Sunday Recap: Week 16

49ers @ Lions

If the Lions were a competent offense, we would of been all over this matchup, but they are not. San Francisco ranks in the bottom five in about every defensive category, so it is no surprise Detroit put up 32. It was not a fantasy friendly 32, that is for sure.

Matthew Stafford had a solid day under center, and it looks a lot better given the numbers of the other QB's in week 16. He finished the day with 301 yards, and two scores. Calvin Johnson finished the day with a 6-77-1 line, on ten targets. After a few weeks of seeing minimal targets, this kept his ownership pretty low. TJ Jones grabbed the other touchdown, as Theo Riddick finished behind Johnson in receiving yards. (63) The running game is a collective mess, but between four backs, and Stafford, they finished the day with 87 yards, and a score.

If you took a chance with the Lions' defense this week, they put up a mediocre score for the matchup. Blaine Gabbert had 225 yards, and two scores. Vance McDonald and Torrey Smith were the two to find the end zone. DuJuan Harris had 73 yards on the ground, and as usual we did not pay attention to San Francisco offense, outside of hoping they would turn the ball over.

Patriots @ Jets

Steve Harvey took over for the Patriots at the start of overtime, and elected to kick the ball off. Either way, this was a fun game to watch. Also, NFL conspiracy theorists have come out. The Pats intentionally lost that game to possibly have the Steelers eliminated from the playoffs.

It was the Ryan FitzMagic show, tossing for three scores, and 296 yards. It was the usual suspects on the end of them. Brandon Marshall had a monster 8-115-2 line, while Eric Decker had a 3-47-1 line. Decker caught the game-winner, all thanks to the Patriots' master plan. The running game had a good day, but it was a collective effort. Chris Ivory was banged up, leaving more carries for Stevan Ridley and Bilal Powell. The three plus Fitzpatrick rushed for 143 yards on 27 carries.

The Pats' offense is banged up, but I am quite shocked to see how the offense was orchestrated. Brandon Bolden saw the majority of the snaps, even in the passing game. Something others, as well as myself, did not see coming. He had seven targets to James White's five. White was the one to find the end zone, with a 5-28-1 line. We were looking for a little more than that.

The receiving core is decimated, leaving Rob Gronkowksi as the only starter, outside of Brandon LaFell to lineup this week. Gronk had a 4-86-0 line, falling plenty short of the line he put up in their first matchup. He only saw six targets, and most of them in the second half. Keshawn Martin led the team in targets, with 11, catching seven for 68. It was a bum game for the Pats offense.

Colts @ Dolphins

There was only one guy, and one team's D/ST you wanted from this game. Frank Gore rushed 15 times, for 85 yards, and two scores. With a banged up QB, and Charlie Whitehurst under center, Gore carried the load against a bad rushing defense. Denny Carter mentioned Gore being in play this week, so my hat is off to him.

The Colts defense came prepared, and boy they needed to be. Many defenses have looked good against Miami. They finished the day with a safety, six sacks, and one interception. If you have not seen the sack from the end of the game, I am sure it will surface on your timelines. The entire line did not move outside of the center. Miami is truly a Pop Warner team.

With that statement, it should sum up the Dolphins' day on offense. Jarvis Landry had a 7-111-0 line, which was decent given the scoring of the week. DeVante Parker had a 4-93-0 line. Ryan Tannehill hardly had time to throw, which has been the case all season.

Texans @ Titans

Yuck. I am going to spend about as much time talking about this one as you did researching it for plays.

Both running games were ugly, and have been unusable for most of the year.

Brandon Weeden was your highest scoring fantasy player from this game, you know, as expected.

DeAndre Hopkins made a return to relevance from the last few bum weeks, with a 7-117-1 line.

Tennessee's passing game? Let's move on.

Browns @ Chiefs

This was an ugly low scoring affair, which isn't what you want to hear if you loaded up on Chiefs. Kansas City's defense fell short this week, after being such great plays over the last few weeks. Alex Smith had another slightly, and I mean slightly above average fantasy game. He tacked on five fantasy points on the ground, with 54 rushing yards. He threw for 125 yards, and two scores.

Jeremy Maclin, and Travis Kelce posted nearly identical lines. Kelce going 6-43-1, and Maclin 5-49-1. They combined for 15 targets, out of the 22 possible. Because week 16 was so low scoring, these lines are much better than advertised.

Charcandrick West led the team in carries, with 14, rushing for 62 yards. No touchdowns, and just one catch, for -1 yards.

Cleveland finished the day with 136 passing yards, so not much to talk about there.

They did run for 232 yards, with Johnny Manziel leading the way. He finished with 108 yards, on 11 carries. Isaiah Crowell finished 88 yards, and a score.

Cleveland disappointed not allowing more turnovers.

Cowboys @ Bills

It is week 16 folks, we can sift through the crap pretty quickly, and this was another crap game.

Basically this game had two value running backs in the works, but an uncertain workload for both. How lucky are we? Both had a touchdown, and surpassed value nicely.

Karlos Williams had 76 yards, on 17 carries, and a score. He lucked out, as Mike Gillislee stepped out at the one, giving away to Williams to finish the drive. Gillislee was more efficient, rushing for 93 yards, on nine carries. He also found the end zone. Both saw two targets in the passing game, catching both of them.

Both will face the Jets next weekend, so the matchup will not have me looking at them for value.

No Dez Bryant in addition to this already depleted team. A Kellen Moore led team, with Brice Butler, and Terrence Williams to throw to? Six points might be over what you would expect.

Bears @ Bucs

There was some potential for fantasy production here. With 47 combined points, it went to nobody on our rosters, outside of Doug Martin. Martin eventually fumbled the ball twice, pretty much negating the touchdown. His day was done after the second lost fumble. Charles Sims had over 100 combined yards, and a receiving touchdown.

The passing game could never get going against Chicago. Mike Evans led the team in targets, but still not reach the volume we saw when Vincent Jackson sat out earlier this season. He only saw eight, catching five of them.

It was Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Charles Sims with the touchdowns. Jameis Winston continues to spread the ball tremendously, which is not fantasy friendly for us. He hit nine different receivers, and nobody had over five catches.

Vulture of the week - Ka'Deem Carey. He had one catch, for a one yard touchdown. He had seven carries, for 16 yards, and a touchdown.

Jeremy Langford led the backs in carries (19), rushing for 83 yards. Matt Forte saw just 11 carries, for 54 yards. We are watching the future back of the Chicago Bears.

With no Alshon Jeffery, Zach Miller led the team in targets. (8) He finished the day with seven catches, for 69 yards. With just one more week of the season, you can fire up Miller again as a nice value tight end.

Panthers @ Falcons

If you were looking for another Carolina offensive powerhouse game, it was far from that. For one, Atlanta dominated possession, keeping Cam Newton off the field. This is probably the most frustrating thing when watching your fantasy players.

Cam Newton got off to a good start, rushing for an eight yard TD. Then... It was not much after that. He finished the day with 46 rushing yards, and just 142 passing yards. And this meant guys like Greg Olsen, and Ted Ginn (who left injured) didn't accumulate much.

The rushing attack, which was without Jonathan Stewart again, had a successful day on minimal attempts. Cameron Artis-Payne had 49 yards, on five carries. Fozzy Whittaker had 32 yards, on five carries.

After a few weeks of letdowns, the Falcons offense actually came through with their big players, and of course nobody owned any shares. Devonta Freeman had a full workload this week, rushing 22 times, for 73 yards, and a score. He also had three catches, for 17 yards. Julio Jones had the monster day, posting a 9-178-1 line.

Outside of that, Atlanta played keep away, and setup a blueprint on how to beat Carolina.

Steelers @ Ravens

Oh boy.. If you somehow managed to ONLY play DeAngelo Williams from this Steelers' offense, you dodged a major bullet.

Big Ben, or Michael Vick, played this week, throwing more picks than touchdowns. Roethlisberger had just 215 yards through the air, which means disappointment for the wideouts. Antonio Brown had a 7-61-0 line, and a touchdown overturned. He had 11 targets, and you think a game where Pittsburgh was behind the entire way, Brown would be force fed.

DeAngelo Williams had 100 yards on the ground, and two scores. He also had six catches, for 53 yards.

Kamar Aiken was the only Baltimore player on our radars this week, and posted an 8-66-0 line. It was a heavy dose of the run game for Baltimore, rushing 31 times for 121 yards. Javorius Allen had 18 carries for 79 yards, and a score. Terrenace West, 13 carries, for 42 yards.

Jaguars @ Saints

This game went exactly as planned.. New Orleans gets up big, has plenty of success through the air, and the ground, while Jacksonville eats up garbage time fantasy points.

Blake Bortles got off to a very slow start as usual, but finished the day with 368 yards, and four scores. He also had two picks, for what it's worth. Everyone but Julius Thomas got in on the action. Allen Robinson had a 90 yard touchdown, finishing the day with a 6-151-1 line. Allen Hurns had an 8-106-2 line. Marqise Lee was the other receiver to find the end zone.

The garbage time kings of DFS, ladies and gentleman.

It was a throwback performance from the New Orleans' offense. Drew Brees had 412 yards through the air, and three scores. Even on one foot, Brees was brilliant. Brandin Cooks had the big day, with a 5-123-1 line. Travaris Cadet and Michael Hoomanawanui were the other touchdown recipients. No Willie Snead or Benjamin Watson big game was the only downside from this game.

Tim Hightower was one of the bigger performers in week 16. He rushed the ball 27 times, for 122 yards, and two scores. He also had three catches, for 47 yards. New Orleans has dedicated a bigger workload to him, more than any other Saints' back has received this season.

Packers @ Cardinals

If you were questioning who the best team in the NFC is, you might have had your questioned answered. Arizona dominated this game to the point their first string was no longer required.

Carson Palmer had 265 yards, and two scores. He linked up with John Brown and Larry Fitzgerald for the scores. Neither had big yardage games, failing to surpass 30 receiving yards. Michael Floyd had a 6-111-0 line, on a team leading eight targets. David Johnson showcased his versatility, catching three balls for 88 yards. He also rushed for 39 yards, and a score.

The defense. The defense. Oh man, the defense! Arizona D/ST had nine sacks, forcing three fumbles, and two for touchdowns. Oh, also an interception. They allowed eight points, so you can probably guess how the Packers' offense did.

When Aaron Rodgers had time to throw, James Jones' saw 11 targets. Eddie Lacy was the only Packer to find the end zone, on a 28 yard screen pass.

The Green Bay offensive line is in shambles, and now face the Vikings for the division in week 17. It is a game that matters, but it doesn't have a ton of DFS appeal.

Rams @ Seahawks

It was an ugly Seattle day, both weather-wise, and game-wise. This was the first time in a while, Russell Wilson faced a top ten defense.

Wilson had 300 yards in the air, and led the team in rushing, with 39 yards. The rushing attack was abysmal, rushing for 60 yards, on 22 carries. No back, or Wilson, had over 10 carries. Wilson did have two touchdowns, with one coming in garbage time.

If you just took Doug Baldwin, much like the DeAngelo Williams game, you lucked out with dodging bullets. He finished the day with an 8-111-1 line. He led the team in targets, with Fred Jackson and Tyler Lockett finishing behind him. It was an ugly day for the Seahawks.

St. Louis will never win pretty games, which usually means Todd Gurley is the most beneficial from the ugly ones. The game-flow surprisingly suited him this week, as nobody expected. He carried the ball 19 times, for 85 yards, and a score.

Kenny Britt scored, so happy week 16!

Giants @ Vikings

With no Odell Beckham Jr. it was no surprise to see the Giants' offense struggle, given he is the offense. Eli Manning was sacked four times, and threw three picks. One was returned for a touchdown, making the Minnesota D/ST one of the higher scoring defenses on the day. If you took a shot on Rueben Randle, he finished the day with a 2-80-1 line. He only saw five targets in OBJ's absence.

We also saw Rashad Jennings become part of the game, with over 120 total yards of offense, on 17 touches. OBJ is back next weekend, and although the game does not mean much for either team, the focal point of the offense will switch back to him.

Minnesota putting up 49 points is something we are not used to seeing. There was a lot of Blair Walsh in this game, going 5/5, including a 50-yarder. Minnesota delivered it all, kicker, defense, and the running game.

Adrian Peterson finished the day with 104 yards on the ground, and a touchdown. Even Jerick McKinnon busted out a big day, going for two touchdowns, and 89 yards. Kyle Rudolph posted a 2-53-1 line, continuing the trend that New York can't defend tight ends.