Starting or not starting injured players is tough. Some guys are questionable all the time and still play and play well. Then some guys are questionable and are either ruled out at kickoff or, worse, aggravate injuries early on and leave a lineup dead spot. Rough week for those kind of decisions. Hopefully more helped than, er, hurt you.
Jets at Dolphins: Kudos to the Jets for playing hard in this one. Even seemed like they were going to win when they finally made a clutch field goal in the final minute of regulation. But alas, their defense collapsed to allow the even more clutch, longer tying field goal, they of course lost the coin toss in overtime, and the Dolphins marched the field for the winning touchdown. The most notable development from a fantasy perspective was that Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis split touches and total yards almost evenly, with Davis working out better because he scored. So the conservative ranking of Allen wasn't wrong (except I guess not conservative enough). Dolphins put up big passing numbers in part by abandoning the run early on, but fantasy teams don't need to care (Achane caught 6 balls and scored).
Falcons at Vikings: Nice game for fantasy. Falcons came to play and looked like they were going to cause some problems early. But then Sam Darnold shook off a couple of sacks and started lighting up a bad defense. Darnold, Jefferson, Addison, Jones -- nice day to have any on your side. Atlanta also generated quite a bit of offense, although disappointingly (and surprisingly) their touchdowns came on the ground, so the receivers weren't quite as good as they might have been. But still pretty good game for almost everyone.
Saints at Giants: Late in the game Derek Carr sacrificed his body by scrambling and leaping over a defender, showing why he doesn't do that very often. He landed on his hand/arm and left with a fracture. Fantasy pain early when Alvin Kamara, seemingly less likely to be vultured for a touchdown with Taysom Hill on IR, got vultured by the just-off-IR Kendre Miller, with a funky play where both were in the backfield and the Saints' linemen basically carried him into the end zone. Not a lot of beauty in this game, but Tyrone Tracy scored (a generous ruling, it seemed) and Malik Nabers was decent. But we were denied an overtime period when the Giants moved into range for a short tying field goal in the final seconds only to have their 35-yard chip shot blocked. New York football, man.
Panthers at Eagles: I think this has happened a lot in recent years: when there's a huge point spread and a team with seemingly zero chance of winning, they dramatically exceed expectations. Carolina oh so close to winning this one with a last-minute touchdown pass, too -- capping a 97-yard drive -- but they couldn't complete it and the drive ultimately stalled. But a really strong game by Bryce Young and Chuba Hubbard, yet again, in a game they were supposed to get rolled but almost shocked the world. Big game by Adam Thielen, ranked low because the Panthers offense wasn't supposed to do anything. It did. Presumably everyone heard about Jonathon Brooks leaving with a non-contact knee injury. Hoping for the best.
Browns at Steelers: Steelers took care of business in this one, but the Browns more than helped with turnovers and a couple of missed, momentum-killing field goals when it was still a game. Cleveland defense not good so no surprise the Steelers moved the ball fairly well, even without George Pickens. But it was a spread-it-around Arthur Smith special, so Pittsburgh didn't have a lot of great performers; good we were cool on other pass catcher. Pat Freiermuth scored late to save his day, Jerry Jeudy scored early for the Browns. Njoku also good, but no one else.
Raiders at Bucs: This was an ugly one with lots of turnovers, quarterbacks getting crushed in piles, and some head-scratching throws by both passers. Bucky Irving came into the game hurt, and he's done that a lot this season and finished with strong numbers anyway. But in this one it was apparently a worse injury, he aggravated it early, and Irving left an ugly hole in a lot of lineups. Rachaad White benefited with his best day in a little while. Will have to tread carefully with Irving going forward. Big game for Jalen McMillan, pretty much out of nowhere, at the expense of guys like Otton and Evans, who were just so-so. Big game also out of nowhere for Michael Mayer, and just 3 catches for Brock Bowers, will need to check the play numbers to see if Bowers missed any time. Sincere McCormick the main back and played very well against a tough run defense; no touchdowns, however. Aidan O'Connell carted off with a leg injury, so probably Desmond Ridder next week.
Jaguars at Titans: Sometimes when two bad teams and defenses get together, there are points. This was not such a game, with each offense playing down to the level of its personnel and team record and all that bad stuff. Ridley, Engram, Westbrook-Ikhine, Parker Washington, Etienne and both quarterbacks left ugly marks in lineups. Brian Thomas had a good game because he's really good, Calvin Ridley worked out in PPR (carried on a jet sweep near the goal line, but didn't great a great block), Tony Pollard with a 100-yard rushing day. But I'm going to own this one: bad call that bad offenses would exploit bad defenses. Instead there was just a lot of bad football.
Seahawks at Cardinals: Some will recall me saying some not so flattering things in the past about Zach Charbonnet. I take it all back. We were in on him yesterday and he delivered in a big way, runner and receiver. Congrats to those who had him. So did Geno Smith, while Kyler Murray struggled. Seattle wins big, seemingly taking control of the NFC West (at least in regards to Arizona, who appears to have peaked too early). But another team has an equally good case (Seattle at the Rams in Week 18 is the early favorite for a primetime flex).
Bills at Rams: Josh Allen for MVP? What a game he had; 6 TDs, 424 total yards and 57 points for my 6-point TD pass team that needed to win to clinch a playoff spot. Thank Josh. Not showing up, oddly, was the Bills defense, which Matthew Stafford and Puka and Kyren company lit up time and again. Costly interference penalty extended the Rams' final drive after the Bills had pulled to 38-35; legit I guess but a little ticky tack. But if you give up 44 points it's hard to complain too much about one play. Disappointing game from James Cook, with Allen running in 3 TDs and Ty Johnson catching a long score on one of his 2 touches. Nice game for Khalil Shakir.
Bears at 49ers: One-sided. Huge game for the 49ers, who presumably didn’t care for the talk all week that their season was over. It still doesn’t look great, obvs, but they’re not mailing it in. Huge games for Jauan Jennings and Isaac Guerendo, congrats to those who trusted the rankings and sent them out there. Guerendo left late with a foot injury that I haven’t seen updated. For the Bears, well, not much good here, but at least we can't blame Eberflus.
Chargers at Kansas City: Death, taxes and Kansas City winning a close game when everyone from both teams underperforms in fantasy lineups. Their charmed life continues when the winning field goals banks in off the upright. Chargers had a lot of near-misses in this one, including a long touchdown to Josh Palmer just overthrown; nice game for him though, filling in for Ladd McConkey. On the one hand it's hard to see this team getting back to and winning another Super Bowl, and on the other hand their ability to play defense, make just enough plays on offense, and win, seems to be unmatched.
Monday, Monday: Neither of these teams is going to the playoffs, so NFL impact is minimal. But lots of people will be watching in fantasy leagues, with the Bengals putting up huge numbers for most of the season and CeeDee and Dowdle and perhaps Jake Ferguson facing a really bad defense. I can't see Cooper Rush outdueling Joe Burrow. Bengals 27, Cowboys 23.