Big long day of football. If you're in some of these biggish money leagues, the playoffs started this week, so everything gets over analyzed. I debated Julian Edelman versus Anquan Boldin for the last two weeks, fretted when Edelman had a big (PPR) game early, grinned when Boldin scored early on and had a bigger game late. That's the fantasy playoffs, good as it gets. A late night and early morning, so let's go.
Browns at Falcons: In NFL terms this was a huge game, and it was interesting how (to my eyes) the coaches came up small. Mike Smith inexplicably called a timeout with 44 seconds left on third down, then the Falcons ran an incomplete pass play, with the result being Matt Bryant's game-winning field goal was instead only one-point lead, and the Browns came back. Terrible. ... Steven Jackson touchdown, as expected. Julio Jones breaks his slump, also not unexpected. And a productive game from Josh Gordon, although it could have been huger if he'd been a little more aggressive/less rusty on balls thrown his way that were picked off. But his team won, Browns won, and it's big for the AFC North. If the Saints lose tonight the Falcons will still be in first at 4-7. ... Big game for Isaiah Crowell. The Brown running back to start, until he isn't, but don't see them switching off him at this point. He's earned it.
Buccaneers at Bears: Yawn. Bears win, Matt Forte has a huge game, Bucs passing game has huge numbers, Jay Cutler and the Bears receivers let everyone down. At least Alshon Jeffery scored, but it was disappointing that Chicago went so conservative against so soft a secondary. I wonder if the Bucs, now 2-9, will think about going back to Mike Glennon? You know, just an idea. Josh McCown put up plenty of yardage but threw his share of wounded ducks, too. The Bucs had three different running backs under 30 rushing yards. Bobby Rainey the fewest yards but the most PPR points. It kind of doesn't matter who starts, not sure you can use any of them.
Bengals at Texans: Pretty good game. Texans offense did almost nothing in this game, but I still kind of like what I saw from Ryan Mallett. Throws a nice ball, gives his receivers chances. He's not there yet and it's not a hugely talented offense, but I think he might turn out OK. Unfortunately he apparently played through a pectoral injury which might end up putting Ryan Fitzpatrick back in the lineup; we'll probably find out today. ... Garrett Graham's two decent games have come with Mallett in the lineup. Not much from Andre Johnson, though. Not big numbers from Alfred Blue, but I liked the usage, including sending him out wide on at least one play. Bad pick 6 by Andy Dalton, but he and A.J. Green were lights out otherwise. Green had a couple of near-misses on touchdowns, Mohamed Sanu caught 1 and nearly another. Both Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard looked really good, but Bernard looked like the No. 2. Unlucky not to get a first down that would have killed the clock in the final minutes, with a great run wiped out by a penalty. Still, Hill seems to be the better start.
Jaguars at Colts: Full disclosure here, I was facing Andrew Luck and Adam Vinatieri in a playoff game, so I was rooting hard against the Colts, and I can't complain too much. When Trent Richardson somehow managed to punch in a touchdown, preventing Luck or Vinatieri from getting 3-6 points, I cheered. But if you started Richardson, as we endorsed, thank your lucky stars and don't do it again, because Dan Herron started and was better. Apparently Richardson was sick this week, though practicing fully, so whatever. You got your touchdown, and if you were facing Luck, you got fairly, uh, Lucky that he didn't have a huge game, just a good one. ... Jacksonville's offense did absolutely nothing, as usual against the Colts.
Packers at Vikings: As with Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers had a quieter than anticipated game. You got 2 TDs, but less yardage than you'd expect. Big game from Eddie Lacy, hope you bought low on him early in the season, or stuck with him if you drafted him. Jordy Nelson had a decent PPR game even while failing to score and not having a huge game. Next week, Packers-Patriots, they'll make it up to you. ... Tried very hard to get Charles Johnson on the waiver wire in my dynasty league this week, didn't work out. Won't be at all surprised if he's their No. 1 receiver the rest of the year -- next year? Possible. Disappointing outing for Jerick McKinnon, sorry to those I signed off on him starting to.
Lions at Patriots: Yeah, about as expected. What a sad season Matthew Stafford is having. Yeah his receivers have been hurt, and yeah it's tough playing at Foxborough, but we seem to be saying this about Stafford every week. That said, his receivers really did let him down yesterday. Jeremy Ross dropped a touchdown. Corey Fuller turned the wrong way. Wonder why Ryan Broyles wouldn't be better than those guys. Anyway. Disappointing. ... Tim Wright played a lot and caught 2 TDs. This being the Patriots, he might not even get on the field against the Packers. I'm not buying. ... LeGarrette Blount. I don't know what to tell you. Jonas Gray was active but didn't get any carries; I am not even certain he played at all. I guess it's another folder in the Bill Belichick hates you files. Hopefully you were worried enough about the matchup not to start Gray, as advised, at least.
Titans at Eagles: Not a good week to be facing Cody Parkey. That's not the kind of thing you expect to hear. The Eagles were blowing the Titans off the field but kept kicking fourth-quarter field goals. Good grief. Eagles offense had a big day, but the touchdown went to James Casey and the yardage was divided up between a bunch of guys. At least you got what you wanted/expected out of the running game, with both McCoy and Sproles getting in. Be happy if you started Justin Hunter, because his touchdown was a flukey tipped ball. Nice to start quarterbacks against the Eagles, though, yes even Zach Mettenberger.
Rams at Chargers: Rams continue to compete, just like last year after a terrible start. They might need to rethink how they handle the preseason, since it never seems to help them in September. Couple of nice grabs by Kenny Britt and Stedman Bailey, rushing touchdown on an end around by Tavon Austin, not enough chances for Tre Mason. ... Not a bad offensive game from the Chargers. It's a good Rams D right now. And Rivers, Allen, and Mathews all had nice games. It had been about a month since their offense had done that. And they'll need to score plenty the rest of the way if they want to sneak into the playoffs, cause their defense is mediocre and the schedule is brutal.
Cardinals at Seahawks: The only touchdown in this game was by Cooper Helfet, so there wasn't much fantasy value to be had here. Russell Wilson did OK, mostly thanks to all the running. Marshawn Lynch and Andre Ellington weren't much worse than expected given the matchups. Dropped TD for Jaron Brown, when it was still a game, ensuring he will remain in the No. 4 spot, not that there was much doubt. Awesome sideline grab by John Brown. Rough outing for Arizona's offense (including a zero for Michael Floyd), and it's not their last tough matchup to come. But hey, Atlanta next week!
Dolphins at Broncos: Miami's defense actually played fairly well in this game, for nearly a half. Tough to keep Peytion down an entire game. Demaryius Thomas with one of those matchup deciding games he seems to come up with every once in a while. Nice game for C.J. Anderson. Why was he No. 3 all season long? Kind of doubt Hillman gets his job back. Better game than you would have thought from the Dolphins offense, missing a couple of players and so forth. Spreading it around: six different players between 24-50 yards. And not helping fantasy teams, although Jarvis Landry is yet another great receiver from this great rookie class that I do not have on my dynasty team. Dang it. Wes Welker caught a touchdown exactly 90 minutes after I said to somebody, "Welker is done." Jacob Tamme did catch a touchdown, but it was erased by a penalty, so it doesn't make anyone who started him feel better.
Washington at 49ers: Alfred Morris with a big game. Didn't really see that coming. Anquan Boldin with the big game and a bunch of clutch catches despite big hits. When in doubt on tough fantasy calls, give me gamers like Boldin. Some pregame talk about Griffin being benched if he didn't play well. He didn't play particularly well and got sacked 5 times, but Washington did almost win, so.... I'm not sure if I like Seattle or San Francisco better right now. Guess I'll have a better answer come Thursday night.
Cowboys at Giants: What a game. I hope you saw the Odell Beckham Jr. catch live, because it was a lot more amazing when you weren't expecting it. I saw the ball go up and said, eh, that's out of bounds, and then, hey, that's a pushoff, and then, well, he's not going to catch it anyway. But it wasn't and it probably wasn't and he did and I don't know how. Incredible. Remember the year Beckham is having when you write off some first-rounder who has a terrible preseason going forward. Big game late for Dez Bryant and Tony Romo. Clutch. Tough loss for the Giants. Andre Williams looked a lot better as a backup than he did when Jennings was hurt. Couple of games next week (Dallas-Philly, Green Bay-New England) that should have a lot of incredible fantasy performances.
Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday: Two for the price of one! Bills-Jets won't get a lot of eyes, one because it's Bills-Jets and two because it's not on the air for everyone. Bills should win but it will probably be kind of a lower-scoring one, say 23-16. Ravens-Saints is the biggie, especially for those of us who have Mark Ingram everywhere, and I've got him going against Justin Forsett in a tight playoff battle, which is fitting. Saints can't possibly lose 3 straight at home. New Orleans 24, Baltimore 20. And, go Ingram!