If fantasy football is your true passion, the game is a 12-month assignment.
You look at every photo from the NFL playoffs. You carefully observe a free agent’s every move, like a preoperative surgeon. You grind tape for the NFL Draft and even rewatch the mediocre Kevin Costner movie. You keep your ear to the ground for minicamp and summer camp news. You scout the preseason games, just in case one of your players actually plays 15 seconds.
You make a mock draft, and your best-ball draft. You learn the backups, and the backups of the backups.
You do everything you can to search for that key, that secret, that winning ingredient to playoff glory.
And then it turns out to be Joe Flacco, the bank journeyman.
Joe Flacco, the fourth Cleveland quarterback of the year (fifth if you count summer camper Joshua Dobbs). Joe Flacco, a man who seemed to be retired for good, a man who went 1-8 in nine mediocre starts for the Jets over the past three years.
Roll the Sunday tape and Flacco is throwing dimes at Amari Cooper and David Njoku. It’s a beautiful thing.
To be fair, Flacco’s glorious month-long run is more valuable as a channel for many fantasy league players, as a way to unlock Cooper and Njoku. And what a wonderful opening it was. Cooper went ballistic at Houston (11-265-2) on Sunday, setting a team record and posting the best wide receiver play of the Yahoo fantasy season. It is normal the eighth time someone has achieved 40 points this year; Cooper scored 46 on standard Yahoo scoring as the Browns handled Houston with ease.
Flacco also seeped to the top of his position in Week 16, with 368 yards and three scores. He threw two picks, which is normal for the course. He has recorded turnovers in all four of his starts. But he has the arm and experience to push the ball downfield (and the confidence to throw about 50-50 balls), and it’s made Cooper a star again. We’ve come a long way from Deshaun Watson, PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Cooper was a standout before; he has been to four Pro Bowls. Njoku’s rise is more surprising, as his sleeper case felt dated before the year. Njoku finished as a TE8 in 2018, his second season, but since then he has been more unfulfilled promise. When we reached Halloween, Njoku had 28 catches and one fumble touchdown for the year.
Flacco and Njoku didn’t click in their first game, but they’ve been copasetic since. Njoku posted a 6-44-1 line on Sunday and now has 22 catches, 239 yards and four touchdowns in his last three games. He has been the TE2 each of the past two weeks and currently sits there with four games remaining. Keep smiling as you keep starting The Joker.
Flacco isn’t an automatic starter for Week 17, when the Browns play the Jets; that’s the first plus defense they’ve fielded during this stretch. No Cooper or Njoku manager will back down, but Flacco supporters have a discussion to have, especially in deeper leagues and Superflex formats. Is Flacco too hot to sit? Do you care that the Jets were split by Jacoby Brissett in the second half of Sunday, giving them a big lead for a short time?
Is there such a thing as a Joe Flacco revenge game?
Tomorrow we worry about tomorrow’s problems. Today let us eat, drink and be merry. Let’s watch those Cleveland highlights in a loop. Let’s appreciate what we have just seen and try to remember that the future remains unwritten.
Of course, Flacco isn’t the only backup quarterback playing these days. They’re all over the league. Some of them were great this weekend, some were average, some were bad. Appreciate it when the ball bounces your way, because fantasy playoff wins aren’t easy.
Provide the backups
Trevor Siemian had two jobs for the Jets: get the ball to Breece Hall and get the ball to Garrett Wilson. Mission accomplished. Although Siemian posted a paltry 4.4 YPA, the usage propelled Hall to fantasy greatness (32 touches, 191 yards, two touchdowns) and Wilson to PPR relevance (9-76-0). A ridiculous 31 of New York’s 45 targets were against their two playmakers, and they agree. That’s where the ball has to go. New York’s next test comes Thursday, against Cleveland’s defense.
The Jets escaped with a 30-28 victory over Washington, narrowly avoiding a classic loss. Jacoby Brissett relieved a terrible Sam Howell and sent the Commanders to three consecutive touchdown drives. Unfortunately, the name recipients didn’t do much for Washington, but if you look at Chris Rodriguez Jr. needed for an emergency back, he punched in two touchdowns and racked up 65 total yards. I suspect Brissett will probably start next week, but it’s against San Francisco – good luck with that.
Was it a week of criticism that fueled George Pickens on Saturday (4-195-2), or Mason Rudolph’s play? You decide. The Bengals presented a favorable matchup; next week it’s in Seattle, an even better matchup. Tee Higgins produced at the other end (5-140-1) and stepped up as expected with Ja’Marr Chase out. Cincinnati made mistakes on Saturday, but at least Jake Browning gives this offense a chance against anyone.
Week 16 fast hitters
The Packers were life and death in beating the Panthers with two wins, but most of their angles came at home. Aaron Jones didn’t get into the end zone, but 135 yards is a decent day, and all three of their quasi-sleepers in the pass receiving room were productive (Romeo Doubs posted 4-79-1, Tucker Kraft was a solid 4-60-0, and one of Dontayvion Wicks’ two receptions was a touchdown). With the Packers defense struggling, next week’s date in Minnesota could turn into a pinball game.
Speaking of which, here’s hoping Minnesota breaks through with the injury report. Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson were both injured in the loss to the Lions. Nick Mullens had a very Mullens-esque game: some juicy highlights (411 yards, 11.4 YPA) and some close-your-eye moments (four sacks, four picks). Ty Chandler did nothing but a short touchdown, but Justin Jefferson (6-141-1) was up and running again. KJ Osborn (5-95-1) makes sense as a pickup if Addison misses time.
Detroit took the NFC North and most of the offense was fantasy: Jahmyr Gibbs (100 total yards, two scores) and David Montgomery (69 total yards, one score) took the stress out early, and Amon-Ra St .Brown did his usual thing (12-106-1). Sam LaPorta had a rare quiet game (3-18-0), but it was nice to see Jameson Williams get six targets and five catches even though they only went for 43 yards. Detroit and Dallas clash next week, and then it’s a rematch between Detroit and Minnesota. Indoor football, always welcome around the holidays.
Baker Mayfield could have had a bigger day (283 yards, two touchdowns) if the Jaguars had fought back sooner. The Buccaneers cruised to an easy 30-12 victory with Mayfield throwing a modest 35 passes. The Buccaneers did what they always do: send touches to Rachaad White (77 total yards, touchdown), watch Mike Evans spike a few times (7-86-2) and give Chris Godwin a ton of targets (11) but no touchdowns ( a 6-78-0 line is still playable). Tampa looks like the best of a bad NFC South and looks to beat New Orleans next week.
Trevor Lawrence was erratic for the Jags and ultimately left with a shoulder injury. At least his lone touchdown went to Calvin Ridley, and Ridley got a second score from CJ Beathard. Touchdown deodorant has Travis Etienne Jr. saved most of the first two months, but he has just two touchdowns in his last seven starts.
Miami did just enough to beat Dallas 22-20, but it wasn’t a typical fantasy day for the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa had 293 yards but just 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 before leaving with a shin injury. De’Von Achane is in a fantasy funk and has only given us one strong game since returning from injury. The Cowboys held Achane to 31 yards on eight forgettable touches; he has been a fantasy riddle for two months. A short touchdown catch saved Raheem Mostert, who posted an 11-46-0 day on the ground.
Dallas is also still trying to figure out an identity. Dak Prescott finished with 253 yards and two touchdowns, which isn’t enough in the fantasy playoffs. Most of the production went to the unstoppable CeeDee Lamb (6-118-1), who recorded a whopping 10 targets. Otherwise, it was the Dallas story we’ve come to expect: Jake Ferguson was good-not-great (4-45-0), and Tony Pollard was a road to nowhere (12-38-0 rushing, one catch for five yards) . ). Dallas needs a second pitch in this offense after Lamb if it wants to go deep in the playoffs.