Sunday Aftermath: Seeding madness, strong fantasy finishes and more
Storylines To Monitor Heading Into Week 18
Action at the top.Fans and pundits alike have complained about the lack of wild card races this season, but it has been partly offset by a mad dash at the top. Neither bye is secured, with the 49ers and Seahawks having a Saturday night play-in game in the NFC, and the Broncos, Jaguars and Patriots all alive for the honors in the AFC. The Broncos have the most straightforward path, clinching with a win over the Chargers. Whether L.A. will be going all out is a question for the next section.
Name-brand teams with nothing" to play for.First things first - there is always something to play for in the NFL. Just don't tell that to the Packers, Rams, Bills and perhaps Chargers. Already the NFC's No. 7 seed, the Packers are all but guaranteed to rest key players. The Bills and Rams are annual playoff contenders who might not see much of a difference between the wild card seeds. Both teams have a history of resting, and seem likely to do so for the finale. The Chargers are something of a literal wild card, Jim Harbaugh never likes to take his foot off the gas, but as per usual, the Bolts are amongst the league's most injured clubs, and can only be the five, six or seven seed. Despite the pride that would come with preventing the Broncos from obtaining the No. 1 overall seed, Harbaugh's Chargers seem ultimately unlikely to treat the finale as a must win.
Heads up divisional battles.You've undoubtedly already heard, but the Bucs and Panthers will play this season's first unofficial playoff game on Saturday afternoon. It's win or go home ... unless the Falcons win out, then Carolina still sneaks in even with a Saturday defeat. The Ravens and Steelers are a true win-and-in" contest on Sunday evening. Typically, these games would be attractive for DFS purposes, but TB/CAR is off the main slate, as is PIT/BAL. All four teams are also struggling to some degree, and have not been recent fonts of fantasy goodness.
The fight" for the No. 1 overall pick.The Raiders have mostly already won the battle" with their shameful recent displays, though the Jets, Browns and Cardinals are all still technically alive. They just have little avenue to overtaking Vegas in the strength of schedule" tiebreaker, meaning that, barring a miracle, the Silver and Black will have the No. 1 overall selection come April.
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Questions
1. Let's see, what were the Jets up to between Patriots dynasties... oh ... oh no.
2. Why did the Jaguars invest so much in receiver when they already had the best one in the league in Parker Washington?
3. Did the Cardinals ever consider not letting an offensive lineman stunt all over for them for a 21-yard reception?
Stats of the Week
Adam Levitan on Chase Brown's revival: Chase Brown felt dead in September. Lost tons of work to Samaje Perine. Brown still finished as fantasy's No. 11 RB in points per game. Since Jake Browning was benched ahead of Week 6 Brown is the RB8. Only CMC, Gibbs, JT, Achane, Bijan, Henry, JCook have been better."
Michael Wilson, of all players, is just" 93 yards shy of 1,000 on the season. With Marvin Harrison Jr. (heel) highly unlikely to play Week 18, expect the Cardinals to vigorously pursue 1K vs. a Rams team that probably won't be putting its best foot forward.
Field Yates on Trevor Lawrence: Lawrence's 98.58 points over the past three weeks is the most total fantasy points by a quarterback in the fantasy playoffs during the Super Bowl era."
Awards Section
Doesn't Play With Kyler Murray Once Award:Trey McBride setting the tight end receptions record with a game to spare.
Motivational Moment of the Week:The Panthers saying screw this" and kneeling out their loss to the Seahawks.
So This Is Your Life Award:The Steelers "having" to target Marquez Valdes-Scantling three straight times in the end zone with their season on the line.
The Looking Good, Keep It Up Award:The Bucs. Things are gonna change, I can feel it.