game; I won't know until Drew Brees steps off the field tonight. I know that the guy I'm facing is looking at five or six similar plays himself, and whichever one of us wins will just forget them, and be happy with the win. Until next week.
Bucs at Panthers: Yeah, so Carolina is really good defensively, and you don't want to use many offensive players against them. In last week's podcast Ian talked about how Cam Newton is basically playing about the same as ever, and the defense is a lot better, and that's kind of how things look. Newton makes some good throws and some poor ones, with positive plays and bad turnovers, but it almost doesn't matter, because the defense isn't giving anything up. At New Orleans next week.
Jaguars at Browns: Wild game here. Josh Gordon against a bad secondary, so even though Brandon Weeden is his quarterback, he puts up incredible numbers. Ridiculous 95-yard touchdown reception. And of course the Browns still manage to lose, with Cecil Shorts catching a last-minute touchdown. That's a play Joe Haden kind of needs to shut down. ... Maurice Jones-Drew throws a touchdown. Guy has been pretty productive in fantasy leagues lately, scoring one way or another almost every week. Might even re-up with Jacksonville. Who knows, if Jacksonville comes up with a quarterback and a defense, maybe they'll have something one day.
Patriots at Texans: Ben Tate scored 3 TDs in this game, so I hope I didn't recommend too many other players ahead of him on Saturday. No reason why he should flop against Jacksonville and bust out big-time this week; both matchups were great. Big game for Andre Johnson, too. ... For New England, routinely big numbers for Gronkowski and Tom Brady. Gronk just can't be covered, it seems, and things are easier on everyone else while opponents attempt it. ... Stevan Ridley inactive, LeGarrette Blount scored a touchdown. Modest rushing numbers overall, because Ridley's better, but you can't fumble in today's NFL.
Titans at Colts: Colts won this game, so all is OK. Right? They looked pretty bad doing it, with some drops, including a terrible one by Darrius Heyward-Bey; some poor routes (DHB, Fleener); and then some lousy throws by a clearly frustrated Andrew Luck. Donald Brown started over Trent Richardson in this game, and on one goal line sequence, Richardson was stuffed at the line, and Brown proceeded to score on the next play. ... Delanie Walker left with a concussion. Chris Johnson caught a touchdown, so he didn't burn you too badly today.
Bears at Vikings: Kind of crazy that the Bears didn't win this game. Robbie Gould missed a field goal in overtime that he usually makes, but there were plenty of other missed opportunities. And Alshon Jeffery had a monster day with one of the best touchdown catches you'll ever see, but the Bears couldn't stop Adrian Peterson, and didn't win. And that should be pretty much it for their playoff chances, and it wasn't because Jay Cutler got hurt. ... By the way, my son was taking notes for some of this game for me, and wrote down that Adrian Peterson was "Chevy's Strong Player of the Day." I don't know if that has any fantasy significance, but maybe it should.
Dolphins at Jets: Geno Smith benched. A few weeks too late. Lamar Miller had a short touchdown overturned by replay, otherwise he'd have been an OK start. But you were warned not to use him. Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline both caught touchdowns thanks to blown tackles by the Jets secondary. They've been doing that a lot lately. Have I mentioned I'm going to see the Jets play next week? I'll bring a couple of paper bags for me and my son.
Cardinals at Eagles: Touchdown catches from Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd. And Jim Dray on a little flip near the goal line. But Arizona's lack of a running game, and the continuing Nick Foles show, was the story here. All three Foles TDs went to tight ends, so a disappointing week from DJax and Cooper. Does this mean you can start Zach Ertz next week? Entering the game he had 21 catches and 1 TD, so I'm thinking it's more of a matchup thing -- Arizona is terrible defending the position -- than anything else.
Falcons versus Bills north of the border: I though it was weird that the Bears lost to the Vikings, but this was the same sort of thing: a scuffling team with no defense managing to get an overtime win against a team with slim (very slim) playoff hopes. Buffalo literally gave away this game with turnover after turnover, wasting an awesome performance by C.J. Spiller, and somehow letting Steven Jackson rush for 84 yards and 2 TDs. Too little too late, Atlanta, but I guess kudos for not mailing it in. ... Harry Douglas had a touchdown taken away on replay, ruled just short on a play where, I dunno, it didn't look conclusive to me. Tony Gonzalez ended up scoring, so if you started Douglas or faced Gonzalez and lost a close one, pretty rough. Little things.
Rams at 49ersIf the 49ers keep trundling along with these workman-like wins over bad teams, maybe they'll find their way into the playoffs after all, then open with a flawed team like the NFC East or North champ, and who knows? Michael Crabtree looked OK in his return. Vernon Davis and Frank Gore both looked great. Zac Stacy looked OK against a tough run defense. Rams called a fake punt deep in their own end down 10 points that looked ...I don't know what it looked like, but it wasn't pretty and didn't have any chance of working, and definitely ended the game.
Broncos at Kansas City: Uh, Knowshon Moreno might not have been 100 percent, but I wish I'd started him, because he looked pretty good out there. Next week! In some leagues, anyway. Eric Decker proved why you can't really bench either Decker, Welker, or Demaryius Thomas, because one of them always has a chance to catch multiple TDs. Montee Ball looked pretty good in a backup role. Jamaal Charles had a strong game, finished with good numbers, though a little lucky to score after McCluster got stopped just shy of the end zone. Dwayne Bowe lost a touchdown due to a formation penalty, and a couple of plays later, Anthony Fasano got it. So if you started Bowe or faced Fasano and lost a close one, uh, sorry. Fantasy football can be cruel.
Bengals at Chargers: Speaking of. As usual, the Bengals didn't use Giovani Bernard enough. As usual, the Chargers committed a bunch of turnovers to lose a game they really needed to have. Big game for Keenan Allen, nice game for Ladarius Green, not enough chances for Philip Rivers, not enough defense for San Diego to ever get a stop when they needed one. I know they only gave up 17 points, but it could/should have been much more; Bengals lost a red-zone fumble, then took multiple knees near the goal line. They controlled this game pretty much throughout. Didn't really help anybody on offense in a game that seemed like it would have a lot more points.
Giants at Washington: Maybe the biggest news from this game was that Jordan Reed was inactive for the second straight week with a concussion, after indications all day were that he'd be available. Those of us choosing between Reed and Julius Thomas ended up with neither in the lineup. A tough pill to swallow, and a bitter reminder that you're sometimes forced to err on the side of caution with injuries (and then you often get burned anyway; Fred Davis and Jacob Tamme certainly didn't help anyone). ... Victor Cruz was stopped inches short of the end zone, Andre Brown got the score. Bad luck/good luck if you had one or faced the other. Washington got rooked by the officials, but they've made their own beds with plenty of mistakes, coaching and otherwise, that torpedoed their season. New York has no chance for the playoffs, but hey, at least they haven't quit yet this year. If you stuck with this game until the end, congratulations.
Monday, Monday: So, I need Drew Brees to be held in check by Seattle's defense tonight. I hope Seattle has its secondary at full strength! What's that? Oh. My expectation is Seattle will win this game, so hopefully they'll do it by giving up only rushing touchdowns and my team will move on. And if not, that's fantasy football, and frustration is part of the overall package. That's what I'll keep telling myself, anyway. Seattle 24, New Orleans 21.