Cleveland Browns – 3, Pittsburgh Steelers – 14

The only redeeming value of for this game was that it was actually football on Thursday… past that, it really didn’t have much going for it in terms of fantasy or entertainment value.  Seems most of the Thursday night games end up kind of a dud… have to wonder, are players just not in a “game mode” mentality on Thursday?  It sure looks like most offenses come up dull on these non-Thanksgiving Thursday games; but I digress.  Colt McCoy (224 total yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) wasn’t able to generate much offense, which really wasn’t a surprise considering the opponent as well as considering the Browns are just putrid on offense anyhow.  Steeler Nation breathed a big sigh of relief when Ben Roethlisberger (280 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was able to return in the second half from a gruesome looking ankle injury in the first half, where it looked like almost certainly his season was done… seriously, his foot was facing the wrong way at one point in that tackle.  I don’t know how the guy does it, but he’s one tough SOB.
In what’s becoming a theme this year, Greg Little (2-25) had more drops than he had catches.  Evan Moore (4-55) got some garbage time catches, while Mohamed Massaquoi (3-44) caught a couple of tough passes, but other than that nothing of fantasy note.

The Browns did a nice job of bottling up the Seelers receivers for most of the game, until Joe Haden fell down in coverage against Antonio Brown (5-151, 1 TD) and ended up giving up an 80 yard TD pass to seal the deal for the Steelers.  Mike Wallace (4-78) had one score taken back after review, but otherwise had a decent yardage day.  Jericho Cotchery (2-33, 1 TD) ended up with an early touchdown, but really wasn’t much of a factor other than that.

Peyton Hillis (10 car., 25 yards), Montario Hardesty (11 car., 24 yards; 2 rec., 9 yards), Chris Ogbonnaya (2 car., 31 yards)… none of them very good, and definitely don’t help anything when all three are sharing the ball.  A luke warm mess here.

Hard to believe, but this week’s 76 yards by Rashard Mendenhall (18 car., 76 yards) was his best yardage total save for a 146 yard effort against Jacksonville in Week 6.  This was supposed to be a gimme for Mendy, but he couldn’t even take advantage of this cake matchup, getting stuffed on four straight carries from the 1.

Indianapolis Colts – 10, Baltimore Ravens – 24

This game was every bit as painful for the Colts as everyone predicted, and the game wasn’t even this close as Dan Orlovsky (136 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) threw a touchdown with only seconds remaining to make this look like it was respectable… but it wasn’t.  Joe Flacco (227 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) had a solid enough game, although he was able to mostly ride his defense’s efforts along with those of his running backs.

Pierre Garcon (5-46) was Orlovsky’s favorite target, while Reggie Wayne (4-41) got his normal 4 for 40 type of stat line.  No other Colts receivers were of note.

Not a lot of receiving was necessary in this game, but Torrey Smith (5-48, 1 TD) ended up with a nice game, catching one of Flacco’s two scores… Smith is turning into a very nice young receiver and will soon by the lead receiving option for Flacco if he isn’t already there.  Anquan Boldin (5-57) led the way in catches and yards, while Dennis Pitta (3-29, 1 TD) got Flacco’s second TD pass.

The Colts running game against the Ravens?  Not even worth mentioning.

Ray Rice (26 car., 103 yards, 1 TD; 6 rec., 46 yards) went over 100 yards rushing for the fifth time this year, and also had almost 150 total yards, trying to keep pace with LeSean McCoy for the top RB in PPR leagues so far this year.  The way Rice is playing, you can certainly make a case for him to be the #1 pick in fantasy drafts next year.

Atlanta Falcons - 31, Carolina Panthers - 23

The Panthers were up 23-7 at one point, but Matt Ryan (320 yards, 4 TDs) started going wild at that point, getting in sync with his receivers and doing his best impression of Aaron Rodgers on his way to over 300 yards passing and 4 touchdown passes to keep the Falcon’s playoff hopes alive.  The Panthers yet again wasted a good effort by Cam Newton (312 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs), as this team has shown some flashes of ability, but also shows that they have a long way to go to seriously compete in the NFC South.

Julio Jones (3-104, 2 TDs) has shown a ton of potential in the deep passing game when he’s healthy, as he hauled in three total passes including a 75 yard TD bomb to ice the game.  Roddy White (7-84, 1 TD) has been coming on strong as of late, much to the relief of his fantasy owners now that the playoffs have started.  Tony Gonzalez (7-82) also showed up big again, as he continues to pile on the catches to solidify his place as a top 5 fantasy TE this season.

Steve Smith had a another big game, but still is having trouble scoring points even though his yardage total on the year has been pretty beefy.  Newton’s two TD passes when to tight ends Greg Olsen (2-53, 1 TD) and Jeremy Shockey (2-10, 1 TD), as both have been useable most of the season in tight end mandatory leagues.

Michael Turner (21 car., 76 yards) had a decent day in yardage, but his owners had to be disappointed considering the Panthers have mostly been turnstiles versus the run… however, that’s two pretty good showings by their defense against NFC South rivals, as LeGarrette Blount couldn’t get anything going last week either.

DeAngelo Williams (7 car., 87 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 4 yards) had to score from 74 yards out to get a TD on the ground that didn’t go to Newton.  After a decent showing the last couple of weeks, Jonathan Stewart (8 car., 29 yards; 4 rec., 27 yards) went back into obscurity, where he’s been most of the year.

Houston Texans – 20, Cincinnati Bengals – 19

This was the finish of the week for sure, or at least a strong contender for it, as the Bengals lead for almost all of this game and were in command, but TJ Yates (336 total yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) led a furious 4^th quarter drive, throwing the game winning score as time expired.  Andy Dalton (191 total yards, 1 TD) was fairly efficient, but overall was not inspiring in a game the Bengals had to have if they were going to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Without Andre Johnson (again), Yates looked for Owen Daniels (7-100) early and often who stepped up and got his first 100 yard receiving day of the year.  Kevin Walter (6-76, 1 TD) caught Yates’ winning score, and it was Joel Dreessen (3-22, 1 TD) who caught the first score of the day.  As long as AJ is out, both Daniels and Walter could be viable plays next week.

AJ Green (5-59) led the way for the Bengals, making some big catches but was unfortunately shut out of the endzone.  Jermaine Gresham (3-45) had decent numbers as well, but neither were great since the Bengals led most of the game, which kept Dalton from throwing much.  Both will have better fantasy days in games where the Bengals don’t control the game most of the time.

This was actually a quiet game for Arian Foster (15 car., 41 yards; 4 rec., 33 yards), as the Texans took to the air for 44 pass attempts in an effort to keep up with the Bengals.  Ben Tate (8 car., 67 yards; 3 rec., 30 yards) had a long run to pad his stats, as he is a fringe flex play as long as the Texans stay committed to the run.

Cedric Benson (21 car., 91 yards) had a better yardage day than expected against one of the top defenses in the league this year, although it would have been nice to see him score.  Benson is the bell cow for this team, one of the few left in this league, so you’d be hard pressed to not play him as a RB2 in most lineups.

Minnesota Vikings – 28, Detroit Lions – 34

For fantasy purposes, this was one of the more fun games of the day to watch, with lots of points all around.  Christian Ponder (128 total yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs) was able to gut out a start, but it was Joe Webb (193 total yards, 2 TDs) who had to come in and finish the game, nearly leading the Vikings to what would have been an impressive come-from-behind victory.  Matthew Stafford’s (231 total yards, 2 TDs) passing yardage wasn’t great, but he did get a long TD score on the day to help boost his numbers.

Percy Harvin (10-69, 1 TD; 4 car., 40 yards) continues his fantasy barnstorm, scoring another touchdown to go along with a whopping 10 catches and over 100 total yards.  Harvin is no doubt a part of a lot of fantasy teams vying for championships with his late season surge.  Devon Aromashodu (4-47) started next to Harvin and posted a decent day, but was obviously second fiddle.  Visanthe Shiancoe (3-33, 1 TD) reappeared to score a TD, but he’s really of little fantasy relevancy.

In a game where Calvin Johnson (3-29, 1 car., 11 yards) once again came up with a bad stat line, it was up to Titus Young (4-87, 1 TD) and Brandon Pettigrew (6-57, 1 TD) to pick up the slack.  Most of Young’s yardage came on a beautiful 57 yard scoring strike early on, while Pettigrew was a key factor in the Lions jumping out to a big 21-0 1^st quarter lead.  At this point it’s getting tough to trust Megatron, which is bad considering this is the time of year his fantasy owners need him most.
Toby Gerhart (19 car., 90 yards; 3 rec., 19 yards, 1 TD) had another solid outing as Adrian Peterson’s replacement, getting over 100 total yards and a score.  AP should be back next week, but Gerhart will probably split time quite a bit as there’s little reason for the Vikings to risk a setback with Peterson’s ankle.

Keiland Williams (12 car., 43 yards; 2 rec., 17 yards) got most of the work in this one for the Lion’s rushing attack, which hasn’t looked good since Kevin Smith re-aggravated his ankle sprain in last week’s game.  Smith will likely play next week, but keep an eye on the practice reports to see how his ankle is holding up before inserting him in a lineup.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 14, Jacksonville Jaguars – 41

This game should have been a closer matchup, but leave it to the Bucs to find a way to get blown out of the building by a team that barely scores two TDs a game on average.  Josh Freeman (207 total yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) looked ok early on, leading the Bucs to a 14-0 lead early in the 2^nd quarter before, like your overweight uncle’s pants at Christmas dinner, everything came apart at the seams.  Blaine Gabbert (214 total yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) actually had a pretty good game, throwing for over 200 yards for the second time since Jack Del Rio was sent packing, and tossed a couple of TDs to boot.
Not a lot of help here for Freeman, as Mike Williams (3-35) and Kellen Winslow Jr. (2-38) both laid eggs at the same time.  In fact, looking at the receiving stat lines it looks like the Bucs ended up with an entire carton of eggs.  Too bad this is Football and not FarmVille… is that egg on your face, Raheem Morris?

Marcedes Lewis (2-77) had one long catch to bolster his receiving numbers, as he got behind the defense since the Bucs secondary didn’t believe the Jags were capable of a pass over 20 yards… Oops.  Jarrett Dillard (5-45) was next most relevant amongst the receivers with five catches… and I’m sure you cared about that.

At least LeGarrette Blount (18 car., 74 yards, 1 TD; 1 rec., 6 yards) came to play, unlike the rest of his Buccaneers teammates.  Blount had his turn in the hen house laying eggs last week, but this week he was solid… his inconsistency is a problem, but he’s one of the few backs in the league that gets almost all the carries, so you kind of have to accept the good with the bad with him.

Now here’s the reason for the big blowout numbers.  Maurice Jones-Drew (27 car., 85 yards, 2 TDs; 6 rec., 51 yards, 2 TDs) was simply unstoppable, scoring four touchdowns and undoubtedly catapulting many a fantasy team forward to the next round of the fantasy playoffs almost single-handedly.

Philadelphia Eagles – 26, Miami Dolphins – 10

Michael Vick (217 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) came back after missing the last couple of games with an injury to lead the Eagles to a much needed victory, just for morale sakes.  It’s too late for their playoff hopes, but at least they can show some fight in the last few games.  The Dolphins had been playing very well of late, but Matt Moore (96 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) came out flat and ended up leaving the game with a head injury.  JP Losman (61 total yards) came into the game and pretty much looked the way we expected Losman to look; bad.

Desean Jackson (4-59, 1 TD) had a bounceback game a week after looking like a heel for pretty much quiting on his team mates during last week’s debacle in Seattle.  Maybe Jackson was just pouting because he missed Vick?  Brent Celek (4-39) had an ok game, but outside of those two guys the Eagles receivers were unimpressive.

Like what happens in most games with the Dolphins the last few weeks, the leading receivers were Anthony Fasano (3-56) and Brandon Marshall (4-27, 1 TD), with Marshall getting the TD this time around.  With around 150 passing yards though, there wasn’t much yardage to go around, which limited the fantasy usefulness in this WR group.

LeSean McCoy’s (27 car., 38 yards, 2 TDs; 3 rec., 33 yards) yardage was down in this game, but he scored two more times to bring his RB leading touchdown total to 17 with three more games to play.  At this point, McCoy is almost a lock to get to 20 TDs, which is something Brian Westbrook might have gotten to… if you totaled two or three seasons together.
Reggie Bush (14 car., 103 yards; 5 rec., 27 yards) got this third 100 yard rushing day of the year, after only getting one his entire career up until this season.  At this point, Bush is the lead back for the Dolphins and is a solid play for at least good yardage the rest of the season.

Kansas City Chiefs – 10, New York Jets – 37

This game was every bit the mess we expected for Tyler Palko (207 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) and the Chiefs, as the Jets defense pretty much swept them under the rug right from the get go.  As long as Palko and his less-than-stellar throwing arm are under center, the Chiefs aren’t going to be threatening anyone.  It’s not like Mark Sanchez (185 total yards, 4 TDs) was any better yardage-wise through the air, but with the Jets defense playing well and giving them the short field, Sanchez was still able to squeeze out a total of four scores for anyone that might have needed to play him.

Dwayne Bowe (6-69) has been stuck around 50-70 yards each week with Palko at QB, stunting any kind of production he might have otherwise had.  Steve Breaston (4-44) was next in line for catches, as no other Chiefs pass catcher did anything of note.

The RBs were actually the two leading receivers this week, but Santonio Holmes (2-12, 1 TD) did catch a TD to salvage his fantasy day.  Plaxico Burress got shut out, and Dustin Keller (4-34) got a few catches but few yards.

The Chiefs running game is a complete mess and devoid of fantasy value.  Move along, nothing to see here.

Shonn Greene (24 car., 129 yards, 1 TD; 3 rec., 58 yards) continues his trend of looking terrible in the first half of the season, but looking great as the season winds down.  Greene ran with power and showed off good hands with a few catches out of the backfield.  Ladainian Tomlinson (9 car., 14 yards; 2 rec., 50 yards, 1 TD) had a score out of the backfield and looked spry in doing so.

New Orleans Saints – 22, Tennessee Titans – 17

It took the Saints most of three quarters to finally score a touchdown in this game, but their defense played well enough so Drew Brees (343 total yards, 2 TDs) and the offense could finally get back on track to win this game.  Matt Hasselbeck (44 yards) left the game in the first half with a calf injury, so Jake Locker (318 total yards, 2 TDs) took over and looked very good in leading the Titans to within about 10 yards of taking this game from the Saints.  Locker might get more playing time in the next three games with the playoffs out of reach.

Jimmy Graham (5-55) came out of the locker room late with some kind of lingering injury that limited his effectiveness, but he still had a would-be touchdown that should have been scored to him after looking at the replay.  Marques Colston (7-105, 2 TDs) had a big game finally after being fairly quiet the last couple of weeks.

Like the last time Locker played, Nate Washington (6-130, 1 TD) blew up and had a huge game, as its obvious Locker really likes the crafty veteran receiver.  As long as Locker plays, Washington is probably a weekly play as a WR3.  Damien Williams (2-62) had good yardage but only two catches as he took a backseat to Washington.

Chris Ivory (13 car., 53 yards) got the playing time that normally goes to Mark Ingram with Ingram out with an injury.  Darren Sproles (5 car., 33 yards; 7 rec., 58 yards) made the most of his 12 touches, continuing to be one of the most dangerous backs in the league on a per touch basis.

Chris Johnson (11 car., 23 yards; 5 rec., 43 yards) suddenly turned back into CJ0K again after a couple of weeks of great play; and of course that terrible game had to come in what was the first week of the playoffs for a lot of fantasy owners.  Hard to count on CJ going forward, if you’re still alive.

New England Patriots – 34, Washington Redskins – 27

This game turned into a shootout just as most people expected, and of course Tom Brady (365 total yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) had a big game when the Patriots needed him to.  No one does December and January better than Brady, and it looks like he’s just getting warmed up.  Rex Grossman (252 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was able to go blow for blow for the most part, but in the end the Redskins fell just a little short, which has been the story of their season.

Rob Gronkowski (6-160, 2 TDs) erupted again as Brady went out and got him the record for most touchdowns in a year by a tight end.  The Gronk has been unstoppable the last few weeks, and no doubt he’s a big part of many championship caliber fantasy teams.  Speaking a big part of winning fantasy squads, Wes Welker (7-86, 1 TD) had a great game as well, continuing his blistering pace toward being the #1 fantasy WR.  Even Aaron Hernandez (5-84) had a solid game, even though he is clearly second fiddle to the Gronk now.

Looks like Grossman didn’t really miss having Fred Davis available, as both Jabar Gaffney (6-92, 1 TD) and Santana Moss (3-81, 1 TD) had very good fantasy days, taking advantage of the matchup against one of the worst secondaries in the league this year.  Donte Stallworth (4-96) even had a good game, although no one played him for fantasy purposes.
In the Patriots RB carousel, it was Danny Woodhead’s (8 car., 41 yards; 1 rec., 4 yards) turn as the lead back, but that really wasn’t worth much this time around.  If you’re still in your fantasy playoffs, you’re probably not relying on the Patriots running game.

Another week, another huge game for Roy Helu (27 car., 126 yards; 2 rec., 6 yards), who has taken the Redskins starting RB job and run with it.  At this point, Shanahan can’t take the job away from Helu this year, and he’s got to be the lead dog going into next season right?  Right?

San Francisco 49ers – 19, Arizona Cardinals – 21

A lack of the ability to score touchdowns were the 49ers downfall this week, as Alex Smith (172 total yards) could only muster one TD drive to go with four David Akers field goals.  If the 49ers can’t score touchdowns in the playoffs, they’re going to have a quick exit in the post season.  Kevin Kolb got hurt on the first series of this game, so John Skelton (307 total yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) came in and actually looked good against one of the better defenses in the league.  QB controversy anyone?

As usual, Michael Crabtree (7-63) was the lead receiver for the 49ers, but Smith missed him a couple of times on plays that could have been touchdowns.  Kyle Williams (4-42) was the second best receiver, as he has been a few times this year, while Vernon Davis (1-32) only had a single reception.

Larry Fitzgerald (7-149, 1 TD) had a huge game this week, including a beautiful leaping grab over a 49ers defender on what would turn out to be a 53 yard touchdown reception.  Fitz seems to like having Skelton in there a lot better than Kolb, so if Kolb misses the next game, Fitz could be in for another big afternoon.  Early Doucet (3-73, 1 TD) also benefited from Skelton being in the game, catching a 60 yard scoring bomb as Skelton looked for the big play over and over.

Frank Gore (10 car., 72 yards, 1 TD) had a solid day rushing the ball, even though he only got 10 carries.  The 49ers would have been better off running the ball more, as they rarely do well when Smith throws upwards of 35+ passes like he did today.  Look for the future games to be a little more balanced.

Beanie Wells (15 car., 27 yards; 1 rec., 3 yards) had a predictably hard game rushing against the stone wall of the 49ers defense.  Look for a much better game next week against the Browns, who are one of the worst teams at stopping the run.

Chicago Bears – 10, Denver Broncos – 13

This game was every bit the defensive slobberknocker we all expected; low scoring, but high on drama at the end.  Of course any game involving Tim Tebow (285 total yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) promises to be dramatic, as he followed his script exactly; look bad in the first half, most of the second half, turn it on in the end and leading the team to victory.  Of course, it helps that the defense played lights out and Matt Prater kicked two clutch 50+ yard field goals to tie and win the game, but that in no way matters to the legend that is The Tebow.  Caleb Hanie (126 total yards) wasn’t even adequate as an arena league QB this week, let alone a starting NFL quarterback… this team was really derailed by Jay Cutler’s injury and now is in real danger of missing the post season after they looked like a lock a month ago.

Demaryius Thomas (7-78, 1 TD) was once again the favorite target for Tebow, as he has apparently supplanted Eric Decker (3-33) over the last couple of weeks.  Even Matt Willis (4-75) had a decent game, but don’t count on that happening much as Tebow’s 236 yards passing was higher than he has in most games.

As long as Hanie is under center, Bears receivers are worth even less than they were before… which is hard to believe.  Avoid these if you want to be more than “one and done” in the fantasy playoffs.

Willis McGahee (17 car., 34 yards; 1 rec., 2 yards) once again had almost all the carries that were non-Tebow carries, but it didn’t matter much against the stout Bears run defense.  McGahee gets a lot of carries each week though, so if the matchup is right don’t hesitate to use him.

Marion Barber (27 car., 108 yards, 1 TD; 2 rec., 32 yards) had a big game in the stat line as Matt Forte’s replacement, but he was the goat of day for the Bears.  On a critical “run out the clock” run in the last couple of minutes of regulation, Barber inexplicably ran out of bounds to stop the clock, giving Tebow a chance to get his team in position to tie and force overtime.  Then in overtime, well within field goal range, Barber fumbled the ball to the Broncos who drove down for the game winning score.

Oakland Raiders – 16, Green Bay Packers – 46

The Raiders got a mudhole stomped in them right in the middle of Lambeau Field, as Carson Palmer (257 total yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs) got throttled and harried into four interceptions on the day.  When you play against the Packers, you can’t afford to turn the ball over, and the Raiders did just that to the tune of five total.  Aaron Rodgers (281 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) actually had a lower than normal game, rolling up only 281 yards and only 2 scores… boy, us fantasy owners sure are spoiled aren’t we?

With Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore missing yet another game with injuries, Darrius Heyward-Bey (5-78) continues to grow his rapport with Palmer, as he was clearly the lead receiver in catches and targets on the day.  Louis Murphy (4-70, 1 car., 10 yards) also got quite a bit of targets, as did Kevin Boss (5-43, 1 TD), who got the lone passing score for the Raiders.

Just like in every home game so far this year, Jordy Nelson (3-81, 1 TD) scored a touchdown.  Nelson’s been money most games this year, but especially so at Lambeau.  Greg Jennings (2-20) hurt his knee in this game, and if he misses any time James Jones (2-29) and Donald Driver (4-75) both become much more valuable, just in time for the fantasy playoffs.  One big question mark… where in the world was Jermichael Finley (0-0)?  The Packers drop 46 on an opponent and Finley can’t even come up with one catch?  He is probably the biggest bust amongst tight ends this year, and in a year when tight ends are having unprecedented success to boot.

Michael Bush (23 car., 78 yards, 1 TD; 3 rec., 19 yards) had a tough go of it early on in this game, but started to find success after the game was well in hand for the Packers.  Bush did bang in one score to salvage his fantasy day, and as long as McFadden remains out, Bush is an every week play.

Ryan Grant (10 car., 85 yards, 2 TDs; 1 rec., 13 yards) hadn’t scored a TD all year, nor had he had a run of over 10 yards; so of course he had to get both in one game… in fact, he scored two TDs!  If you gambled on Grant having at least a serviceable game this week with James Starks out of the lineup, then you’re the big winner for the week… enjoy it, because RBBC will probably be back as soon as Starks is healthy enough to play.

Buffalo Bills – 10, San Diego Chargers – 37

Remember early in the season when Ryan Fitzpatrick (202 total yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) and the Bills were the darlings of the AFC, and their offense seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut?  It seems like 10 years ago now, as the current version of the Bills look simply horrendous on both sides of the ball.  If it wasn’t for Philip Rivers (240 yards, 3 TDs) letting the ball squirt out of his hand in the shadow of his own endzone like it was rubbed in lard before the snap, the Bills wouldn’t have scored a single touchdown.  Rivers finally looks like he’s turned a corner; too bad it’s too late in the year for the Chargers, or for the hopes of a lot of fantasy teams he helped submarine with his bad play for half the year.

Stevie Johnson (4-116) had a nice game for his first 100 yard game in what seems like forever.  Too bad he accounted for almost all the passing yards, as I’m sure some people gambled on the likes of David Nelson (2-20) having a good game in what appeared to be a great matchup and got burnt.

Antonio Gates (7-68, 2 TDs) had a big game for once, after several weeks of being only so-so (at least by Gates’ previous standards).  As long as the matchup is good, Gates should be in your lineup, no questions asked.  Vincent Jackson (5-55) had a mediocre game for once… not a huge points explosion, nor a disappearing act.  What happen to the consistency in inconsistency, V-Jax?

CJ Spiller’s (12 car., 46 yards; 3 rec., 10 yards) streak of fantasy relevant starts ended at one, as the Chargers put the quick clamps on anything Spiller did; making for a thoroughly disappointing outing for anyone who decided starting Spiller in a fantasy playoff game was a stroke of genius.  It was a stroke of something, but no genius was involved.

Ryan Mathews (20 car., 114 yards; 6 rec., 34 yards) at least was one player that took advantage of the predicted cakewalk matchup and mashed the Bills run defense over and over again.  The only thing that would have been better for Mathews owners is if Mike Tolbert (6 car., 21 yards, 1 TD) didn’t vulture the lone touchdown on the ground.
 

New York Giants– 37, Dallas Cowboys – 34

Easily the game of the week here, and it really isn’t even close.  Eli Manning (400 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and the Giants looked dead in the water after a Dez Bryant touchdown with less 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter that put the Cowboys up by 12, but you just can’t count out Eli Manning.  The younger Manning led the Giants two two late touchdowns to steal the game from the Cowboys, sending the ‘Boys from playoff likely to Jerry Jones POed likely.  Tony Romo (321 yards, 4 TDs) really wasn’t to blame (much), as the Cowboys defense folded like a flour tortilla when then game was on the line.  Romo did miss one throw late in the game that would have iced it, but you really can’t complain much about over 300 yards passing and 4 scores.

For most of the game, Manning looked almost exclusively for Hakeem Nicks (7-154), who had his first really big game yardage-wise of the year.  Victor Cruz (7-83) also turned it on after a slow start in the first half, while Mario Manningham (2-62, 1 TD) came back after missing last week to score a long TD on a blown coverage.  As long as these three are healthy and capable, you throw in TE Jake Ballard (4-52, 1 TD) and you have one of the more formidable passing games in the league that’s capable of keeping up with anyone.

Well, it certainly looks like Laurent Robinson (4-137, 1 TD) and Miles Austin (4-63, 1 TD) can coexist in the same offense; but if you’re an Austin owner, you can only hope the roles and stat lines will reverse in the coming weeks, as it would have been nice to see Austin get the big yardage day.  Dez Bryant (1-50, 1 TD) only had one catch, but he made it count, while Jason Witten (3-12) was really not needed this week.

With Ahmad Bradshaw (8 car., 12 yards; 1 rec., 7 yards) benched for disciplinary reasons, Brandon Jacobs (19 car., 101 yards, 2 TDs) took full advantage, running with power and a mean streak to post his first 100 yard rushing day of the year.  If Jacobs runs like that the rest of the season, he could be a useful flex play.  Bradshaw didn’t play the first half, and he played sparingly in the second half; be sure to watch the practice reports to see how Bradshaw does before even thinking about placing him in your lineup.

Speaking of taking full advantage, it was Demarco Murray’s (5 car., 25 yards; 1 rec., 6 yards) turn to get Wally Pipped, as Murray went out with an ankle fracture in the first quarter and was replaced by Felix Jones (16 car., 106 yards; 6 rec., 31 yards), who looked positively spry in taking all of the carries.  The last few games are really an audition for Jones, who will be making a play to either not be the forgotten man in this offense come next year, or possibly be an important cog in an offense somewhere else next year.  Regardless, Jones jumps to a solid RB2 for the rest of the fantasy year with Murray likely out for the season.

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