Week 16 is the fantasy Super Bowl in many leagues, the most important game of the season (for teams playing in it, of course). But for a lot of NFL teams, it's a meaningless contest, and some will act accordingly -- to the detriment of fantasy teams.
The Packers got Aaron Rodgers back to face Carolina, but Green Bay lost that game, and the Falcons win Monday night eliminated the Packers from playoff contention. Prior to the game, Mike McCarthy wouldn't commit to Rodgers playing in Week 16 against the Vikings. Now, there's no reason for him to.
Send Rodgers out on a still-healing collarbone to face the team that put him on IR in the first place? A possibility that that won't happen.
That's the most notable situation, but there are others I'm thinking about.
If Green Bay manages to beat the Vikings on Saturday, the Eagles clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and their Week 16 game against the Raiders becomes meaningless. Philadelphia probably wants to get Nick Foles more work in advance of the playoffs. But they certainly don't want to get key players like Zach Ertz or Alshon Jeffery hurt, and given the fragility of the running back position, maybe we'll see a larger than normal workload for Kenjon Barner. I've got Ertz in a fantasy Super Bowl. I'm rooting for Minnesota to beat Green Bay and force the Eagles to get one more win.
The Jaguars have a chance at a first-round bye, which they'd surely like to get. But the only way that will happen is if the Patriots or Steelers lose games that they should easily win (Bill and Jets for New England, Texans and Browns for Pittsburgh). If the Titans lose to the Rams in the early game on Sunday, Jacksonville clinches the AFC South. Are they going to put Leonard Fournette on the field at less than 100 percent in San Francisco just on the slim hope of getting a bye?
Most of the other concerns can be put off until Week 17. But there will definitely be some banged-up players who might ordinarily play if the games had meaning -- and will be held out if they don't. Something to keep in mind while monitoring practice participation this week.