James Morris hails from Rio Rancho, NM and has been playing fantasy sports for just over 15 years. Not only does he write the Bengals fantasy section, but he also does the Miami Dolphins fantasy section. Crossing over, Morris writes the fantasy sections for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. Just send him an email and he will reply back the same day with your answer. Or, find him on Twitter (Fantasyguy23) and get all your NFL news before it hits the national media. *
Week 13 of the fantasy season is in the books, and I wish I could say that you all made it into the playoffs. But, that just isn't reality as there are some winners and some losers in every game we play. WHO DEY nation pulled off a huge win in San Diego this weekend, and while it wasn't pretty, a win is a win is a win.
Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs for overcoming the tragic events of Saturday and pulling out a win over the Carolina Panthers. The game was a much needed distraction for everyone involved, and the players did their best to leave all their problems off the field and play the game the way it was meant to be played. My hat goes off to the Chiefs organization.
Russell Wilson – QB, Seahawks: A good friend of mine, Danny Olson, is a huge Seahawks fan. Naturally I hear about how good they are every single week, and I yawn while I try and find a way to change the subject. However, this week I am finally ready to admit that Wilson is better than I am giving him credit for. He lit up the Bears defense to the tune of 293 passing yards, 71 rushing yards and 2 TDs. Those numbers put him as NFL.com's No. 3-ranked QB for Week 13 with 29 fantasy points (FP).
Andrew Luck – QB, Colts: Not one of the NFL experts on this planet could have predicted that the Colts would be sitting at 8-4 this season without Peyton Manning at the helm. But, that is exactly where Luck has them right now thanks to his miraculous comeback win over the Lions on Sunday. Luck racked up 391 passing yards, 33 rushing yards and 4 TDs. He did throw 3 INTs, but the yards and TDs were more than enough to make up for it and he finished No. 1 in QB ranking (33 points) on NFL.com.
Bryce Brown – RB, Eagles: Brown has been one of the great waiver-wire additions this season thanks to his 30 FP last week and 31 FP this week. Brown torched the Cowboys defense for 169 yards and 2 TDs, and added 4 catches for 14 yards. He did lose another fumble, but I doubt the Eagles care if he coughs the ball up once a game as long as he keeps getting them 150-plus yards on the ground. Brown is going to carry you throughout the fantasy playoffs and will be every bit the fantasy RB that LeSean McCoy was when you drafted him.
Adrian Peterson – RB, Vikings: Peterson was just about all the offense the Vikings could muster on Sunday as he ran all over the Packers and finished with 210 rushing yards and a TD. Peterson is going to be a top-tier RB1 until the day he retires, despite not having a quality passing game surrounding him. Imagine what he could do if the Vikings would upgrade their WR corps.
Calvin Johnson – WR, Lions: I normally don't put a stud like Megatron on the Winners list because that is what we expect him to do. But, he was so much better than everyone else this weekend that I had to show him some love. Johnson hauled in 13 passes for 171 yards and a TD on Sunday, stats good enough to put him No. 1 overall with 36 FP.
Donnie Avery – WR, Colts: Luck can spread the ball around every bit as well as his predecessor could. Avery was the lucky recipient (pun intended) this week as he reeled in 5 passes for 91 yards and 2 TDs. His 26 points this week were his highest this season, but he remains a flex play going forward since the Colts have other weapons besides him to take advantage of.
Josh Gordon – WR, Browns: I put everyone on the Browns team, except Trent Richardson, on my Do Not Draft list before the season started, and I don't regret it at all. However, this week Gordon was able to do what I thought none of the WRs could do and finished with 116 receiving yards and a TD on 6 catches. The Browns passing attack is still far too erratic to count on anyone, so don't go bananas with picking up Gordon on Wednesday when your waiver wire opens.
Brandon Myers – TE, Raiders: I've been telling people to pick up Myers for a few weeks now, and he came through in a big way this weekend as he finished with 14 catches for 130 yards and a TD. Those numbers would be great for a WR; for a TE they are nothing short of amazing! Myers is not going to do anything close to this every week, but he is certainly someone that should be owned in more than the 22.1 percent of NFL.com leagues he is owned in.
St. Louis Rams Defense: Owned in just 4.4 percent of NFL.com leagues, I think it's safe to say nobody expected the Rams to put up the second-best fantasy defense in Week 13. But, that is what they did this week as they held the 49ers to just 13 points while adding 3 sacks, a recovered fumble, a safety and a defensive TD. The only things they needed for a Royal Flush in fantasy terms would have been an INT and a kickoff/punt return for a TD. They are still not worth owning, so anyone who played them needs to go buy a Powerball lottery ticket.
Drew Brees – QB, Saints: Brees sure picked a fine weekend to have the worst game of his career (TD-INT wise), as he singlehandedly lost a lot of fantasy owners' games (3-4 FP, depending on the format). Although he threw for 341 yards, he failed to reach the end zone and threw 5 INTs on Thursday night. Chalk it up to a fluke week for one of the league's best QBs, but that won't take the sting out of it.
Matt Ryan – QB, Falcons: Maybe it was just Thursday night that was the problem for fantasy QBs? Matty Ice was ice cold as he threw for just 165 yards and a single TD, totaling 11 FP for his owners. At least he did get you some points, which is more than I can say for Brees's owners.
Ryan Mathews – RB, Chargers: Mathews has been one of the biggest fantasy busts at RB this season, and he did nothing to change that perception on Sunday as he managed to get just 26 yards rushing and 25 yards receiving on the day. He has scored just once this season (Week 5) and is currently ranked No. 23 at RB in NFL.com scoring this season, despite being owned in 98.2 percent of leagues. The reality is that most weeks he is a mere flex play, not the RB1/2 people drafted him as.
Rashad Jennings – RB, Jaguars: I warned you all about playing (or owning for that matter) Jennings this week. He managed to run for 20 yards on 8 carries (2.5 YPC), and that is exactly where I expected him to finish when he was announced the starter. The simple reality is that Jennings can't run for more than 3 yards (2.8 to be exact) when he touches the ball, and he would have to get roughly 35 touches just to reach 100 yards in a game. The chances of the Jaguars giving him 35 carries are about the same as you winning the Powerball lottery.
Justin Blackmon – WR, Jaguars: Chris 'Da Bears fan texted me Sunday morning to ask if he should start Wes Welker or Justin Blackmon. And while it pained me to do it, I told him Welker. Not because I thought the matchup was better. Rather, I knew it was high time for Chad Henne to go all Chad Henne and come rocketing back to reality (208 passing yards, 1 TD and 1 INT). He did just that and Blackmon finished with a single catch for 9 yards. I'll tell you what I told Chris, "Cecil Shorts is the Jaguars player to own, not Blackmon!"
Jordy Nelson – WR, Packers: Nelson was forced out of the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, so it is not a surprise that he makes the Losers list. He was only able to haul in one pass for 10 yards on the day. If Nelson had been the WR2 to Greg Jennings, I wouldn't have even put him on the list because injuries happen and cannot be predicted. But, since he is the No. 1 WR on the Packers depth chart, on the list you go.
Roddy White – WR, Falcons: When your QB makes this list, and you are the No. 2 WR on your team's depth chart, you are almost a lock to make the list as well. White finished with a modest 20 yards on his one reception, and it wasn't even a touchdown. White has been great for fantasy owners all season long, so continue to ride his bandwagon throughout the fantasy playoffs.
Vernon Davis – TE, 49ers: And the one TE that most consider a TE1 that I want nothing to do with is … you got it, Vernon Davis! Because of the QB he entered the season with (Alex Smith), and the one he currently has throwing to him (Colin Kaepernick), Davis is going to be subject to really good games and really bad games all season long. This was a bad one as he finished with just 2 catches for 15 yards. You can't cut him because of his potential, but you cannot continue to pencil him in your starting TE spot without question.
Seattle Seahawks Defense: While Wilson made the Winners list, the defense makes the Losers list. They allowed 17 points, which isn't terrible. But, they were only able to hang up a single sack for defensive stats against the Bears. All totaled, the Seahawks finished with a very modest 4.00 FP in NFL.com scoring this weekend. The 77.1 percent of NFL.com owners who started them this weekend can't be happy about those numbers.
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