Chances are that this week was either your last shot at making your fantasy football league’s playoffs or it may have even been the first round for some of us, but either way it’s safe to say that the dependables did their thing and the risky guys probably didn’t. It was a relatively normal week across the board for the Big 3 positions, with the exception of a handful of “elite” or “bordering-on-elite” wide receivers who really crapped the bed.
But the most fascinating game of the week from both a train wreck and/or fantasy standpoint was the Seattle Seahawks’ 58-0 absolute-clobbering of the Arizona Cardinals. Unless you had the Seahawks defense or Marshawn Lynch in this game, chances are you walked away scratching your head and wondering what the hell just happened. Obviously, there wasn’t a single Arizona player worth a damn (except maybe Rob Housler as a desperation TE *points to self*), but people counting on Russell Wilson, Sidney Rice or Golden Tate must have been PISSED.
What a strange, strange game that was. And if you’re interested, you can watch the entire game in one quick video recap…
QBs Who Did What We Expected Them To Do: Cam Newton (40), Tom Brady (35), Eli Manning (30), Ben Roethlisberger (28), Matt Ryan (23)
Is anyone else worried about Matt Ryan? I’m talking about Atlanta Falcons fans, not just fantasy owners. He seems like he’s sputtering through these final weeks, and that’s pretty scary for a guy who already has a reputation for not coming through when it matters. However, don’t take that as me being a downer. I greatly appreciate his efforts this season. *crosses fingers, does that cross thingy*
RBs Who Did What We Expected Them To Do: Marshawn Lynch (30), Adrian Peterson (28), Jamaal Charles (22), Darren Sproles (19), Ray Rice (19), Doug Martin (18), Trent Richardson (16), Alfred Morris (16)
Again, amazingly, in a 58-0 complete blowout shutout shellacking, Lynch was the only player who had any significant value in the game. Other than that, after Peterson ran for 100 yards and 2 TD in the first quarter on Sunday, I truly believed he would have topped 2,000 yards on the season by the end of the fourth quarter. How he’s not being talked about as a league MVP just blows me away. Disclaimer: I haven’t actually listened to any MVP conversations, and I just felt like wagging my finger.
Also, the best thing to ever happen to Rice is Cam Cameron being fired this week. Hallelujah!
WRs Who Did What We Expected Them To Do: Mike Wallace (23), Brandon Marshall (22), Danario Alexander (20), Vincent Jackson (19), Victor Cruz (18), Roddy White (17), Jeremy Maclin (16)
Does anyone else have the feeling that Alexander is going to have a dumb injury on the first play of this week’s game? Or is that just me because he’s been a godsend for me while Eric Decker has gone into hibernation? It’s probably just me.
QBs Who Let Us Down: John Skelton (-8), Christian Ponder (1), Matt Schaub (7), Andrew Luck (9), Russell Wilson (10), Andy Dalton (12), Aaron Rodgers (13)
Obviously, if you started John Skelton this week, it’s a pretty solid bet that you weren’t too concerned with that whole fantasy playoffs thing. I just included him because, geez man, -8 points. Imagine if that had been an actual QB on an actual team, and not just a future third-stringer on the Cardinals.
RBs Who Let Us Down: Fred Jackson (0), Bryce Brown (0), Beanie Wells (1), Ahmad Bradshaw (3), CJ Spiller (4), Chris Johnson (5), Ryan Matthews (6), Michael Turner (7)
I don’t know anyone who actually had Brown and was in the playoff hunt, as he was mostly a late season add by the worst teams in my leagues, but after his last two games, I’d imagine anyone who got an egg from him must have felt pretty lousy. So here’s a cute critter:
WRs Who Let Us Down: Golden Tate (0), Larry Fitzgerald (0), Greg Jennings (2), Lance Moore (2), Torrey Smith (2), Sidney Rice (3), Miles Austin (4), AJ Green (4), Marques Colston (4), Wes Welker (5), Justin Blackmon (5), TY Hilton (5)
Despite his improved play, I wouldn’t have been starting Tate anyway unless I was incredibly desperate. Green is my big concern here, because he dropped one easy TD against the Cowboys and had another good opportunity to score but couldn’t make that catch either. Maybe take a spa day, buddy.
Also, #FREELARRYFITZGERALD is stronger than ever.
(Via)
QBs Who Were A Pleasant Surprise: Nick Foles (35), Philip Rivers (26), Jake Locker (17)
I assume that if your team is playoff bound, you’re not starting any of these guys. Maybe Rivers, but as someone who dropped him in Week 6, I doubt it.
RBs Who Were A Pleasant Surprise: David Wilson (22), Knowshon Moreno (21), DeAngelo Williams (16), Montell Owens (16)
Remember when we used to expect this from Williams every week? This is kind of depressing.
WRs Who Were A Pleasant Surprise: Anquan Boldin (19), Brandon Gibson (16), Jason Avant (13)
Catch of the week right there.
It’s pretty nice to see Boldin performing this well this late in the season. As for the other two, I’m pretty sure you can grab them off of waivers right now.
As always, air your grievances and vent your frustrations in the comments. I have no complaints because I did very well, but I will not brag, as I am a compassionate man, here to lend a shoulder.
