The fantasy playoffs kicked into high-gear starting with the
kickoff of the Indianapolis-Jacksonville game on Thursday night.
Unlike the previous week’s debacle (Pittsburgh-Cleveland),
fantasy owners received huge games from their heroes, with
Peyton Manning,
Maurice Jones-Drew and several others posting big
days. The feel-good attitude rolled into “The Big Easy”
on Saturday, but the Cowboys had an answer for
Drew Brees and the high-octane New Orleans
offense. Did Brees’ relatively smallish day start you on a
path to ruination?
For the second time this year, the Cleveland Browns engaged
in a most fascinating game. Those who didn’t get to see it
had to be puzzled by the frequent text alerts about score after
score. In all, the Browns put up 41 points and vanquished the
Chiefs in a high-scoring, high-energy affair. The paying customers
in Kansas City certainly got their money worth.
Josh Cribbs astounded us with two 100-yard kickoff
returns. Alas, those returns probably didn’t have an impact
in your fantasy league.
Jerome Harrison reclaimed the lead role in the
Cleveland backfield and obliterated the Kansas City defense.
Harrison carried the ball 34 times to yield a mind-boggling total
of 286 rushing yards and three touchdowns. It was his second big
effort in the past three weeks (two receiving touchdowns in Week
13). Harrison contributed only 12 receiving yards this time around,
but I don’t think gutsy (or desperate) owners who slotted him
in a Flex mind much.
The talk in Baltimore was about weather. Snow, snow and more
snow kept the Bears from getting out of Chicago and into the
“Charmed City” until late Saturday. This was a time
where everyone wishes that they’d missed the plane. The
Chicago defense was absolutely torched by
Joe Flacco, who suddenly rediscovered his
early-season magic. Flacco connected with
Todd Heap (five catches for 56 yards) on two early
touchdown passes and finished the day with 234 passing yards and
four touchdowns (
Derrick Mason and
Demetrius Williams).
Rookie
Josh Freeman had been a veritable turnover machine
in the past several weeks. He rallied the Buccaneers to a huge road
victory against the Seahawks. Freeman passed for 205 yards with two
touchdowns and one interception. His two touchdown passes were
thrown to
Derrick Ward and
Carnell “Cadillac” Williams (88 total
yards, including his 22-yard touchdown).
Fantasy owners watched longtime star after star come up short
on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday night, the nation watched the
Panthers run roughshod on the Vikings defense.
Matt Moore had a career night for the Panthers,
completing 21-of-33 attempts for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
Moore had thrown only one touchdown pass in his previous two
starts.
Moore connected frequently with
Steve Smith, who saved his best game of the year
for the fantasy playoffs. Smith caught nine passes for 157 yards,
including a 42-yard touchdown reception.
DeAngelo Williams was sidelined because of an
ankle injury, thrusting
Jonathan Stewart into the top slot. Stewart not
only shone brightly. He snapped a 36-game streak in which the
Vikings had kept opposing rushers from reaching the 100-yard mark.
Stewart carried the ball 25 times for 109 yard and scored a
tremendous rushing touchdown on which he spun away from a would-be
tackler at the goal line. Stewart also added two receptions for 14
yards, including a two-yard touchdown to cap the scoring.
I believed that
Ben Roethlisberger would have some success
downfield against the Green Bay secondary. I couldn’t have
expected Roethlisberger to turn in big play after big play en route
to a ridiculous 503-yard, three-touchdown day. He turned the ball
over once (fumble) and absorbed five sacks, but
Roethlisberger’s individual effort was nothing short of
amazing in Sunday’s first-ever 37-36 NFL game.
Rookie
Mike Wallace made a picture-perfect catch of
Roethlisberger’s 19-yard dart to win the game as time
expired. Wallace caught two passes for 79 yards in the game, both
touchdowns from Roethlisberger.
The 49ers didn’t mount much offense against the Eagles,
but
Josh Morgan found the mark while Philadelphia shut
down
Michael Crabtree and
Vernon Davis. Morgan caught seven passes for 61
yards in the defeat, including Alex Smith’s lone touchdown
pass.
LeSean McCoy didn’t post a huge effort
against the 49ers, but he did get the call near the goal line to
score a touchdown, even with bulldozer
Leonard Weaver ready and available. McCoy finished
the game with nine carries for 48 yards, adding three receptions
for eight yards.
The Seahawks posted an absolutely dreadful effort against the
Buccaneers in front of the home crowd on Sunday. However, tight end
John Carlson appeared on the fantasy radar for the
second straight week. He finished as Seattle’s leading
receiver with seven receptions for 86 yards and scored for the
second consecutive game.
The Bengals were unable to secure a victory in their first
game following
Chris Henry’s death, but his fellow
receivers stepped up to give the Chargers fits.
Chad Ochocinco found the end zone again on a big
49-yard pass play from
Carson Palmer. That wasn’t the surprise. It
came in the form of
Laveranues Coles’ touchdown reception, just
his fourth of the season and first since Week 7. Coles caught four
passes for 48 yards.
On the other side,
Vincent Jackson would receive an “exceeded
expectations” on his report card. Jackson racked up five
receptions for 108 yards against the strong Cincinnati secondary,
including two touchdown receptions.
I would be remiss if I failed to give a nod to
JaMarcus Russell for leading the game-winning
drive against the Broncos. He completed 5-of-11 pass attempts for
47 yards and hooked up with
Chaz Schilens for the game-winner. That was among
the plays of the day, as Russell left would-be detractors without a
word to say in Week 15. The televised call of the play would rank
among the worst moments of the week (year?), as the name of Johnny
Unitas was invoked to compare Russell’s entry to the game and
his game-winning drive. I quote one of my former colleagues by
labeling this call as “asinine.”
Running back
Michael Bush of the Raiders overpowered a normally
stout Denver run defense. Bush carried the ball 18 times for 133
yards and scored a touchdown. It would appear that he owns the lead
role in the Oakland backfield, with
Darren McFadden playing a hybrid role as
runner/receiver.
The Lions lost
Kevin Smith for the season in Week 14 because of a
knee injury. Veteran tailback
Maurice Morris assumed the lead role and posted a
huge effort against the Cardinals in a near-upset. Morris scored on
a 64-yard touchdown run and finished the game with 126 yards on 17
carries. He also tied for the team lead with 35 receiving yards on
five receptions.
Steven Jackson gets a nod here for playing and
posting his normal numbers for the Rams. Jackson had been a
game-time decision because of the flu and a bad back. He still
amassed 24 touches (20 carries and four receptions) and 123 total
yards (82 rushing and 41 receiving).
Finally, I pay homage to Tennessee quarterback
Vince Young. V.Y. posted a career day and rewarded
trusting fantasy owners. He passed for 236 yards in his first
career three-touchdown day with one interception and 24 rushing
yards.
Two of his touchdown passes were caught by
Justin Gage, who had been unavailable to the team
for much of the year because of a knee injury. Gage finished with
43 receiving yards, and his touchdown receptions were his only
catches of the day.
