| SUNDAY SALUTES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | Pass-Rush | TD |
| Joe Burrow | 446 – 10 | 4 |
| Tom Brady | 410 | 3 |
| Russell Wilson | 236 – 23 | 4 |
| Josh Allen | 120 – 81 | 2 |
| Dak Prescott | 226 – 20 | 3 |
| Running Backs | Yards | TD |
| Rashaad Penny | 25-170 rush 2-15 catch |
2 |
| Darrel Williams | 14-88 rush 3-19 catch |
2 |
| Boston Scott | 14-47 rush 4-39 catch |
2 |
| Devin Singletary | 110 rush | 2 |
| R. Stevenson | 19-107 rush | 2 |
| Wide Receivers | Yards | TD |
| Ja’Marr Chase | 11-226 | 3 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | 8-111 catch 2-23 rush |
2 |
| DK Metcalf | 6-63 catch 1-6 rush |
3 |
| Davante Adams | 11-136 catch | 1 |
| Cooper Kupp | 6-95 catch | 1 |
| Tight Ends | Yards | TD |
| Noah Fant | 6-92 | 1 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 7-115 | 0 |
| Mark Andrews | 6-89 | 0 |
| Travis Kelce | 5-25 | 1 |
| Dallas Goedert | 6-71 | 0 |
| Placekickers | XP | FG |
| Jason Meyers | 6 | 3 |
| Matt Prater | 1 | 4 |
| Justin Tucker | 1 | 4 |
| Brett Maher | 0 | 4 |
| Mason Crosby | 4 | 3 |
| Defense | Sack – TO | TD |
| Bears | 4 – 4 | 0 |
| Titans | 2 – 3 | 0 |
| Saints | 7 – 2 | 0 |
| Ravens | 1 – 3 | 1 |
| Patriots | 2 – 3 | 0 |
Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts
QB Joe Burrow – Knee
QB Drew Lock – Shoulder
RB – Michael Carter – Concussion
RB Damien Harris – Hamstring
RB Ronald Jones – Ankle
WR Antonio Brown – Streaking
WR Michael Gallup – ACL
TE Rickey -Seals Jones – Neck
Chasing Ambulances
Nothing major other than Michael Gallup, but an interesting day.
QB Joe Burrow (CIN) – Twisted his knee at the end of the game but doesn’t appear to be an issue. He jogged off the field and did an interview.
RB Michael Carter (NYJ) – Was evaluated for a concussion and his status is not known. Ty Johnson and Austin Walter replaced him against the Buccaneers and would again versus the Bills this week if needed.
RB Damien Harris (NE) – Did not play in the second half with another hamstring injury. Harris initially injured it in Week 13 and has been hampered by it since. Harris said he was good later on so he’ll probably be questionable again for Week 18 at the Dolphins which usually means little with the Patriots. Harris did not return to the game but the Pats won 50-10 anyway.
RB Ronald Jones (TB) – The dream matchup against the Jets didn’t happen when Jones left the game with an ankle injury. Ke’Shawn Vaughn (8-31) and Le’Veon Bell (3-5) filled in after he left. They’d replace him again versus the Panthers this week if needed.
WR Michael Gallup (DAL) – The soon-to-be free agent was reported to have torn his ACL. That opens up his spot for Cedrick Wilson who replaced him earlier this season.
Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables
WR Antonio Brown (TB) – The Bucs mercurial wideout was never going to let his time in the NFL end with a whimper. His outburst on the sideline was followed by stripping off his jersey, pads, and tee-shirt. His shirtless exit had him waving goodbye to his career and endless second chances the Jets fan as he trotted into the stadium tunnel. It was one of the more surprising game-day developments of the season. HC Bruce Arians refused to comment other than to say “He’s no longer a Buc.” Watch football all your life and you think you’ve seen everything. Not so, apparently.
WR Cooper Kupp (LAR) – He caught six passes for 95 yards and one score in the win over the Ravens. That gives him 138 receptions on the year with one game left to play. The Rams host the 49ers and Kupp is currently No. 3 in NFL history for single-season receptions. He trails only Marvin Harrison (143 – 2002) and Michael Thomas (149 – 2019). Six catches and he’s No. 2. Make a dozen catches and he owns the record.
TE Kyle Pitts (ATL) – His two catches for 69 yards in the loss to the Bills gives him 1,018 yards and he became the second rookie tight end to break 1,000 yards. If he gains more than 58 yards this week versus the Saints, he’ll pass Mike Ditka (1,076 yards) for the all-time record. Chances are the Falcons will make that a priority.
RB Saquon Barkley (NYG) – The Giants’ running back did very little to repay fantasy drafters with a season where he never rushed for more than 64 yards. So, in the unlikely chance you made the playoffs with him as your first-round pick, Barkley turned in a season-best 102 yards on 21 carries. That’s five more carries than any other game. The Giants gave up trying to throw the ball in the 29-3 loss to the Bears and ran Barkley instead of using the ineffective pass. Shame they didn’t opt for that about two months ago.
Rethinking RBs – Look, it’s been a tough year all around in the NFL and fantasy football. Remember back last summer how nuts everyone gets scraping up running backs for the first two rounds? It is championship week and here are the Top-10 fantasy running backs for Week 17.
1 SEA Rashaad Penny
2 KCC Darrel Williams
3 PHI Boston Scott
4 BUF Devin Singletary
5 NEP Rhamondre Stevenson
6 GBP AJ Dillon
7 CHI David Montgomery
8 NOS Alvin Kamara
9 SFO Elijah Mitchell
10 WAS Jaret Patterson
Yeah. Kamara cost about a No. 3 pick and Montgomery showed up later in Round 2. But, those were the best scorers for running backs. And yet, you’ll still go heavy on running back. Almost everyone does, except for those in fantasy championships this year.
RB Rashaad Penny (SEA) – He finally was given a full workload and ran for over 100 yards in three of the last four games. He comes off a career-best 170 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Of course, that was versus the visiting Lions. Last week it was the visiting Bears (17-135, TD) and in Week 14, it was the Texans (16-137, 2). His rookie contract expires this spring and if they bring him back, they should look into giving him the jersey number “2-29” because he only shows up every four seasons like Leap Year.
WR Cyril Grayson (TB) – The third-year wideout only totaled two career catches through Week 15 but the undrafted LSU-product helped replace Chris Godwin with three catches for 81 yards in Week 16. Then he just turned in six receptions for 81 yards and a score on Sunday. And apparently, new openings in the Buccaneers wideout crew are happening all the time.
RB D’Onta Foreman (TEN) – The fifth-year back did little in the NFL until finally getting picked up in the wake of Derrick Henry’s injury. Now Foreman totals three touchdowns and three 100-yard rushing efforts in the last five weeks including a career-best 132 yards and a score on 26 carries in the win over the Dolphins. Maybe he’s finally found a home where they know how to use him. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s enjoying the advantage of lining up behind one of the elite run-blocking offensive lines in the NFL.
QB Trey Lance (SF) – His second start was better than his first. Lance filled in for Week 5 when he ran for 89 yards on 16 rushes, and passed for 192 yards and one interception at the Cardinals. On Sunday, he only ran for 31 yards on eight attempts but threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns versus the Texans. He connected with Brandon Aiyuk (4-94) and Deebo Samuel (3-63, TD) but ignored George Kittle (1-29).
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET) – The Lions 4.07 draft pick was the seventeenth wideout taken this year. Between Dez Fitzpatrick and Jaelon Darden. But he’s been nothing short of spectacular playing on a bad offense with Jared Goff or Tim Boyle at quarterback. He produced a season-best eight catches for 111 yards and one score, plus ran in a touchdown on his two carries for 23 yards. During fantasy playoffs. He’s scored five times over the last five games and never fallen below 73 yards in that time. There was a whole lot of nothing between the third-drafted wideout and the seventeenth.
Huddle player of the week
WR Ja’Marr Chase – The Bengals star went on a downturn after midseason but then caught seven passes for 125 yards in Week 16 versus the Ravens. In Week 17, during fantasy league championships, all he did was catch eleven passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. That’s 55.6 points in a reception point league. And this is the guy that last summer said he was dropping passes because NFL balls lacked white stripes. To him and all his fantasy owners:
Salute!
Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry
| Comedy | Yards | TDs | Tragedy | Yards | TDs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Tim Boyle | 276 | 2 | QB | Matt Ryan | 204 | 0 |
| RB | Boston Scott | 86 | 2 | RB | Ezekiel Elliott | 30 | 0 |
| RB | Jaret Patterson | 98 | 1 | RB | Dalvin Cook | 16 | 0 |
| WR | Kristian Wilkerson | 42 | 2 | WR | A.J. Brown | 41 | 0 |
| WR | Cyril Grayson | 81 | 1 | WR | Jaylen Waddle | 47 | 0 |
| WR | Zay Jones | 120 | 0 | WR | Stefon Diggs | 52 | 0 |
| TE | A. Firkser | 24 | 1 | TE | George Kittle | 29 | 0 |
| PK | Jason Meyers | 6 XP 3 FG | PK | Matt Gay | 2 XP | ||
| Huddle Fantasy Points = 123 | Huddle Fantasy Points = 31 | ||||||
Now get back to work…