It's the time of dramatic playoff wins or tough, depressing losses. And since nobody needs an attaboy when they win, I'm trying to figure what to say to those who had a bad beat. (Setting aside ones where the other team just won; you can't play defense in fantasy.) Best I can come up with is, try to think back to your thought process when you made your initial lineup decisions. Was your reasoning sound? If it seemed correct at the time, try and make peace with it. Hopefully it will help you/us move on.

Colts at Bucs: Wild shootout where lots of players in both passing games were viable, as expected. Mike Evans left due to injury after catching a long touchdown or might have had a huge game, instead Chris Godwin picked up the slack and Breshad Perriman caught the game-winner. Can the Bucs make the playoffs by winning out and finishing 9-7? Will need to check, no question they'd need lots of help. Picked up and started Zach Pascal in a couple of leagues, worked out. Actually recommended Marcus Johnson (over 100 yards and a score) initially, then backed off it with Parris Campbell returning. Neither ground game did much but at least Mack scored for those who gambled.

Dolphins at Jets:Controversy at the end when the Jets' winning drive was extended by a pass interference call. I understand the coach being upset, but looked like the right call. Disappointing game from basically every Dolphin, except for kicker Jason Sanders and his 7 field goals. Anybody start him? Congrats. Robby Anderson had the best game for the Jets, Sam Darnold solid too. Bilal Powell didn't kill you but more catches or a score would have been nice.

49ers at Saints:Game of the week, the month, maybe the season. Strangely a 46-45 game in which the running backs (aside from Raheem Mostert) did very little, but both passing games were huge. I officially give up on Alvin Kamara; frustrating. Kudos to Jimmy Garoppolo; I didn't think he had it in him. Big game for Drew Brees, didn't seem possible against San Francisco's pass defense. (But to those who say "don't bench your studs," people who started Patrick Mahomes in a similarly tough matchup got burned.) And an awesome game ending 4th-and-2 conversion and rumble downfield by George Kittle to set up the chipshot field goal (which was nerve-wracking anyway). In general if you started any key players from either passing game, you're happy. Fun game to watch on replay this week, too.

Lions at Vikings:We were pretty high on the Vikings, and while some calls paid off fine (Cook, Diggs, kicker, defense) the inability of the Lions to be competitive pretty much scotched any hope for big numbers from Kirk Cousins and company. Kenny Golladay got you a garbage-time touchdown. Lions will go quietly into the offseason.

Broncos at Texans:Upset of the day. I thought the Broncos could be competitive with their defense, certainly, but no way did I figure Drew Lock for a big game, all before halftime pretty much. Maybe Houston didn't either, and got burned. Good numbers at least from Watson, Hopkins, the guys you needed to start for Houston. I'm not sure I'm buying on Lock, but quite a game from a guy supposedly lost throughout the preseason and practices. Disappointing game for the most started Bronco, Courtland Sutton; maybe he was the only guy Houston thought they needed to account for. Big game for Noah Fant and a nice game for Broncos (and Titans...) fans.

Washington at Packers:Fortunately, logically, all that stuff, Green Bay gave the ball to Aaron Jones and let him win it for them. I guess you're not happy if you started Aaron Rodgers and the passing game, but this is what teams have been doing to Washington a lot this year. For Washington, a pretty spectacular touchdown grab by Terry McLaurin, who I finally benched this week, natch. And a nice game for Adrian Peterson, benefitting from Derrius Guice leaving with a knee injury (ugh). Green Bay in position for a bye right now, pending their big game with the Vikings of course.

Bengals at Browns:Monster game from Joe Mixon. People asked on Saturday about flexing him or a wideout, and I usually opt for the starting running back because of the guaranteed touches. Worked out. Browns won of course, but Mixon and Tyler Boyd were fine with you. A 100-yard game from Chubb, but Hunt scored. Hope you didn't start Njoku; I think caution with a guy returning from IR is best. Browns still kind of in the playoff picture.

Ravens at Bills:Had my doubt about Buffalo's offense against Baltimore's defense. But Buffalo's defense did a nice job of keeping things close, and Buffalo got within a score and near the end zone in the final minute, with a tying touchdown knocked away by a great defensive play. Good game for Devin Singletary, not as much as you'd have liked from Baltimore's offense -- especially the biggest game was by Hayden Hurst, who no one started; good numbers after Mark Andrews left with a knee injury. You wonder if Hurst hadn't got hurt at the start of his rookie season, maybe he'd have kept that No. 1 TE job that he had prior to injury. Guess we might find out what he can do if Andrews' injury serious.

Panthers at Falcons:So turns out firing Ron Rivera on Tuesday might not have been any kind of inspiration for the players, whaddaya know. Panthers got rolled and pretty much everyone but Christian McCaffrey hurt fantasy lineups. Oh, except for Ian Thomas, who only produces whenever Greg Olsen gets hurt (but otherwise gets no chances at all). Olsen can retire this offseason, that would be nice for Thomas' fortunes. Good game for Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman, a touchdown for Calvin Ridley before leaving due to injury. Quiet return from injury for Austin Hooper.

Chargers at Jaguars:What a disaster the Jaguars are right now. The Foles signing blew up on them. Their defense has fallen apart. At least they have some nice draft picks from the Jalen Ramsey trade, but they appear to really need them. Chargers, with the pressure of competing for a playoff spot off, play their best game all season. Huge games for both running backs (somebody started both against me in a playoff game, ouch). Anyway, looks like the teams are going to finish out the season in slightly different ways.

Titans at Raiders: Big game for Ryan Tannehill and A.J. Brown. Sometimes guys come through, even when they have the misfortune of the checkered career of Tannehill. What was remarkable was that both Tannehill and Derrick Henry had huge games. Playing the Raiders helps, but pretty impressive. And the Titans are starting to maybe look like...favorites? ...in the AFC South. Both games with the Texans coming in the last three weeks. Raiders didn't have Josh Jacobs and he's going for an MRI tomorrow. With the season over, you wonder if Jacobs' is, too.

Kansas City at Patriots:Some less than great officiating in this one, most notably a N'Keal Harry touchdown where he was ruled to have stepped out of bounds and New England couldn't challenge (maybe they shouldn't have wasted an earlier challenge on a spot, of course). I was surprised the refs didn't then call pass interference on New England's fourth down pass to Julian Edelman in the final minute that was broken up on a clean play. This, ironically, was the defensive struggle that many expected from Saints-49ers. New England's offense isn't what it used to be, and it's defense was good enough to frustrate Kansas City for a large portion of the game. Anyhoo, Kansas City wins and maybe Buffalo can keep New England reeling (probably not) and force them to play a first-round game. Maybe.

Steelers at Cardinals:Once again, Steelers win with defense. Well, and a punt return touchdown. I'm not sure anyone really wants to see this team in the playoffs, outside of Steelers fans, but they aren't going away just yet. Good game for Diontae Johnson, with both touchdowns. David Johnson used just 5 touches to have a better game than Kenyan Drake (no one was starting Johnson). Good numbers for Christian Kirk and serviceable (late) from Kyler Murray.

Seahawks at Rams:Russell Wilson is off my Christmas card list. Actually, plenty of blame to go around in this one. A couple of early Seattle drives killed by third- and fourth-down drops by Jacob Hollister and Malik Turner on good throws by Wilson. Maybe Josh Gordon rather than Malik Turner should be out there. Bad decision at 14-3 to go for it rather than kick a field goal. All around crummy game by the Seahawks, who didn't look like they wanted it as much as the Rams.

Monday, Monday:Alshon Jeffery can help me out tonight. I'm sure some are in need of good games from Ertz, Wentz, Miles Sanders and maybe Saquon Barkely or some Giants wideout. It's supposed to be raining constantly, which would lead to running except both teams are better defending the run than the pass. Expecting a fairly ugly Eagles win. Let's call it Philadelphia 24, Giants 14.