A day late but a dollar richer, or poorer. If you had Gurley, Fitzgerald and maybe Ertz, all some of our top preseason kicks, you're probably happy today. But if you faced one or two of them, or maybe were counting on players who really should have been awesome (Michael Crabtree? Adam Thielen?) perhaps not. Let's zip through the weekend and share our joy or pain.
Colts at Ravens: Would have expected a huge game from the Ravens defense, but instead it was unremarkable. Best fantasy games were by Frank Gore and T.Y. Hilton in a loss, not any of the Ravens in a predictable win. Joe Flacco and the un-startable Michael Campanaro had the best Ravens games. Kind of an eyesore, but it's fun watching Gore -- best appreciated while we have him.
Vikings at Packers: If you got burned by Adam Thielen especially, Kyle Rudolph and Case Keenum, the weather is partially to blame. Minnesota had plenty of chances against Green Bay's coverage-challenged secondary, but the timing was off, perhaps due to the cold. Most notably, Thielen was wide-open for a long touchdown and Keenun overthrew him by a foot or two. Tough play to watch. I think the lesson I'll take from this one next year is that really cold night games -- maybe outdoor night games, period -- in December are best avoided. Green Bay's offense was a disaster, unsurprisingly, and Jordy Nelson (who no one should have been using) got hurt.
Bucs at Panthers: Criminal that the Bucs couldn't win this game. Jameis Winston and Mike Evans played well and they led for much of the way. But special teams blew a coverage on a kick return touchdown, and then the Bucs squandered a couple of turnover opportunities late.
Browns at Bears: Jordan Howard had his big game, and since he was basically the only player who should have been in fantasy lineups, no complaints from anyone. Nice PPR day from Duke Johnson, stuck laboring in a committee on a terrible team. I don't understand why Hue Jackson might not be fired. I guess at some point you have to commit to somebody for your turnaround, but I don't know why it's him. The turnaround doesn't appear to be soon. John Fox also likely fired. Mitchell Trubisky has shown very little. He needs a Sean McVay.
Lions at Bengals: So Marvin Jones was the big disappointment from an Index rankings perspective. Tough to explain why the Lions failed to show up for what should have been an easy, dominant win against a Bengals team with nothing to play for. A big game for Giovani Bernard, which can best be described as surprising. Eric Ebron the only Lion with a good game. I'm not sure I'll ever draft a Lions running back again. With the Bengals, should be interesting to see what a new coaching staff brings. I suppose the NFC playoffs benefit from not having a flawed team like the Lions in them.
Dolphins at Kansas City: As expected. Kenyan Drake came back to earth, Kansas City had Hill and Hunt dominating. Hill robbed of a touchdown on what was a pretty sweet bit of footwork in the end zone. Instant replay sucks. I'm not sure there's anything else to say. It's not consistent with the plays it lets stand and the plays it overturns, and I'm not sure anyone's really happy with it. Hope the competition committee comes up with something. Kansas City is resting players in Week 17, I think you can take that to the bank.
Bills at Patriots: Bills dominated the early part of this game, but that was it. Patriots ended up finishing with good numbers, and Mike Gillislee indeed had a short touchdown (but just a goal-line role, as warned). Hope you started not faced Dion Lewis, who was the best player on the field for both teams. And Gronk I guess. Officiating was lousy in this game, shocker.
Falcons at Saints: On the one hand, either the Falcons or the Seahawks will be left out of the NFC playoffs. On the other hand, should either team really make it? I'm thinking the Falcons, disappointing all year long, will lose to Carolina, and the Seahawks will get in. And Russell Wilson being the player he is, they'll throw a scare to somebody. But they're just not that good. Back to this one: decent if underwhelming game from Alvin Kamara and especially Michael Thomas (though at least you got something from him if, like me, you started him despite the hamstring injury). Good game from Mark Ingram. Falcons need to maybe start being concerned about these Devonta Freeman fumbles. I mean, they've got bigger issues, but those aren't helping.
Chargers at Jets: I've been on Team Chargers all along, but their offense has sure underperformed the last couple of games. Turn back the clock outing from Antonio Gates, good performance by Melvin Gordon. The Jets, the less said the better. Nice game from Bilal Powell, congrats if you dared start him. Nick Rose had one of the ugliest field goal misses you'll see all year; I seriously do not know who's making the team's decisions at the position this year, but it will be fitting if they slip into the playoffs and then shank an extra point at the end to lose.
Rams at Titans: Three cheers for the Rams offense, pretty much everyone except for Robert Woods. A special thank you to Todd Gurley, who I saw a stat had the best Week 14-16 performance by a running back in history (somebody is tracking such things). If you had Gurley on your team, consider donating money to a charity in his name. I think we also owe a special thanks to the Rams for doing their part in hopefully keeping the Titans out of the playoffs. No one wants to see that. DeMarco Murray injured a knee and is expected to miss Week 17 team, which of course means he'll play, carry 20 times for 45 yards, and Derrick Henry won't do anything.
Broncos at Washington: Nothing to see here. Broncos are unwatchable with Brock Osweiler at quarterback. Great game for C.J. Anderson, because really, why not feature the one non-question mark on the team in a meaningless game. If Denver doesn't give Jamaal Charles a chance to have a big game against Kansas City in a meaningless Week 17 battle, I don't know what to say. Big game for Kirk Cousins and his main receivers, helping his free-agency push. Probably one of the more interesting offeseason storylines.
Jaguars at 49ers: So yeah, I underestimated Jimmy Garoppolo and overestimated the Jaguars defense. Cost me a little money in a league where I could have started the Steelers defense (who I actually ranked higher; love when I ignore my own rankings). San Francisco is legit, or at least the coaching staff and Garoppolo are. Jaguars can rest players in Week 17 and I suppose they probably will, but wouldn't hurt to at least put something positive on film early on.
Giants at Cardinals: Couldn't figure out why Evan Engram wasn't doing more in this game until I discovered he was sidelined early with a rib injury. No accounting for that in the rankings. Then Sterling Shepard left with an injury. And the Giants after lighting up the Eagles last week got shutout. A thank you to Larry Fitzgerald, an all-time great who's having a fantastic season, even more so when you consider what he's working with at quarterback. Him and DeAndre Hopkins, impressive stuff. Was clear they'd feature Fitzgerald early on, and he delivered. The less said about Eli Manning and company the better. I hope he's elsewhere next year.
Seahawks at Cowboys: Shocking egg laid by the Cowboys. And Seattle, in victory; I'm not sure how to explain them putting up 169 total yards in this game. They couldn't run, they couldn't pass, and there are a lot of people cursing the names of both team's stars this week. Russell Wilson at least threw 2 TDs and was the leading rusher, but this might have been one of the ugliest games in a pretty ugly weekend. And then we got to Monday.
Steelers at Texans: Steelers did their thing and DeAndre Hopkins had a sick touchdown catch. If you started Roethlisberger, Bell, Smith-Schuster, you got some usable production. Two of Pittsburgh's touchdowns were scored by their No. 4 wideout and a fullback, nice for those facing any Steelers. Houston threw for 93 yards, so if you had Hopkins and got 16.5 PPR fantasy points, you should be thanking your lucky stars.
Raiders at Eagles: I will think long and hard about counting on anyone in a Christmas night game after this one. Maybe it would have been just as bad on any other day, I don't know. But for Jeffery and Crabtree to get totally shut out of the box score; unfathomable. Zach Ertz at least had a really nice PPR day (after a scary opening quarter where the Eagles ran the ball on virtually every play), and should have had a touchdown or two on plays where Nick Foles flat out missed him. (But I can't complain because at least I had Ertz and not those other receivers.) Let me spare a second to talk about the final-play defensive touchdown by the Eagles after the Raiders lost a fumble during one of those useless lateral plays. Do teams practice these plays? I mean, shouldn't they? It's the second time in the last month the Eagles have scored a touchdown on one of those plays. Same exact deal: teams throwing the ball around while moving backward to their own end zone. It's like their only goal is not to throw a forward pass, when their goal should be to somehow advance the ball down the field. It's goofy. But I had Eagles -8.5, so whoohoo!
And that's Week 16. Hope it went well for you. Thanks, Todd.