Just one time all season, I go to attend a Jets game in person, figuring I won't miss that much. And what happens, but of the craziest days of football you'll ever see, with multiple fantastic finishes (at almost the same time) and oh yeah some games actually played through snowdrifts. Nothing to be done but power through some game replays last night and this morning encore sitting down to write this column. So let's go.
Raiders at Jets: Playoff push for New York? Nope, just a couple of poor teams on a bitterly cold day with minimal interest in coverage and tackling. I will give the Jets offense some credit. Chris Ivory can play, and when Geno Smith runs around and fools people with those option plays (and doesn't commit ridiculous turnovers) he can help them win. Jeremy Kerley is a legit NFL wideout who makes plays. Bad offense, still. In trouble in Carolina next week. Needs a new coaching staff, particularly on offense, yet again. ... Big game for Rod Streater. I will need to see his TD again, it seemed to be tipped. We already knew Marcel Reece, given the opportunity, can play. Some offensive players here, but no quarterback. Matt McGloin briefly benched for Terrelle Pryor, who looked lost. Hot chocolate good, which was fortunate because it was really, really cold. Not much wind or snow, though!
Vikings at Ravens: Never seen an ending quite like this one. The score was 12-7 with two minutes left in the game! Maybe what the Ravens passing game needs most is a sense of urgency, because that's when Joe Flacco seems to play his best. Minnesota's sorry secondary helps, too. ... Big game for Marlon Brown, and so much for easing Dennis Pitta back from injury. Funny how teams have been doing this (Shane Vereen's first game was also big). I guess healthy really is healthy, except with Percy Harvin I suppose.
Colts at Bengals: If you started Andrew Luck you ended up with big numbers, but if you started either of his presumed "only" two targets, T.Y. Hilton and Coby Fleener, you didn't. Unpredictable and frustrating, but all you can do is react to it going forward. I'm not placing quite as much stock in LaVon Brazill's game, in part because he really should have been tackled on one of those two TDs, but it looks like DaRick Rogers is going to be a significant factor the rest of the way. ... Andy Dalton is kind of an underrated fantasy commodity. Lots of weapons, and he's making some big throws. Should be a regular starter in more leagues than he probably is.
Falcons at Packers: Aaron Rodgers' 2013 was probably hinging on the outcome of this game. Green Bay's playoff chances are still remote at best, but with the narrow win, they can't just shut him down. Don't know if he'll be able to play this week, but it's possible. ... Respectable if not stellar game for Eddie Lacy. Good player though. ... With Roddy White back healthy and the No. 1, it looks like Harry Douglas' little run of productivity is kaput.
Browns at Patriots: Josh Gordon is having a pretty amazing season. If he leads the league in receiving yards despite missing two teams and playing with the quarterbacks he's had to work with, not much else to be said but, wow. ... T.J. Ward took out Rob Gronkowski's knee, and said later that the rules against high hits have pretty much caused things like this. He's basically correct. I know it's nice to say, hit him in the middle, but if you hit Gronkowski in the ribs he probably just bounces off and keeps going. I don't know what the solution is, but it's quite a loss for the Patriots. Their healthy players have become a lot more valuable, except for Tom Brady.
Lions at Eagles: Couldn't believe conditions for this game. I've seen plenty of games played in snow but very few where players were actually running in calf-deep drifts. Obviously, it was a real problem for Matthew Stafford, and if you lost with him or Calvin Johnson's struggles out there, you have my sympathies. This was a game that made Ian's piece on passing games versus running games in poor conditions look especially prescient, but of course we had passing numbers look just fine in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Tricky to know how to respond. We can say, well, Roethlisberger is just better in snow than Stafford, but the Lions had that big Week 17 snowy shootout in Green Bay two years ago.
Dolphins at Steelers: That this would come down to a sideline play after all the Tomlin talk last week is pretty bizarre. Can't believe Brown stepped out of bounds there, can't believe the Dolphins let it almost happen to them. (Wondering a little if the Roethlisberger flip to Brown was actually a lateral, but it's moot now.) That's it for Pittsburgh, should have been it for Miami. Great post-game quote from Joe Philbin on what was going through his mind on that last play. "I hope he steps out of bounds." ... Serviceable if not great numbers from LeVeon Bell. Volume as a featured guy counts for a lot.
Bills at Buccaneers: We had nice things to say about Bobby Rainey in the Weekly, and that worked out. Knew the Bucs might win this game, but didn't know Buffalo's offense would be that hopeless. Bills say they're going to scale things back for EJ Manuel, who has plenty of learning to do. Just a wretched outing for everything connected with the Bills, but I don't know how anyone could have realistically benched C.J. Spiller off last week's game.
Kansas City at Washington: Yuck. Things have gotten woodshed ugly in Washington, and now Jordan Reed, one of the lone bright spots, has missed three games with a concussion. At what point do we start getting very worried about his future? For me, it's right now. Then there's Alfred Morris, underutilized anyway in many games but totally useless when the team falls behind. When Mike Shanahan goes, one way or another, what will that mean for Morris? Honestly, I don't know where Washington goes from here. I do know that the Mastermind hasn't looked so smart since John Elway retired. ... Jamaal Charles should be MVP of a lot of fantasy leagues.
Titans at Broncos: Maybe critics of Peyton Manning need to amend it from "poor play in cold weather" to "poor play in cold weather against good teams." I know the Titans have some wins and some ability, and definitely some offensive talent, but this is a bad team and the head coach isn't particularly good at managing games. And of course, nobody can really slow down the Broncos offense this year. I'm in the running in a $10,000 league, partly because I have a few Broncos. The guy winning the whole thing, though, has Manning, Decker, Thomas and Thomas. Nobody is likely to catch him. A good year to ride the Manning wave.
Rams at Cardinals: Kind of as expected. You can't run on the Cardinals, so if you started Zac Stacy, be glad you got his touchdown. Kellen Clemens can't play, so St. Louis' offensive struggles in general also weren't surprising. Biggest disappointment was Michael Floyd, who picked a bad week to have a bad game (plus he got knocked out of it on a blow to the head). Cardinals still have a shot at stealing that wild-card spot in the NFC. It's not impossible that Week 17, San Francisco at Arizona, decides it.
Giants at Chargers: This is the Giants we've seen down the stretch in recent years when they've been essentially eliminated. They mailed this one in, and they can't safely be used in fantasy the rest of the way. ... The Chargers will probably get rolled in Denver on Thursday, and be left pondering what if with a couple of very tough losses this season. Granted, their defense is pretty soft. Can their offense help fantasy coaches down the stretch? At Denver and versus Oakland the next two weeks; I think so. Kansas City might not have anything to play for in Week 17, as well.
Seahawks at 49ers: Good game. Big runs by Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore. Some clutch plays by the quarterbacks, and strong defense. As expected. I'd say Seattle was uncertain to bounce back (they're on the road against the Giants next week), but I'm really skeptical whether New York will bring any interest to the proceedings.
Panthers at Saints: Saints at home are a different team, and Carolina's defense isn't QUITE as good when matched up with a great quarterback. Games like this are exactly why teams try so hard to secure homefield advantage, which will no doubt become evident when the Saints travel to Carolina in Week 16. ... Jonathan Stewart hurt a knee in this game, so it might be mostly DeAngelo Williams the rest of the way. ... Saints are on the road at St. Louis and as noted above, Carolina the next two weeks. The Rams game should be OK. ... Marques Colston nearly caught a third TD in this game, reversed by replay; ruled down a half yard short of the goal line. Just letting you know if you were in a close matchup involving him.
Monday, Monday: Pretty big game in the NFC; it would have been really big if the Bears hadn't blown the Minnesota game last week. Should be fun seeing what the weather will be like, and how it affects the teams. Ian's study is elsewhere on the site, and we'll be discussing it in Ask the Experts this week, as well. Maybe this game will give us more evidence one way or another, but I definitely like the running backs here. And the Bears in a 24-23 thriller type of game.