It was the best of days, it was the worst of days. Some big performances, including some by teams you might not have expected it from, but more than our share of disappointing duds. Speaking personally, I've had worse years for predictions, but better years for luck. That's fantasy football I guess.
Lions at Cowboys: Good game, controversial ending. Discussed some here yesterday, Lions probably got rooked, but they probably should have kicked the extra point and gone to overtime after that. I'd say neither team looks great for the playoffs; Lions particularly, with their defense not being good. Dallas though has an outside chance at winning the East so maybe there's an upset and they get to play at home throughout.
Dolphins at Ravens: Another game, another week of the Ravens bombing another presumably top team into oblivion. Ravens have the No. 1 seed in the AFC and I'm not sure they even need it. They've lost games, so maybe somebody comes into Baltimore and makes things interesting. But we haven't seen another team play well enough to make it look particularly likely. Ravens should get a relative tap in their first playoff game and then play either Kansas City or the East winner after that. Hard to bet against them.
Patriots at Bills: Patriots returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and hung around after that, but basically Buffalo's offense moved the ball pretty consistently and the outcome wasn't much in doubt. It's a little weird to me how many quarterback draws/option type plays the Bills run with their franchise quarterback. But he's not throwing it particularly well, highlighted in yet another invisible week from Stefon Diggs. But now they can win the AFC East by beating Miami next week, and while the Dolphins are much tougher at home, it certainly wouldn't be surprising.
Falcons at Bears: Bears made D'Onta Foreman inactive again for this game, helping Khalil Herbert have a big game and Roschon Johnson was also good. Unexpected. Obviously Bears didn't need him and probably put the Arthur Smith era out of our misery. Bijan Robinson the good game rushing it, but Tyler Allgeier turned a little screen pass into a 75-yard touchdown reception that seemed to take forever; that was Atlanta's highlight. Monster game from DJ Moore, 9 for 159 with a touchdown in the snow (yes, there's still snow in the world!). Big game also for Justin Fields, who will be starting somewhere next year. I'm wondering if the Bears will stick with him and trade the top pick again. Can't be ruled out.
Titans at Texans: This one was not close, and it also wasn't great from a fantasy perspective. Will Levis hurt early, Titans fell behind, and they couldn't do much on offense after that. Derrick Henry did get a late chance to punch in a touchdown, but it didn't happen and few players on either side paid off. Good game for Nico Collins, that Stroud-Collins connection is pretty nice. DeAndre Hopkins decent, Noah Brown hurt early on. Houston is probably going to the playoffs? I haven't sorted out all the permutations yet.
Raiders at Colts: Most of what the Colts did in this game came early, with Gardner Minshew hitting a couple of throws, Jonathan Taylor scoring, Raiders well behind. They came back, with Davante Adams winning titles for some and costing them for others. Zamir White was close to scoring, paying off his high ranking, but alas he ran into his own blocker near the goal line and didn't score. Will be interesting to see what the Raiders do in the offseason. Colts are apparently in line for one of the uglier playoff spot battles in recent memory; if the AFC South puts 2 teams in the playoffs, well, it's not a good look for the league. But it might.
Panthers at Jaguars: Jaguars took care of business, even without Trevor Lawrence. Big game for Travis Etienne, one of the few healthy stars for this game. Carolina's offense predictably godawful, gonna be a fun offseason there. Jaguars still need to win next week to clinch the AFC South, and it's not a given.
Rams at Giants: Entertaining game with plays on both sides and pretty competitive. Not to focus on the end, but it's hard to get past the worst 2-point conversion attempt in history, with the Giants scoring on an pretty unbelievable kick return -- guy seemed to be bottled up and somehow got out of it -- to pull within 26-25. Tyrod Taylor rolled out on the 2-point attempt and had either the easiest little completion ever or could have walked in on his own -- there was no Ram defender in the vicinity. He threw it behind him and it was incomplete. Rams would have had 2 mnutes to score, and I could have used the fantasy points. Oh well. Rams win, big game for Kyren and a cool long play and near touchdown for Puka, chased down from behind unfortunately.
Cardinals at Eagles: Shocker, but truthfully the Cardinals kind of dominated this game. Eagles were bad against the pass early on and right they're bad against both. This team looked like an NFC juggernaut at 10-1. Right now I'm not even sure they're beating the Giants next week. Anybody have Julio Jones catching 2 TDs? Ridiculous. DeVonta Smith had his knee fallen on late while blocking, looked kind of bad as he limped off. Eagles oddly didn't work D'Andre Swift all that much despite the Cardinals having about the worst run defense these days. Not an impressive game from Philadelphia, I think the Cardinals have exceeded expectations all year long in terms of competitiveness, kudos to Jonathan Gannon.
Saints at Bucs: I stand corrected on this one. Bucs picked a bad week to have their worst offensive game. Baker Mayfield finished with solid stats, but if you watched any you know that his early struggles were a big part of the team falling in a big hole and not every really functioning well on offense (4 turnovers). Maybe somebody told the Bucs they can win the division anyway by just being hopeless Carolina next week and they came out flat, I don't know. Anyway, not a pretty game for anyone most were starting, although Chris Godwin was OK. Trey Palmer with a good game on benches everywhere.
49ers at Commanders: Annoyingly, I started a parlay filled with 49ers players that would have hit, but instead pivoted to one with Eagles players, that didn't. Back to this game, Commanders hung around, played tough, yada yada, but Sam Howell delivered his usual turnovers and the Niners offense basically moved the ball with relative ease, with even Elijah Mitchell having a nice game; both wide receivers scored. San Fran clinches the top seed with Philly's loss, so I can't imagine they play anyone of importance next week. Ron Rivera will be coaching his last game for Washington.
Steelers at Seahawks: Both of these teams are of the not sure what you'll get from week to week variety. Seattle shocking the Eagles one week, getting smoked by Pittsburgh the next. Back to back good games for George Pickens means you can start him next week, if you're playing in Week 18. Kenneth Walker and both Steelers running backs also rising to the Week 17 occasions with good games, but no one else really.
Chargers at Broncos: Much has been said about the Broncos this week. They're out of the playoffs now, even after winning over an injury-gutted Chargers team, so I guess we don't have to talk much about them anymore. Gonna be an interesting offseason for both of these teams, too. Stidham looked OK, basically wasn't asked to do very much and it's a good thing because he didn't have much of a receiving corps. For the Chargers, well, I think they're in rebuilding mode even more than Denver. They've got the quarterback position solved, but a lot of other questions to answer before this team is back in the playoffs.
Bengals at Kansas City: There was a story yesterday indicating Kansas City believes that its offense has been hurt by all the different receivers they've been rotating on and off the field. Not great for those of us in fantasy leagues either. It's hard to see that as the real problem with the lesser numbers week after week from Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Maybe it was the bad investments in Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore, salvaged somewhat by the nice pick of Rashee Rice. And Isiah Pacheco, who had a huge game. Cincinnati provided some Joe Mixon goodness but not much else. Last year we wouldn't have thought Kansas City's strength was its pass defense, but here we are.
Packers at Vikings: So yes, it was a Jaren Hall faceplant, and the Vikings defense also picked a great week not to show up. Credit to Jordan Love, Aaron Jones and Jayden Reed, all of whom made Minnesota look silly for one of the least competitive games we've seen all season. Presumably Kevin O'Connell will be kicking himself for the Hall quarterback decision all offseason. As will anyone who started any Vikings last night.
That's a wrap on most fantasy seasons. I understand there are leagues that play through Week 18, and they have their admirers, but I think any fantasy season that won't have starters from either conference's best teams (Ravens, 49ers) and probably neither No. 3 seed (Kansas City, Detroit) either is badly flawed. Rams also probably holding out starters, Eagles and Dolphins have some injury issues...it's gonna be an ugly week. We'll still put out the same previews and wrapups as always, don't worry, but if your season is over, one way or another, I don't think anyone should be too disappointed. Hope luck was with you, and will be in 2024, too.
