If fantasy football is your true passion, the game will become your 12-month mission.
Watch every snap of the NFL playoffs. You’re like a pre-op surgeon, closely monitoring a free agent’s every move. I brush up on my NFL draft tape and even rewatch some mediocre Kevin Costner movies. I’m always listening to news about minicamps and summer camps. Scout his games preseason in case one of his players actually plays his 15 seconds.
You Mock Draft and Best Ball Draft. Learn about backups and backing up backups.
You will do everything to look for the keys, secrets and winning ingredients for playoff glory.
And out of the couch is Joe Flacco, Journeyman.
Joe Flacco, Cleveland’s fourth quarterback this year (fifth if you include summer camper Joshua Dobbs). Joe Flacco is a guy who seemed to have retired for good, going 1-8 in nine mediocre starts for the Jets over the past three years.
Roll the Sunday tape and Flacco throws a dime to Amari Cooper and David Njoku. That’s a beautiful thing.
To be fair, to many fantasy leaguers, Flacco’s stellar one-month run is more valuable as a conduit to free up Cooper and Njoku. And what a great unlock it was. Cooper had a big performance on Sunday against Houston (11-265-2), setting a team record and posting the best wide receiver game of the Yahoo Fantasy season.it’s just Breaking through 40 points for the 8th time this year; Cooper posted a default Yahoo score of 46 as the Browns handled Houston with ease.
Flacco continued to lead the way at his position in Week 16, rushing for 368 yards and three scores. He threw two picks, which is to be expected. He has committed turnovers in all four of his starts. But he had the arm and experience to push the ball downfield (and the confidence to throw the ball 50-50), which made Cooper a star again. We’ve come a long way since Deshaun Watson, PJ Walker, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Cooper has always been a standout. He has appeared in the Pro Bowl four times. Njoku’s appearance is all the more surprising given that his sleeper case was felt to be from before that year. Njoku finished as a TE8 in his second season in 2018, but more than anything he has been unfulfilled since then. When we arrived at Halloween, Njoku had 28 catches and one touchdown on the year.
Flacco and Njoku didn’t get along in the first game, but they’ve remained even-keeled ever since. Njoku entered Sunday with a 6-44-1 record and has 22 catches for 239 yards and four touchdowns in his last three games. He’s been his TE2 each of the past two weeks, and he’s currently in that spot with four games left. If you keep starting Joker, keep laughing.
Flacco will not automatically start in Week 17 when the Browns play the Jets. This is the first plus defense they’ve drawn during this stretch. Neither Cooper nor Njoku have plans to back out, but Flacco supporters are having discussions, especially with deeper leagues and super-flex formats. Is Flacco too hot to sit out? Did it matter to you that the Jets were scored by Jacoby Brissett in the second half Sunday and briefly opened a big lead?
Is there such a thing as Joe Flacco’s Revenge Game?
We will worry about tomorrow’s problems tomorrow. Today, let’s eat, drink, and have fun. Watch Cleveland highlights on a loop. Let’s be grateful for what we just saw and remember that the future is not yet written.
Of course, Flacco isn’t the only backup quarterback playing these days. They’re all over the league. Some things were great this weekend, some were average, and some were bad. Fantasy wins aren’t easy in the playoffs, so be grateful when the ball bounces in your direction.
A backup provides:
Trevor Siemian was working two jobs with the Jets. Getting the ball to Brees Hall and getting the ball to Garrett Wilson. Mission complete. Siemian’s YPA was meager at 4.4, but its use catapulted Hall to fantasy greatness (32 touches, 191 yards, 2 TDs) and Wilson to PPR relevance (9-76-0). . A ridiculous 31 of New York’s 45 targets were on their two playmakers, which is a shame. That’s where the ball should go. New York’s next test will be Thursday against the Cleveland defense.
The Jets narrowly avoided a classic loss with a 30-28 win over Washington. Jacoby Brissett relieved a terrible Sam Howell and led the Managers to three straight touchdown drives. Unfortunately, the name receiver didn’t do much for Washington, but when Chris Rodriguez Jr. was needed for an emergency return, he scored two touchdowns and gained 65 total yards. I think Brissett will probably start next week against San Francisco – good luck.
Was it the week’s criticism or the play of Mason Rudolph that triggered George Pickens (4-195-2) on Saturday? you decide. The Bengals had a favorable matchup. It’s going to be an even better matchup next week in Seattle. Tee Higgins produced on the other side (5-140-1) and stepped up as expected with Ja’Marr Chase sidelined. Cincinnati has some mistakes to fix from Saturday, but at least Jake Browning gives this offense a chance to punch anyone.
Week 16 Fast batter
The Packers were desperate to beat the two-win Panthers, but most of the angles headed home. Aaron Jones didn’t make it to the end zone, but his 135 yards was decent for the day, and all three semi-sleepers in the pass-receiving room were effective (Romeo Doubes was 4-79-1; Tucker Craft had a solid 4 points) -60-0, Dontaevion Wicks had one of his two receptions for a touchdown). With the Packers’ defense struggling, next week’s game at Minnesota could be a pinball game.
Speaking of which, I hope Minnesota can catch some breather on the injury report. Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson were injured in the loss to the Lions. Nick Mullens had a very Mullens-like game — some juicy high scores (411 yards, 11.4 YPA) and some eye-opening moments (4 sacks, 4 picks). Ty Chandler only scored a short touchdown on a punch, but Justin Jefferson (6-141-1) got back on track. KJ Osborne (5-95-1) makes sense as a pickup if Addison misses time.
Detroit clinched the NFC North title, with most of its offense coming from fantasy. Jamil Gibbs (100 total yards, 2 scores) and David Montgomery (69 total yards, 1 score) took the stress off early, and Amon-Ra St. Brown took the stress off early. I did the usual thing (12-106-1). Sam LaPorta had an uncharacteristically quiet game (3-18-0), but it was great to see Jameson Williams get six targets and five catches despite gaining just 43 yards. it was fun. Detroit and Dallas will clash next week, followed by a rematch between Detroit and Minnesota. Indoor soccer is always welcome on holidays.
Baker Mayfield could have had an even better day (283 yards, two touchdowns) if the Jaguars had fought back sooner. The Buccaneers won easily, 30-12, with Mayfield throwing a modest 35 passes. The Buccaneers did what they always do — induced touches to Rashard White (77 total yards, a touchdown), watched Mike Evans spike a few times (7-86-2), and led Chris Godwin to a touchdown. They gave up a bushel of targets (11) but no touchdowns (6-78-0 line remains playable). Tampa, which looks like the best of the bad NFC South, will look to beat New Orleans next week.
Trevor Lawrence played erratically for the Jags, eventually leaving the team with a shoulder injury. At least one touchdown was scored by Calvin Ridley, who got his second score from CJ Beathard. Travis Etienne Jr. was saved for much of the first two months by touchdown deodorant, but he only threw two touchdowns in his last seven starts.
Miami did enough to beat Dallas 22-20, but it wasn’t a special fantasy day for the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa gained 293 yards but only one touchdown, and Tyreek Hill (9-99-0) was active but didn’t score. Jaylen Waddle had one catch for 50 yards on four targets, but was sidelined with a shin injury. Devon Ashen has been in a fantasy funk and has only had one strong game since returning from injury. The Cowboys held Achan to 31 yards on eight memorable touches. For two months he had an imaginary conundrum. He relieved Raheem Mostert with a short touchdown catch and finished with an 11-46-0 record on the ground.
Dallas is still trying to figure out who he really is. Dak Prescott finished with 253 yards and two touchdowns, which wasn’t enough for fantasy playoffs. Most of the production went to his unstoppable CeeDee Lamb (6-118-1), who absorbed his 10 targets of course. Otherwise, it was the Dallas story we’re used to. Jake Ferguson was neither good nor bad (4-45-0), and Tony Pollard was on the road to nowhere (12-38-0 rushing, 1 catch for 5 yards). If Dallas wants to make a deep run in the playoffs, they need the No. 2 guy on this offense behind Lamb.