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 Jacksonville Jaguars fantasy section. Crossing over, Morris writes the fantasy sections for the Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. Just send him an email and he will reply back the same day with your answer.
Week 15 of this season is going to go down as upset week in the NFL, and by far my worst week for fantasy football in a very long time. Almost nothing turned out the way we thought it would and because of that a lot of fantasy teams saw their playoff hopes killed. And, as if things couldn't get worse for the NFL, now Colts president Bill Polian has confirmed that Peyton Manning will not play football in 2011. On the bright side, we also confirmed that water is wet and the sun is hot. The worst thing in the world is when someone comes out and tells you what you already knew, at the end of the season.
Another notable problem for some fantasy owners is that Johnny Knox will miss the rest of the season after being folded in half over the weekend. The entire Bears offense will soon be on the bench and that means you don't want to own anyone in a Bears uni, on offense or defense. You see, with the offense not being able to move the ball, the defense will be on the field more and thus they will be tired and give up more points. I guess the one bright side is that Chris Da Bears fan didn't answer a single text from me this weekend after his favorite team lost to the lowly Seattle Seahawks.
Tim Tebow: As I predicted, it wasn't pretty but Tebow came through for fantasy owners. His 287 total yards (194 passing and 93 rushing) and 2 TDs propelled him to the No. 7 ranking for QBs in Week 15. I said it before and I will say it again: I don't like Tebow as an NFL QB, but he is a starting fantasy QB.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: The guy that nobody wants to start at this point of the season came up huge this weekend with his 316 passing yards and 2 TDs. Those numbers made him a top 5 play despite being started in just 25 percent of fantasy leagues. I still wouldn't play him going forward because the numbers and team just aren't there.
C.J. Spiller: The kid is owned in just 68 percent of leagues, and started in a mere 30 percent of those leagues. And, despite all that, he found a way to pull himself up by his cleat straps and rumble for 91 yards on the ground while hauling in 9 passes for 76 yards and scoring 2 TDs. The Bills don't get to play the Dolphins defense every weekend, so owners be aware and beware when it comes to playing Spiller.
Donald Brown: I started praying to the football gods after about Week 5 for the Colts to run the table in reverse this season, but Brown went and messed that all up this weekend. Because of his 161 rushing yards and a TD, the 20 percent of people that play fantasy football that own him watched a No. 4 fantasy RB in Week 15 ride the pine and waste points. To make matters worse, now the Colts won a game and can't give me the ever-evasive 0-16 season I was dreaming about.
Darrius Heyward-Bey: DHB was someone I swayed a few emailers from playing because the Raiders offense is unpredictable at best. And, in true unpredictable fashion DHB decided to man-up and haul in 8 passes for 155 yards and a TD. Detroit's defense was the best player on the Raiders offense this weekend.
Greg Little: Someone emailed me and asked about playing Little this weekend and I told them to play him, and I am glad I did. Little came up big with his 131 receiving yards and a score this week and he gave some lucky fan an early Christmas treat when he played him in his fantasy playoffs.
Brent Celek: Celek found Doc Brown's time machine and rolled back the clock this weekend as he finished as the top TE play thanks to his 5 receptions for 156 yards and a TD. Celek is owned in just 30 percent of all leagues and started in about half of those leagues, which means his own owners have just a hair more faith in him than I do.
Indianapolis Colts Defense: The Colts defense didn't help the plan to lose every game either as it posted 2 INTs, a sack, recovered a fumble and scored a defensive TD while allowing just 13 points. Much like Celek, the Colts defense won't have another game like this again this season, so leave them on the waiver wire where they belong.
Eli Manning: There is always a risk with playing the other Manning brother because he runs hot and cold. This week was a cold one as he failed to score and threw for just 257 yards. The yardage doesn't sound bad, but it wasn't even enough to give his owners a bonus for hitting the 300-plus yard mark.
Andy Dalton: Dalton and the Bengals won, but fantasy owners watched him crash and burn against a Rams defense that should have been butter in fantasy terms. When I looked over the numbers and crunched them last week, an empty 179 passing yards certainly wasn't in the crystal ball. The kid looks good, but this weekend sure didn't help his jersey sales.
Adrian Peterson: A.P. was iffy to even play this weekend, and I wish he hadn't since I told a lot of emailers to play him this weekend. Peterson rushed for 60 yards with no endzone visits, and although the yards prevented this weekend from being a total loss, it was pretty close.
Roy Helu: Helu is another example of someone that looked great on paper due to the matchup, but failed to actually put that expectation into practice. Helu managed to rush for just 53 yards while snatching 3 passes for 16 yards, stats not good enough to own, let alone start despite my thoughts on the matter.
Wes Welker: Welker sure didn't help anyone this weekend as he made the loser column due to his 41 yards receiving on 4 catches. The Patriots love to spread the ball around and Welker saw six targets this weekend, but just couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Chalk it up as an off week as he is Brady's go-to guy.
Jordy Nelson: The only thing that kept Aaron Rodgers off this list was his 2 touchdowns; sadly enough, the passing TD wasn't to Nelson and he did make the list. Nelson finished with just 2 receptions for 29 empty yards. The Packers tried sleepwalking through the game and snatched defeat out of the jaws of pregame victory because of it.
Antonio Gates: TE is an all-or-nothing position for fantasy points, and Gates was a nothing this weekend as he finished with 31 receiving yards on 2 catches. There were only seven realistic plays at TE when we look at the numbers in hindsight, so don't feel bad if you played Gates and got the gate shut on your fantasy season.
Baltimore Ravens Defense: The Raven is a literary symbol for death, and that is just what the defense looked like this weekend as it allowed 34 points to the Chargers. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Ravens didn't record a single sack, INT, fumble, etc. and that put them dead last in fantasy leagues with a fat goose egg (0) for fantasy points.
