Everything is a little more nerve-wracking this time of year. My two main running backs on probably my best team are Todd Gurley and Mark Ingram, and I spent the week (which is a playoff week in FFPC leagues) fretting; what if they struggle? Sure enough, neither one scored. I survived, but it's a reminder of the luck factor in a do-or-die playoff situation. Maybe you faced Julio Jones yesterday. A season of crunching numbers ended by one unexpected 50-burger.
Bucs at Falcons: My sympathies if you were facing Julio Jones in an important game and he got 50 points against you. Good grief. Decent game for Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense. Might have been bigger had Terron Ward not lost a fumble (lot of backup type running backs fumbling, it seemed) with the Falcons going in for potential score. Bucs lost Doug Martin to a concussion, so Martin might not be available next week, and Peyton Barber and his 2 TDs needs to be on your radar. Mohamed Sanu didn't catch a touchdown, though he did throw a bomb to Jones; a play that pops up for Sanu every couple of years.
Browns at Bengals: Finally, a nice game for Joe Mixon, in the situation you'd expect him to do well. He'd disappointed so many times with great matchups it was hard to fully believe, but hope you started him. Tyler Boyd actually caught a touchdown early in this game, while John Ross a healthy scratch. A.J. Green and Duke Johnson, the most likely starters on lots of fantasy teams, had quiet games. Corey Coleman dropped a touchdown.
Titans at Colts: When I do short yardage files this week will be interesting to see how many more carries Derrick Henry got near the goal line compared to DeMarco Murray. Seemed to be more. But Murray had a late score after Henry ran it down to the 1, so they both got chances. Some luck involved in which one scored. Biggest play of this game, Colts ahead 16-6. Marlon Mack got a chance in the backfield and immediately lost a soft fumble near his own goalline to set up the easy touchdown that got the Titans back into it. So that's why it's still Frank Gore as the better fantasy option. Delanie Walker touchdown, he got his.
Bills at Kansas City: I give up with Kansas City. What can you say, they looked like a juggernaut early on this season but simply look terrible now. For the Bills to come out and shut them down... Buffalo isn't even that good. Kansas City's lone touchdown was a little outlet pass to Albert Wilson looked like a play that could have gone to Kareem Hunt. Not sure why Kansas City isn't doing more with him, but I guess rookie wall a possibility. I did see one run where he looked a little slow/hesitant. Pretty much describes Kansas City right now.
Dolphins at Patriots: So for the second time this year, the Patriots ran a little endaround where instead of handing the ball off to Brandin Cooks, Tom Brady pushed the ball forward about a foot. That goes in the books as a touchdown pass. Please convince me that this isn't stat-padding at its worst. Yes I was facing him in a playoff game, why do you ask. (Not that anyone cares, but I won anyway.) Couple of scores for Rob Gronkowski, Miami trying and failing to cover him one on one. Yeah, didn't work out too well. Damien Williams left with an injury, and immediately afterward Kenyan Drake lost a fumble. But later, Drake scored. But the usual not enough of anything for Miami.
Panthers at Jets: Winning ugly, that's Carolina right now, stumbling around for a lot of the day before making some plays (defensive touchdown on a Josh McCown fumble, uunt return score, a couple of Cam Newton runs). Losing ugly, that's the Jets, another game where they had some moments (Couple of touchdowns to Robby Anderson, including a long bomb... Little late for those of us who drafted him as a sleeper but dropped him ages ago). but also make mistakes. Had a first and goal in close while trailing by 2 late, and tried touch passes each time. One was a Seferian-Jenkins TD reversed by replay. Settled for a field goal, a key moment for them. ... Greg Olsen, in his first game back from a foot injury, injures his foot. Carolina says he was removed as a precaution, so we'll see.
Bears at Eagles: Everything going the Eagles' way right now. Jay Ajayi fumbles near goal line, Nelson Agholor falls on it for a touchdown, his second of the day. Huge games for Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz. They're just crushing teams. Next week, Seattle, should be interesting. Not much good to say for the Bears, although not really surprising that Jordan Howard didn't have any running room against this defense. Howard can be a frustrating player to have to rely on in fantasy leagues.
Seahawks at 49ers: Ho-hum, Seahawks win. Big plays by Russell Wilson, Jimmy Graham, a backup TE nobody started. Typical Eddie Lacy statline (17 for 46 against a bad Niners defense). We'll see who gets the featured role next week. Maybe they shouldn't even bother running, since they're playing the Eagles. ... C.J. Beathard hurt, Jimmy Garappolo comes in and throws a garbage-time TD. I'm convinced Beathard is going to have an NFL career, for somebody.
Saints at Rams: Good game, but not quite as good as you'd hoped. Big, dynamic plays by Alvin Kamara in a losing effort, quiet game for Mark Ingram and Michael Thomas. Hats off to the Rams defense, which apart from being able to tackle Kamara, at all, played really well. Rams showed that that Saints defense isn't quite all that, moving the ball for much of the day and getting good production out of Watkins and Kupp with Woods out. Used Tavon Austin much more than I anticipated, and probably much more than they will again going forward. Not a great game for Todd Gurley, but a decent PPR game against a defense that seemed focused on slowing him down. Couple of really nifty catch and run plays anyway.
Jaguars at Cardinals: I'll admit I had a feeling that maybe Arizona would make a game out of this one. Didn't think they'd win, or that they'd win and score 27 points with Larry Fitzgerald (covered frequently by Jalen Ramsey) having about his worst game of the season. But they made the key plays late. Was pretty nervous about getting zero points from the Jaguars defense until a strip-sack fumble return touchdown and 9-point play. Nice fantasy game from Blake Bortles (2 TDs on ground) but not a good passing game, and a rough game from Leonard Fournette and the ground, including an Ivory fumble that looked kind of bogus -- forward progress clearly stopped, whistle blown as he was pushed backward, but the play was for some reason challengable, and that helped Arizona's momentum. Jaron Brown with just the second wide receiver touchdown against this defense all season, believe it or not.
Broncos at Raiders: Early on Aqib Talib and Michael Crabtree ejected for fighting. That's a tough way to lose a fantasy starter. But Raiders went on to do just enough to get a win over a team without an offense. Paxton Lynch hurt, Trevor Siemian finishes. Jared Cook had a touchdown overturned on review; like the ASJ play in the Jets game, a reminder you really can't count on anything. By the way I'm not even fully confident in the ruling on the Julio Jones pylon play. So, play ends as soon as he touches the pylon? Why doesn't he have to control the ball all way through the end of the play (he lost the ball after hitting the pylon). Eh, whatever.
Packers at Steelers: I owe some apologies to some Packers. Mike McCarthy isn't getting one, but Brett Hundley definitely, and Jamaal Williams too. It wasn't enough to win in Pittsburgh, but they played really well -- sneaking into the playoffs actually looked feasible. Not that they looked like world-beaters (a lot of this was how bad the Steelers secondary looked without Joe Haden, and some tackling issues), but maybe there's some fantasy value in them against Tampa Bay this week. ... Nice to put Antonio Brown in primetime so everyone can see how great he is. There's a grace and quickness to everything he does that makes me think he really is about the best wideout we've seen; a guy who dominates without having the huge body and size advantage of somebody like Randy Moss or Calvin Johnson. I'd say it's even more inexplicable that he slipped to the 6th round than it is that Tom Brady did. Pretty good game for Roethlisberger too. Martavis Bryant should have had a second score on a running play.
Texans at Ravens: Only good thing about this lame game is my important fantasy matchups aren't really resting on it. DeAndre Hopkins is facing me in a couple of leagues, but unless he puts up 50 points (when does that ever happen) I should be fine. I'm curious about how Hopkins does in part because I've got Detroit wideouts facing Baltimore next week. As discussed in the Weekly, though, the Ravens defense against Tom Savage could get right ugly right quick. Ravens 24, Texans 13.