| SUNDAY SALUTES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | Yards | TD |
| Jameis Winston | 456 – 5 | 5 |
| Drew Brees | 249 – 1 | 6 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 244 – 63 | 4 |
| Deshaun Watson | 292 – 44 | 3 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 349 – 1 | 4 |
| Running Backs | Yards | TD |
| Austin Ekeler | 213 | 1 |
| Aaron Jones | 192 | 1 |
| Joe Mixon | 186 | 1 |
| Derrick Henry | 109 | 2 |
| Raheem Mostert | 109 | 2 |
| Wide Receivers | Yards | TD |
| A.J. Brown | 166 | 2 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | 192 | 2 |
| Diontae Johnson | 76 | 2 |
| Michael Thomas | 134 | 1 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 132 | 1 |
| Tight Ends | Yards | TD |
| Noah Fant | 113 | 1 |
| Jared Cook | 64 | 2 |
| Travis Kelce | 70 | 1 |
| George Kittle | 67 | 1 |
| Tyler Higbee | 116 | 0 |
| Placekickers | XP | FG |
| Jason Sanders | 0 | 7 |
| Younghoe Koo | 4 | 4 |
| Randy Bullock | 0 | 4 |
| Robbie Gould | 6 | 2 |
| Harrison Butker | 2 | 3 |
| Defense | Sck – TO | TD |
| Steelers | 5 – 3 | 1 |
| Falcons | 5 – 4 | 0 |
| Broncos | 3 – 3 | 1 |
| Colts | 1 – 4 | 1 |
| Browns | 2 – 1 | 1 |
Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts
WR Mike Evans – Hamstring
TE Jared Cook – Head
WR Devante Parker – Concussion
WR Albert Wilson – Concussion
RB Derrius Guice – MCL sprain
TE Ryan Griffin – ankle
TE Noah Fant – Foot
TE Mark Andrews – Knee
WR Calvin Ridley – Abdomen
QB Jameis Winston – Hand
QB Tom Brady – Elbow
TE Foster Moreau – Knee
RB Rashaad Penny – Knee
WR DJ Chark – Ankle
Chasing Ambulances
Well. After a few weeks of few injuries, the blue tent was busting at the seams on Sunday. Still a little early to say if these are serious or nothing, but enough of them are worth watching.
WR Mike Evans – He pulled lame at the end of his 61-yard touchdown catch. Hamstrings can be a tricky thing so his practices this week will be key. If he missed Week 15 at the Lions, Breshad Perriman would take his place and already ended with 70 yards and a score against the Colts this week. A worthy pickup for the Evans owners.
WR Devante Parker – Appeared to have a concussion and if he misses the tilt at the Giants this week, Isaiah Ford would step in. He took over on Sunday and became the leading receiver with 92 yards on six catches. Probably more of a Daily Play than a league championship start.
RB Derrius Guice – Appeared to sprain his MCL, Guice is hardly helping his injury-prone perception. Adrian Peterson would just step up the rushing yardage while Chris Thompson would handle the receiving as he just did when he caught seven passes for 43 yards.
TE Mark Andrews – Sprained his knee and could miss the tilt against the Jets this week. Hayden Hurst was the tight end that they drafted before they took Andrews in a later round last year. Hurst ended with 73 yards and a score on three catches as the leading receiver in the win over the Bills. Lamar Jackson loves his tight ends.
RB Rashaad Penny – Pulled up like he had a serious knee injury even though the tackle did not look bad. His absence would mostly lead to more Chris Carson and just a worthless dash of C.J. Prosise.
WR DJ Chark – Hobbled off at the end of the game, his ankle injury is not yet known to be serious. If he misses next week in Oakland, his targets would likely just be spread out among Dede Westbrook, Chris Conley and maybe Keelan Cole. But the Jags are playing with their hands in the air like they just don’t care. Except for Chark.
Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables
WR Olamide Zaccheaus – The undrafted rookie out of Virginia just set the NFL record with his first NFL catch that went for a 93-yard touchdown, the longest first-catch touchdown ever. I speak on behalf of every sportswriter in the country when I say we should just refer to him as “OZ” to avoid constant misspellings and mispronunciations.
RB Joe Mixon – He started the year so slowly that he killed fantasy owners. But he’s improved over the season and turned in a season-best 146 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries plus caught three passes for 40 yards. He scored in five of the last seven games but only upped his yardage until after midseason.
WR Terry McLaurin – The rookie just scored for the first time since Week 6. His production suffered tremendously after the change to Dwayne Haskins but it is a positive sign that he scored and turned in four catches for 57 yards in the loss to the Packers. The next two games are at home versus the Eagles and Giants – the No. 29 and No. 30 defenses versus wideouts. At least there is hope.
QB Drew Lock – His debut only produced 134 passing yards and two scores versus the Chargers. His second outing was when he threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in Houston. Those were both wins. He completed 22-of-27 passes and connected with ten different receivers. He may not be the second incarnation of John Elway, but at least he’s pointed in the right direction playing with a team that has been stripped down.
WR Emmanuel Sanders – There’s just no other way to spin it. The 49ers offense is very good. Sanders ended with seven catches for 157 yards and one touchdown against the Saints. In the flurry of traded players, Sanders may be the most pleased with his new team regardless of the price of real estate in the Bay Area. He’s a 2020 free agent. He’ll be able to afford a house anywhere.
RB Alvin Kamara – It’s bad enough that he almost never scores, but he only ran for 25 yards on 13 carries versus the 49ers along with four catches for 18 yards. Latavius Murray accounted for 69 yards on his seven runs and gained 25 yards on his two receptions. That’s 43 vs. 94 total yards.
WR Robby Anderson – His first ten games contained just one score and one decent yardage effort. These last three weeks had him score in Washington, then gain 86 yards and score on the Raiders in Week 12. The last two games were both seven catches for over 100 yards each and a score versus Miami on Sunday.
WR Mike Williams – He only caught two passes in the win over the Jaguars, but he gained 63 yards and scored a 44-yard touchdown. Despite scoring ten times in 2018 as the No. 3 receiver, it was his first score since Week 17 of last year.
The Jaguars – Their 35-point loss to the visiting Chargers smacked of a team that has given up and is just going through the motions. That should help the Raiders and Falcons as they host the team with the missing defense.
RB David Johnson – He’s been a nonfactor after leaving in Week 7 and returning in Week 10. But he came up with 19 yards on three runs and added two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the Steelers. Kenyan Drake only ran for 37 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 30 yards in that game. Johnson isn’t dead, but he is still too big of a risk to rely on.
RB Sony Michel – He was moderately productive in the first half of the year and scored six times. Since Week 9, he’s never scored, has no role as a receiver and just faced the No. 32 defense versus running backs. He gained eight yards on five rushes. Granted, the Pats were trailing but even Rex Burkhead gained 15 yards on seven carries. Michel bears almost no resemblance to 2018 and yet he’s one of the few Patriots that isn’t on the injury report.
QB Tom Brady – He finally turned in high production in Week 13 when he passed for 326 yards and three scores. But in Week 14, he was back to his less effective ways. Brady only managed 169 yards and one score with one interception against the visiting Chiefs. His 63.3 QB Rating was the lowest of the year although he’s been stuck at sub-90 QBR for the last six games.
WR A.J. Brown – The rookie was already impressive but since turning to Ryan Tannehill, Brown’s production has spiked. He turned in a season-best 153 yards and two scores on five catches in the win over the Raiders. And that was two weeks after he posted 135 yards and a touchdown on the Jaguars in Week 12. Tannehill also produced a season-best with 391 yards and three scores. His first read is Brown.
RB DeAndre Washington – He subbed for the inactive Josh Jacobs. The Raiders No. 2 back ran for 53 yards and one score on 14 carries and added six catches for 43 yards in the loss to the Titans. Jalen Richard only totaled 46 yards. Hosting the Jaguars for Week 15 could make him at least a daily play if Jacobs remains out.
WR Robert Woods – He finally caught a touchdown for the first time this year. But his seven catches for 98 yards made it four straight starts that resulted in 95 yards or more. Remember Brandin Cooks? You can stop now.
Huddle player of the week
Jameis Winston – Just in time for Christmas, the NFL gives fantasy football Jameis Winston. He not only threw for 456 yards and four touchdowns. He not only rushed in a touchdown. But he also tossed three interceptions to help the Colts remain motivated in the game. He’s a gift that keeps on giving – to everyone.
Salute!
Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry
| Comedy | Yards | TDs | Tragedy | Yards | TDs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Mitchell Trubisky | 307 | 4 | QB | Josh Allen | 155 | 1 |
| RB | Raheem Mostert | 109 | 2 | RB | Alvin Kamara | 43 | 0 |
| RB | DeAndre Washington | 96 | 1 | RB | Leonard Fournette | 63 | 0 |
| WR | Diontae Johnson | 76 | 2 | WR | John Brown | 26 | 0 |
| WR | Marcus Johnson | 105 | 1 | WR | Davante Parker | 28 | 0 |
| WR | Olamide Zaccheaus | 93 | 1 | WR | Julio Jones | 66 | 0 |
| TE | Noah Fant | 113 | 1 | TE | Kyle Rudolph | 11 | 0 |
| PK | Jason Sanders | 7 FG | PK | Matt Prater | 1 XP | ||
| Huddle Fantasy Points = 161 | Huddle Fantasy Points = 34 | ||||||
Now get back to work…