This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
When you get to the fantasy football playoffs, every regularly stressful decision is magnified. One wrong choice (or non-choice) can cost you a spot in the next round. For leagues with first-round byes, people who fought and clawed their way to the top two spots (or were lucky enough to have the fewest points scored against them) took the weekend off, but in leagues without them, we saw a few lesser players put up scores that likely caused some upsets.
If you had a running back on your roster who had one 100-yard game this season while never getting more than 20 carries, would you start him in the first round of the playoffs? What about a running back who last week set a career-high with 10 carries but only racked up 27 rushing yards, or a wide receiver who hasn't had more than two catches since Week 6 and hadn't been targeted more than seven times in a game all year? These are the types of players who sit on the benches of teams near the top of the standings but they could be starters for those who backdoored their way into the fantasy postseason. And that's how fantasy playoff upsets happen.
Alvin Kamara led plenty of teams into the playoffs, but after suffering a concussion Thursday against the Falcons, those teams may not be around for Week 15 when he expects to return. Kamara rushed once for two yards and caught all three of his
When you get to the fantasy football playoffs, every regularly stressful decision is magnified. One wrong choice (or non-choice) can cost you a spot in the next round. For leagues with first-round byes, people who fought and clawed their way to the top two spots (or were lucky enough to have the fewest points scored against them) took the weekend off, but in leagues without them, we saw a few lesser players put up scores that likely caused some upsets.
If you had a running back on your roster who had one 100-yard game this season while never getting more than 20 carries, would you start him in the first round of the playoffs? What about a running back who last week set a career-high with 10 carries but only racked up 27 rushing yards, or a wide receiver who hasn't had more than two catches since Week 6 and hadn't been targeted more than seven times in a game all year? These are the types of players who sit on the benches of teams near the top of the standings but they could be starters for those who backdoored their way into the fantasy postseason. And that's how fantasy playoff upsets happen.
Alvin Kamara led plenty of teams into the playoffs, but after suffering a concussion Thursday against the Falcons, those teams may not be around for Week 15 when he expects to return. Kamara rushed once for two yards and caught all three of his targets for 25 receiving yards before being forced out, putting up a cripplingly low fantasy score. Unfortunately, injuries happen and there's simply nothing we can do about them. If Kamara led you to a high seed, at least you probably had the benefit of playing a poor opponent who barely qualified and was stuck starting guys like Jonathan Stewart and Frank Gore.
Oh, about that...
I mean, let's be honest: how good did it feel to check your fantasy playoff matchup this morning and see your opponent starting Gore and Stewart because they had Ezekiel Elliott and Joe Mixon and barely snuck into the playoffs?
Instead, Stewart had one of his best games in years, rushing 16 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns while Gore didn't find the end zone but rushed 36 times for 130 yards. There was really no reason to start Stewart, as the Vikings had not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season, but instead he had the first three-TD game of his career. Great timing.
Meanwhile, Gore's big performance was almost entirely due to the ridiculous playing conditions in Buffalo, with the game looking more like it was being played in a snow globe than a football stadium. If there are words that can describe the scene, I don't have them, so I'll defer to the Bills' official twitter account for help:
Live look North of the Wall. #INDvsBUF#GoBillspic.twitter.com/boAZHH1lXQ
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 10, 2017
Our crew is working hard to keep the lines clear.Mother Nature may have other plans! pic.twitter.com/ABGxsU5Rha
— New Era Field (@newerafield) December 10, 2017
In fact, due to the weather, the Colts didn't throw a single pass in the first quarter, running on 20 of their first 21 plays. By the end of it, the two teams combined for 97 rushing attempts, the most since the Chiefs and Bears had 100 in Week 10 of the 1981 season.
Gore was impressive in terms of accumulation, but he wasn't as good as LeSean McCoy, who rushed 32 times for 156 yards and a touchdown. After racking up consistent yardage throughout the game, McCoy broke off a 21-yard run for the game-winning touchdown in overtime, helping the Bills improve to 7-6 and potentially moving some fantasy teams into the next round.
THE WALK OFF!#INDvsBUF#GoBillspic.twitter.com/0253rN9D6A
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 10, 2017
Hopefully they were fantasy teams that haven't relied on Carson Wentz to get them this far.
Wentz was having a fantastic game Sunday against the Rams, completing 23 of 41 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns before suffering a knee injury early in the fourth quarter that ultimately ruled him out for the rest of the game. The Eagles' starting quarterback had been the definition of consistent this season (at least as much as an NFL player can be consistent), as he was the only quarterback in the league to throw a touchdown pass in every game, including multiple scores in all but three.
Unfortunately, there is now a concern that Wentz suffered a torn ACL, which would rule him out for the rest of the season, a huge blow to fantasy owners and Eagles fans. The Eagles clinched the NFC East division title with their win Sunday, but the loss of Wentz will be the bigger concern. And if you're a Wentz fantasy owner then I hope you don't have Josh McCown as his backup, as McCown could miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken left (non-throwing) hand during Sunday's shutout loss to the Broncos. McCown has been better than expected this season and surely would have been a serviceable replacement for Wentz, but now fantasy owners will have to decide whether they want to put their playoff fates in the hands of Nick Foles or Bryce Petty.
Thankfully, Stewart and Gore weren't the only big fantasy performers this week, as many of our stars over the course of the season had big games. From DeAndre Hopkins (11 catches on 16 targets for 149 yards and two touchdowns) to Todd Gurley (13 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns as well as three catches for 39 receiving yards) to Leonard Fournette (24 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown plus four receptions for 18 receiving yards), players we relied upon to get us to the fantasy playoffs put up playoff-worthy numbers. It was simply making sure they weren't stuck on teams with Kamara or Lamar Miller (17 carries for 53 yards, two catches for seven receiving yards) or Robby Anderson (three catches for 27 yards) or Marcus Mariota (16 of 31 for 159 yards and two interceptions). If you avoided those landmines, you're probably onto next week. If so, congratulations! Fantasy football is hard and you should feel good about making it this far (even if it's mostly luck).
