There were moments late last week when it started to look like Week 12 wouldn't happen at all. I have a feeling this is how the next 5-6 weeks will go; lots of late scratches, something we figured would start happening earlier in the season. I hear the league is talking about bubbles for the playoffs, which should be interesting.
In any case, the week happened, and so far every game was played. Even the one that maybe shouldn't have been, if you ask John Elway.
Dolphins at Jets: As bad as you might have expected. Ryan Fitzpatrick and DeVante Parker were very solid. Matt Breida lost an early fumble, leading to DeAndre Washington coming out of nowhere with a good workload, if not good game. Presumably Myles Gaskin or Salvon Ahmed or both will be available next week, saving us from having to claim Washington anywhere. Jets were bad as bad could be. I do not know how they've almost won or how they will. When Joe Flacco looks like an upgrade it's a sad statement about Sam Darnold right now. Even Jamison Crowder not usable anymore.
Cardinals at Patriots: Quarterbacking was set back a ways in this game. Cam Newton barely passed at all and it wasn't pretty when he did. Kyler Murray was frustrated by pressure, Christian Kirk dropped a score, the Cardinals had another pair of scores ruled just short on review...in a game they lost by 3 points. Then Zane Gonzalez missed from 45 (2nd key miss in a loss) and Nick Folk was good from 50 and that's all she wrote. Tough, tough loss for Cardinals fans. Kenyan Drake punched in a couple of short touchdowns, but also got stuffed on multiple occasions, and I'm not sure he was even started in a lot of leagues. Similar story for James White, returning to relevance with Rex Burkhead out (and vulturing a pair of scores from Damien Harris; I'm not sure if Sony Michel got on the field but he didn't touch the ball. Few players covered themselves in fantasy glory here. I'm thinking Larry Fitzgerald might have made a difference in this one, somehow. No word if Murray's shoulder was bothering him. Probably didn't help.
Panthers at Vikings: Bonkers game. Panthers built a big lead with a couple of fumble recovery defensive touchdowns on back to back plays by the same guy. Vikings came roaring back (I honestly turned away from the game late because I thought it was over) to win by 1 point, with Kirk Cousins throwing for 300 and 3 and four different Vikings catching 7 passes. Pretty impressive game by Cousins, actually, with a lot of heady plays and perfect throws on scrambles. Carolina has no pass rush, which helps. Panthers wideouts put up their usual numbers but DJ Moore left late with an injury. Presumably both Bisi and Beebe will fade back into obscurity assuming Adam Thielen is back for Week 13.
Browns at Jaguars: Aside from Mike Glennon being shocking productive -- that will teach us to totally dismiss journeyman veteran backups, and underestimation how soft Cleveland's defense can be against the pass -- this was about as expected. Pretty awesome diving touchdown by Collin Johnson, who I regrettably cut in dynasty hours earlier to pick up Kendall Hinton. Big games by Nick Chubb and the remarkable James Robinson. Also Jarvis Landry (happens once in a while, plus with the Jaguars being very bad against both the run and in coverage). Jaguars very competitive, right up to a failed 2-point conversion at the end. Couldn't save their GM's job, alas. Good game to watch though.
Titans at Colts: Derrick Henry and the Titans offense took this game over from the get-go. Dominant, and I'm not exactly sure what happened to a Colts defense that had been playing so well. Darius Leonard was out there making plenty of tackles. Just Henry's day, and you wonder if he's not starting the kind of run he had late last year. Frustrating from the Colts standpoint was Indianapolis bringing in Jacoby Brissett to sneak in a couple of short touchdowns. We've seen it previously, but I wasn't anticipating it suddenly being an offensive staple. That killed the potential of Jordan Wilkins, who might otherwise have had a decent day. Some garbage-time passing numbers for the Colts, nice if you started some of those guys. And then the ultimate garbage-time A.J. Brown touchdown, as if his day wasn't big enough, picking up an onside kick and running it in for a score. Tough if you lost a close one with Brown facing you.
Giants at Bengals: Unusually interested in this game having made the Giants a survivor pool pick. Cincinnati's elevation of Brandon Allen ahead of Ryan Finley was in no way supported by the results. Cincinnati scored 17 points on a kick return touchdown, a field goal set up by a fumble recovery, and a penalty-aided last-minute drive trailing by 9 points. Still some drama late, but the Giants defense basically dominated this game -- would have won more easily if the offense put a little more effort into things. Daniel Jones injured a hamstring in this one. I'm not sure Colt McCoy is dramatically worse. Big game for Evan Engram, including a pretty athletic catch along the way, though a lost fumble, too. Giants in 1st in the NFC East. Good D that should give Seattle some trouble next week.
Chargers at Bills: So John Brown's absence freed up Gabriel Davis to have a nice game. Davis looks like a nice add with Brown on IR and missing at least two more games. Stefon Diggs had a decent PPR game, but Josh Allen did most of the heavy lifting. Austin Ekeler destroyed any notion of watching players come off injury being eased in; 25 touches. Joshua Kelley out of the doghouse with 7 carries and a touchdown. Sloppy, turnover-filled game though, in which neither looked great. But another 300-plus yards for Justin Herbert and another score for Keenan Allen.
Raiders at Falcons: The Falcons can look so competent at times. In this one they basically destroyed a Raiders team that perhaps came out flat after the emotional Kansas City game last Sunday night. Brian Hill struggled and was ineffective, letting Ito Smith out of obscurity and into relevance. Josh Jacobs struggled (Falcons tough on the run) and left with an ankle injury. Henry Ruggs nearly had a touchdown on a pretty cool catch and dive. Lots of nearlys for the Raiders offense. Hunter Renfrow was busy, futilely. None of the Julio Jones replacements were viable.
49ers at Rams: What is it about the Niners defense that makes Jared Goff play poorly? They've got his number. But main takeaway here was how great Deebo Samuel looked, showing why we liked him so much back around magazine time. A healthy Samuel zipping through defenses on slants and short passes near the line is something fun to see. A couple of tough losses for the Cardinals and Rams -- great day for Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson and company. Raheem Mostert also returned and scored for San Francisco. I haven't seen the snap counts yet but rookie Cam Akers had far and away the best game by a Rams running back (9 for 84, TD). Neither Malcolm Brown nor Darrell Henderson went anywhere.
Saints at Broncos: So Kendall Hinton, if you were able to play him at wide receiver in your league, was not quite the bounty that Taysom Hill was a week ago. Denver did a lot of read action with a lot of different players taking snaps and trying to run, and on multiple occasions it seemed like even the players didn't know who was supposed to keep the ball. The Saints watched, laughed, and stuffed it with ease all game. Hill still had a nice game with a pair of rushing scores, sadly that just destroyed the value of everyone else, including Kamara and Michael Thomas. Bad game, bad call by the league to let things happen like that. Denver probably wasn't going to win anyway, but it need not have been that ugly.
Kansas City at Buccaneers: Hope you weren't facing Tyreek or Mahomes this week. But especially Tyreek, who was in single coverage all game, that didn't work. Tom Brady and Mike Evans hooked up for a pair of scores, Ronald Jones had an athletic looking touchdown catch (I believe I heard it was his first, which is saying something at this point), Rob Gronkowski went over 100 yards. A lot of NFC teams are starting to look shakier for playoff spots after a couple of recent losses, meanwhile a couple of 4-7 teams are duking it out atop the NFC East. Anyway, Kansas City dominated a large part of this game, not quite as close as the final score.
Bears at Packers: Pay no attention to the final score, which makes this eyesore look like a shootout. Green Bay led 41-10 in the third quarter. Final numbers good if you happened to start Allen Robinson and David Montgomery. With Mitchell Trubisky, at times -- at times -- you can see the talent. I think he should be starting over Nick Foles just because Foles is simply brutal to watch, and Trubisky at least offers theoretical upside, clouded by all the mistakes and bonehead plays. But it's not going to happen for him under this coaching staff. Anyhoo, Green Bay wins easily and the NFC North is long over. Bears look ready to pack things in for the year, and I'm not sure Matt Nagy will be there long after the season.
Monday, Monday: This is an important game for a couple of NFC races, but speaking for myself I'm a little tired of seeing the Eagles in primetime or really anywhere at all. Seattle is better and their offense should be very good, with Philadelphia's legit pass rush and Russell Wilson's tendency to hold the ball the only limiting factor. But I'm calling it Seahawks 27, Eagles 17, and I'm buying the idea that Jalen Hurts gets a few extra plays. Carson Wentz doesn't have much grounds for complaint at this point.
Tuesday afternoon (night): It's early, and we lost another Ravens skill guy in Willie Snead in the last 24 hours, but sounds like the game is still on. Yay? Good if you're starting some Steelers (there are almost no Ravens left to be using), not if you're facing any. Assuming it's played, I expect Baltimore to manage slightly more resistance than Denver did against the Saints. It's an important game for them, and Robert Griffin III can actually play, so maybe they hang around and make some defensive stops and lose 20-13 or something. But more likely it's an ugly game that the Steelers win by two scores, and we all go through this circus with Baltimore again next week. Good times.