Did you survive? Or, are you still holding your breath for Ben Roethlisberger to stay upright against the 49ers?
Did you hold back Mike Wallace or Antonio Brown in anticipation of a long gain? Do you trust Frank Gore’s ankle?
Whatever the case, football fans are actually excited about a Monday night game for one of the only times this season. It’s a game with huge playoff implications, particularly with the Ravens taking it on the chin against the Chargers on Sunday night.
Who will rise? Time will tell.
I’ll circle back with a review of Monday’s action tomorrow morning. In the interim, I’m going to exhaust my arm by patting a few heroes from Week 15 on the back.
The first honoree was a bit of a surprise to me this week given his opponent. I should learn not to doubt this rookie superstar.
Cam Newton didn’t put up gaudy numbers, but he made his few completions count. Before you settled into your seat, Newton had already connected with Steve Smith for a 26-yard touchdown reception. Newton finished with 149 yards, two sacks and two touchdown passes. He added 55 rushing yards and did not commit a turnover. I must note that I know more than few fantasy owners that are cursing Richie Brockel some 24 hours later for his rushing touchdown.
Smith caught five passes for 82 yards. His touchdown reception was his second in the past six weeks and marked his eighth game with at least 79 receiving yards this season (1,299 overall).
Did you trust DeAngelo Williams against the Texans? Williams rewarded you with his fourth touchdown in four games and rushed 15 times for 61 yards. He’s now topped 60 rushing yards in four of the past five weeks following a miserable start to the season.
It was a quiet day for the Texans overall, but Arian Foster still logged a fantastic fantasy day against the Panthers. Foster carried the ball 16 times for 109 yards and scored his ninth rushing touchdown of the season (11th overall). He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season on the ground, and added five receptions for 58 yards. Foster lost a fumble, but that hardly detracts from his huge fantasy day. He’s now amassed 1,667 total yards this season.
Reggie Bush continued his phenomenal run in fantasyland with a 203-yard performance against the Bills. Bush sprinted 76 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. He’s logged 96 total yards or scored in eight consecutive games.
Matt Moore wasn’t dominant, but he was efficient. Moore completed 10-of-20 pass attempts for 217 yards with two sacks and two touchdowns.
He connected with Brandon Marshall for one of his touchdowns (three receptions for 84 yards with a lost fumble) and made a “Hero” out of “Ninja” option Anthony Fasano (two receptions for 28 yards with a touchdown).
C.J. Spiller came into this matchup against Miami as a tepid low-end RB2 option. Spiller ran for 91 yards on 12 carries, including a 24-yard touchdown to open the scoring. He later caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick, one of his nine receptions on the day (76 yards).
Donald Brown was the hero of the day for the victorious Indianapolis Colts. It felt strange to type that. Brown raced for an 80-yard touchdown sprint to put the game out of reach and finished the game with 161 rushing yards on 16 carries. Brown scored for the third time in four weeks.
It took Jake Locker’s insertion to make it happen, but Nate Washington rewarded trusting fantasy owners with a touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Washington caught seven passes for 62 yards. He and Locker have connected for four touchdowns in limited play together.
Fantasy owners cursed when they saw an early touchdown come across the ticker by Cincinnati backup Bernard Scott. They later received their goal-line love from Cedric Benson and breathed a sigh of relief. Benson finished the game with 76 rushing yards on 22 carries. He caught one pass for 11 yards.
A.J. Green caught six passes for 115 yards in the Bengals’ Week 15 win over St. Louis, including a 55-yard grab. Green has now earned 1,006 receiving yards on 61 catches this season. I know that he’s only caught one touchdown pass in the past five weeks. The rookie out of Georgia is still a weekly beast.
* Keep an eye on his status for Week 16. Green sustained a sprained shoulder during Sunday’s victory.
Steven Jackson doesn’t see many scoring opportunities in St. Louis, but he continues to shoulder a heavy workload and pile up yardage in support of fantasy owners. Jackson logged 143 total yards on 27 touches against the Bengals, including nine receptions for 72 yards. Jackson enters Saturday’s game against the Steelers needing 34 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
Marshawn Lynch was hardly overpowering against the Bears, producing 42 yards on 20 carries, but he did score twice in the Seahawks’ blowout win. Lynch has now scored in 10 consecutive games (12 total touchdowns) and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season in this contest.
I noted that Kahlil Bell mimicked the style of Matt Forte pretty well earlier this week. Bell did well to make me look moderately intelligent with his 108 total yards on 20 touches, including a beautiful 25-yard touchdown reception. He stands to take on a large workload on Christmas night against the Packers.
The Seattle defense gets a nod here for producing four sacks, four turnovers and two defensive touchdowns against the inept Chicago offense. Caleb Hanie has become the standard for bad quarterback play.
I’m not going to spill too much ink on the Saints’ win over the Vikings. Drew Brees passed for 412 yards with five touchdowns in the beatdown of the hapless Minnesota secondary. He lost a fumble. Sigh.
* Brees needs 220 passing yards to reach 5,000 on the season and has now thrown 37 touchdown passes.
• Lance Moore caught five passes for 91 yards with two touchdowns.
• Darren Sproles tallied 112 total yards on 13 touches (five receptions), including a receiving touchdown.
• Jimmy Graham caught seven passes for 70 yards with a touchdown. It was Graham’s ninth touchdown reception of the season, and his reception count brought his season total to 87.
I know at least one person who started the Minnesota tandem of Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart. Gerhart rewarded that confidence with two touchdown receptions and led the Vikings with four receptions for 46 yards (two carries for 12 yards).
Aaron Rodgers wasn’t world-beating, but he still produced a solid two-touchdown performance for fantasy owners. Rodgers passed for 235 yards with one touchdown and four sacks. He added 32 rushing yards, including a nine-yard touchdown.
Matthew Stafford passed for 391 yards (29-for-52) with four touchdowns and two sacks. It was eighth game this season in which Stafford passed for at least 293 passing yards and his 10th multi-touchdown game. He has not been shut out this season.
Calvin Johnson had been quiet since the Lions’ Week 9 Bye. He roared loudly and led the Lions to a comeback win over the Raiders on Sunday. Johnson caught nine passes for 214 yards with two touchdowns. He had caught one touchdown pass in his previous five games.
“Ninja” option Nate Burleson also delivered a big effort against the Oakland secondary. He logged seven receptions for 81 yards and scored his third touchdown of the season.
Greg Little has quietly put together a strong rookie season for the Browns (57 receptions and 669 yards). Unfortunately, his five-reception, 131-yard effort against Arizona made no splash in fantasyland. Little caught a 76-yard touchdown pass from Seneca Wallace in the third quarter.
Michael Vick wasn’t overwhelming statistically, but it’s hard to argue with the final count in Philly’s win over the Jets. Vick passed for 274 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. He added 32 rushing yards and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season.
Brent Celek led the Eagles with five receptions for 156 yards and scored. Celek has caught at least three passes in nine consecutive games.
LeSean McCoy was the hero of the day, plunging into the end zone three times while amassing 102 rushing yards on 18 carries. He lost a fumble, but that hardly puts a dent into his ridiculous totals. McCoy has now scored 20 touchdowns (17 rushing) this season.
Joe Flacco threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith late in Sunday’s debacle against the Chargers to yield a solid fantasy day. Flacco passed for 226 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He added 12 rushing yards to help offset some of the negativity.
Smith caught five passes for 77 yards. He’s scored in back-to-back week and has now produced 770 receiving yards and seven touchdowns overall.
Ryan Mathews continued his strong late-season run with a huge effort against the normally stout Ravens. Mathews rushed 26 times for 90 yards with two touchdowns. He added two receptions for 19 yards. Following injury and performance questions to open the season, Mathews has now amassed 1,472 total yards (1,033 rushing) with six touchdowns.
Mike Tolbert rewarded trusting (desperate) owners with 40 rushing yards and vultured a touchdown.
Malcom Floyd led the Chargers with five receptions for 96 yards and scored his third touchdown of the season (second in the past three weeks).
Finally, let’s raise a glass to the fantasy heroics from the Denver-New England game.
Tom Brady passed for 320 yards with two touchdowns (one of them to Chad Ochocinco) and stared down the pass rush of Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller. Brady was sacked twice, but shook off the hits and kept rolling. The play of the day was Brady’s rare rushing touchdown. He spiked the ball emphatically, and Bill Belichick, The Sith Lord, chuckled with a “Good … Good.” I’m going to run with this one for a while.
• Lost in the ridiculous, pinball-like numbers posted by Rodgers and Brees is the fact that Brady has passed for 4,593 yards with 35 touchdowns.
Aaron Hernandez led the Patriots with nine receptions for 129 yards with a touchdown. Hernandez has now caught 68 passes for 736 yards and six touchdowns. You don’t need a No. 2 wide receiver with tight ends like Hernandez and Gronkowski running wild.
Of course, the large viewing audience tuned in to watch Tim Tebow chase the Patriots. He passed for 194 yards (11-for-22) and absorbed four sacks. Tebow’s fantasy impact came on the ground with 93 rushing yards and two touchdowns with one lost fumble. Say what you will. Many owners will be playing for fantasy titles during Christmas weekend with Tebow under center against the Bills.
Lance Ball piled up 105 total yards with a touchdown and a lost fumble on 13 touches (64 rushing yards on 11 carries).
Finally, Demaryius Thomas remained Tebow’s No. 1 option. He caught seven passes for 116 yards. In the past three weeks, Thomas has caught 18 passes for 338 yards with three touchdowns.
FOX Fantasy Football Homepage | Football Chat Central
