Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 15, 2018

By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.

Below, check out my fantasy-centered recaps of key players from this week’s contests. For instance, did a player come back to earth after an aberrant breakout, or were they simply affected by something like game flow?

Redskins 16, Jaguars 13
Josh Johnson completed 16-of-25 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown while rushing nine times for 49 yards. He wasn’t asked to do too much in a low-scoring game and brings little fantasy upside, especially at this point in the fantasy season. He also limits the offensive players around him, leaving Washington fairly useless in fantasy overall.

Adrian Peterson rushed 19 times for 51 yards and caught 2-of-3 targets for 20 yards, as Washington didn’t want to turn the ball over while ticking time off the clock. This kind of workload has been good for Peterson in the past, but no real luck this week in a tough matchup. To even come close to these numbers, his team must have a lead, and against better teams, that’s not going to happen very often.

Cody Kessler completed 9-of-17 passes for 57 yards, an interception and lost fumble while rushing for 68 yards on six carries. His rushing yards were the only thing that won’t blind you with pure grossness. The whole Jaguars offense needs to be stricken from the fantasy record to finish the season.

Titans 17, Giants 0
Marcus Mariota completed 12-of-20 passes for 88 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions, plus rushed five times for 10 yards. The weather and Derrick Henry’s chunk yardage on the majority of his runs made Mariota a moot point in this one.

Henry backed up his huge game last week with yet another huge game, rushing 33 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants knew it was coming and had nothing to even slow him down. These last two games came out of nowhere, but hopefully, he has helped you in your fantasy playoffs at least this week and maybe in your championship game against Washington.

Eli Manning completed just 21-of-44 passes for 229 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, plus lost a fumble. Manning is awful, but he did have the cards stacked against him with inclement weather and no Odell Beckham Jr.

Saquon Barkley also couldn’t get anything going in the hard rain and came up small in a big fantasy game. I’m sure he is kicking himself. This was his worst game of the year though, and unfortunately came at the worst possible time.

Vikings 41, Dolphins 17
Kirk Cousins completed 14-of-21 passes for 215 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Unfortunately, this game got out of hand and the Vikings’ run game was working so well, that Cousins wasn’t called on to do much. These are the games Cousins thrives in. It might not be what the Vikings need in real football, but in fantasy, at least we can tell when he should play well.

Dalvin Cook was hurt much of the season, but if you somehow made the playoffs with him on board, you likely started him this week, when he went off for 136 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries while catching 1-of-2 targets for 27 yards. If this game had been close, he likely would have put up even bigger numbers, but this will have to do.

Ryan Tannehill completed 11-of-24 passes for 108 yards, as Minnesota’s defense sacked him nine times, including twice on fourth downs in the fourth quarter. There’s little positive to take away for the Dolphins in this game.

Frank Gore had to leave this game with an ankle injury, but instead of Kenyan Drake taking over, Kalen Ballage was inserted as the lead back. Drake was a little banged up, but I think we can figure out he is just a change-of-pace receiving back in this offense now. Ballage ended up having the best fantasy day on a day nobody in their right mind would have started him. He rushed 12 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown went for 75 yards, but even if Ballage gets the start next week, he’ll face the Jaguars.

Colts 23, Cowboys 0
Andrew Luck completed 16-of-27 passes for 192 yards and ran six times for 20 yards. It’s not the game you wanted out of your starting quarterback in the fantasy playoffs, that’s for sure. Unfortunately, Marlon Mack was outstanding, and with their defense shutting the Cowboys out, Luck didn’t need to do much.

Marlon Mack hadn’t done much of late, and the Cowboys’ run defense has been strong, but the score and Mack’s tough running made it an easy call to keep giving him the ball, as he rushed 27 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught his lone target for 10 yards.

Dak Prescott was not good in real life or fantasy, as he completed 24-of-39 passes for just 206 yards and one interception. He continues to show great upside, but also awful downside, as he misses too many throws. The addition of Amari Cooper helped him a ton, and maybe Prescott gains more consistency next season sooner than later, but right now, he still needs work.

Ezekiel Elliott was the only bright spot, as he rushed 18 times for 87 yards and caught 7-of-8 targets for 41 yards. It’s not the game you wanted from him in the playoffs, but it could have been much worse. He’s one of the few players in the league that usually finds a way to give you fantasy points.

Bengals 30, Raiders 16
Jeff Driskel completed 15-of-34 passes for 130 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He wasn’t good, but he didn’t need to be with Joe Mixon taking over the game.

Mixon still deserves more work in the passing game, but this week, he was given enough carries with the lead for it not to matter. He rushed 27 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns, scoring his second-most fantasy points of the year at an opportune time for those in the fantasy playoffs.

Derek Carr was coming off two strong games, but both were at home, and despite the Bengals’ awful defense, the Raiders’ make-shift offensive line couldn’t hold up, as Carr was under pressure most of the game, as he completed 21-of-38 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown.

Jared Cook came up small once again in a spot fantasy players needed him. After back-to-back 100-yard games and a promising matchup in Cincinnati, he ended up catching 2-of-5 targets for 23 yards. He’ll still be a start next week against Denver if you made it to next week, but as always, he’ll be boom or bust.

Bears 24, Packers 17
After some poor games, Mitchell Trubisky played well, as he completed 20-of-28 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns, plus rushed three times for 18 yards. He wasn’t perfect, but he managed to keep the ball in the Bears’ possession and let his defense do work, while scraping together a decent fantasy day.

Jordan Howard rushed 19 times for 60 yards and a touchdown, while Tarik Cohen caught 5-of-6 targets for 31 yards and a touchdown, plus ran the ball five times for 21 more yards. Howard continues to put fantasy points on the board after an abysmal stretch. Chicago gets a matchup in San Francisco next week, where we could again see both backs put up usable numbers.

Aaron Rodgers completed 25-of-42 passes for 274 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception in a game in which he wasn’t on. Playing the Bears in Chicago will get anyone off their game, but he missed some easy throws as well.

Aaron Jones was forced from this game early with an ankle injury, compiling just eight yards on four carries. Those who rostered Jones in their fantasy playoffs probably weren’t expecting huge numbers, but they were probably wanting a bit more than that. Jamaal Williams took over for him and ran the ball 12 times for 55 yards and a touchdown while catching 4-of-5 targets for 42 more yards. Against this Chicago defense, those are strong numbers. If Jones isn’t back by next week, the Jets are a weak team against the run.

Bills 14, Lions 13
Josh Allen completed 13-of-26 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown while rushing nine times for 16 yards and another score. His 16 yards on the ground were his fewest of the year and miniscule in comparison to the 335 yards rushing he had over his previous three games. The touchdown, however, did put him firmly into the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks for the week, and he has now topped 18 fantasy points in three straight games.

Allen’s main targets this week were Isaiah McKenzie and Robert Foster, with Foster once again putting up big numbers, as he caught 4-of-5 targets for 108 yards and a touchdown. He now has 100-yard receiving efforts in three of his last five games and will likely see targets against the Patriots next week, as the Bills should trail in that game.

Matthew Stafford completed 7-of-8 passes for 146 yards to Kenny Golladay and 15-of-21 passes to the rest of the team for 62 yards and a touchdown. Golladay is easily the best receiver on the team and the only one who can make contested catches regularly, like he did in this game, often against Tre’Davious White. BabyTron is the real deal.

Falcons 40, Cardinals 14
Matt Ryan has been somewhat inconsistent in fantasy of late, but he came up big in the fantasy playoffs, as he completed 22-of-36 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, adding a touchdown on three carries for 18 yards. He currently leads all quarterbacks in fantasy scoring and has been solid most of the season.

Julio Jones didn’t have too much trouble with Patrick Peterson, catching 6-of-8 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. Tevin Coleman, however, was the breakout star this week, as he rushed 11 times for 145 yards and a touchdown, while Ito Smith ran the ball nine times for 34 yards and caught a couple passes for five yards. Coleman is still hard to start when he’s seeing workloads like this one, but if you were forced into this week, congrats!

Josh Rosen completed 13-of-22 passes for 132 yards and two interceptions before being pulled for Mike Glennon with a 40-7 deficit in the fourth quarter. This Arizona team is dreadful, and it is tough to judge Rosen with this supporting cast. Unfortunately, there aren’t any easy fixes in the making.

David Johnson got out to a fast start in this one with a beautiful 40-yard reception that eventually led to him getting a touchdown at the goal line. Unfortunately, this game quickly turned into a blowout, and Johnson didn’t do much after that first drive, as he rushed 11 times for 33 yards and a touchdown and caught 3-of-6 targets for 68 yards.

Larry Fitzgerald caught 7-of-8 targets for 82 yards, as he stayed in the whole game. This is a lost season for the veteran in an awful offense, but it looks like they want to give him some stats to make up for the pain of playing for Arizona.

Steelers 17, Patriots 10
Ben Roethlisberger completed 22-of-34 passes for 235 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He started off hot, with two touchdowns and a chunk of yardage early in the second quarter, but he couldn’t find the end zone again after that and instead threw two interceptions. And with Jaylen Samuels running the ball so well, Roethlisberger wasn’t needed as much. Next week, the Steelers will head to New Orleans, and it will be hard not to give Roethlisberger a shot in what could be a high-scoring affair.

Jaylen Samuels rushed 19 times for 142 yards and caught both his targets for 30 more yards. He looked light-years better as a runner this week compared to last week and will likely still have a role in the offense when James Conner likely returns next week to take on a tough Saints run defense.

In a game that would usually see him throw four touchdowns, Tom Brady completed 25-of-36 passes for 279 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He wasn’t awful by any means, but his interception was bad and in a horrible spot, while he could really only get Julian Edelman the ball consistently. Brady heads back home to take on the Bills next week, which isn’t a great matchup.

Edelman caught 7-of-11 targets for 90 yards and led the team in targets, receptions and yard. He likely will remain the most consistent play for the Patriots to finish out the season.

49ers 26, Seahawks 23
Nick Mullens completed 20-of-29 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown, giving him his worst fantasy performance of his last three games. It was a winning performance, but his missed pass to George Kittle for what should have been another long touchdown kept his numbers down.

Dante Pettis caught 5-of-5 targets for 83 yards, putting together another positive day. He missed a touchdown for the first time in the last four games, but still led the team in receptions and yards. He’ll have a tough matchup against the Bears next week, but still has ability to put up big plays against anybody.

Russell Wilson completed 23-of-31 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. It’s a passable fantasy game to be sure, but his ceiling is just not there like it used to be, as he’s not running as much and the team has dedicated itself to the running game.

Chris Carson was once again the key to the running game, as he rushed 22 times for 119 yards and one touchdown, plus caught 6-of-6 targets for 29 yards. Those six receptions were the most he’s ever had in a game and pushed him up in PPR scoring to the top-six running backs on the week. He’ll take on a poor Kansas City run defense next week in Seattle.

Eagles 30, Rams 23
Nick Foles didn’t do anything for fantasy players, but he completed 24-of-31 passes for 270 yards and an interception, managing his way to a big upset over the Rams. He didn’t get any touchdowns, but put his team in spots for three rushing touchdowns.

Josh Adams remained the lead back with 15 carries and a touchdown, but only managed 28 yards. He did leave the game for a short while with an injury but returned. Wendell Smallwood looked to have more juice, as he ran 10 times for 48 yards and two touchdowns and caught both of his targets for nine yards, but Darren Sproles had six touches for 46 yards, thinning out the workload once again. It will be tough to start any of these backs against Houston next week.

Jared Goff completed 35-of-53 passes for 339 yards with two interceptions, one of which was comical in its awfulness. He did just miss a touchdown to Josh Reynolds that was ruled down at the one, and despite these last two games, this offense is too good to stay down statistically and Goff has the ability to put up good numbers next week against Arizona.

Todd Gurley was the only Rams player to put up good fantasy numbers, and as usual, they were great. He had 12 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught 10-of-13 passes for 76 yards, on his way to the No. 1 fantasy day in PPR leagues this week. Last week was a huge letdown, but for many Gurley backers, I expect they had a bye last week, so maybe you are now sitting pretty as Gurley should be a full-go next week against a bad Cardinals run defense.

For more thoughts, check out Walt’s updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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