Daily Dr. Roto—December 16, 2019
Prescription Notes for Week 15
I will never be the first person to bury the Patriots before they lose a playoff game, but with their offense, I cannot see another pathway to a Super Bowl. Even worse is that WR Julian Edelman is dealing with multiple injuries. The Patriots will want to rest him, but they might not be able to with a BYE week hanging in the balance.
Add 458 passing yards to Bucs QB Jameis Winston‘s year total, and it puts him at 4573 for the season. He won’t make it to 5000 next week (will he?), but he could end the season finished in the top three all-time if he continues at this pace.
Who would have thought that the most valuable Aaron in Green Bay would be Aaron Jones and not Aaron Rodgers. Jones now has 17 TDs on the season with two games left to play (Minnesota and Detroit). If I had to bet, I think he finishes this year with 20.
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The Texans went into Tennessee today and damaged the Titans playoff hopes. They did it by containing Derrick Henry and playing excellent defense. These two teams will battle again in Week 17, most likely with the division title on the line. It will be interesting to see if the Texans can stop Henry a second time when most other teams can’t do it once.
I feel bad as a lot of people decided to bench Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes due to the horrible weather. I say it every year — fantasy owners should never worry about bad weather. Lousy weather favors the offense typically.
The Giants game was filled with both highs and lows for their fans. I was happy to see Eli Manning go out a winner (and a career .500 record) at Giants Stadium. But I was unhappy to see that the Giants might lose the second overall draft pick by winning this meaningless game.
The Eagles won on the road to set up the big battle for the NFC East next week vs. Dallas. A key to their win over the Redskins was the play of RB Miles Sanders. Sanders has improved every week as both a runner and receiver and often looks like the fastest player on the field. If he can get 20 touches next week, there is a good chance the Eagles could steal the division.
I have a sneaky feeling that Seahawks WR Josh Gordon is going to have an impact on the outcome of the NFC West. Gordon gives Russell Wilson what he has been asking for all season — another downfield weapon who can challenge opposing defenses.
Two things shocked me in the Raiders/Jaguars game: 1) the Jaguars won on the road in the last game at the Black Hole, 2) Jon Gruden gave an injured Josh Jacobs 26 touches in a meaningless game. However, I was not shocked by WR Chris Conley‘s two TDs — he could be a sneaky source of fantasy points in Week 16.
Before the game, there were reports that the Browns were happy with the job of head coach Freddie Kitchens, but after the disaster in the desert, I cannot imagine that the love will continue for long. Even worse is that QB Baker Mayfield has regressed so badly that I am not even sure that he is a QB1 in fantasy football in 2020.
Dalvin Cook owners must be beside themselves right about now. Cook stayed healthy all season until Week 15 when he left the game with a shoulder injury. Mike Boone then came into the game and got two rushing TDs. If you started Cook, you did nothing wrong; you were simply unlucky.
Jared Goff needs to improve his home/road splits if he wants to continue his rise amongst the top young quarterbacks in the league. The Rams played their worst game when it counted the most, and now their playoffs chances have become even fainter than before. In the offseason, the front office needs to spend a ton of money to revamp their offensive line. Without an OL, they are ruining both Goff and RB Todd Gurley.
Julio Jones finally broke out and had the game I was expecting—of course, he did it weeks later than I thought! Even worse was how flat the 49ers played this week. It was to be expected that they were going to be worse on defense with five starters sidelined, but this was a game they needed to win to keep the playoff home-field advantage. The division (and the BYE) is going to come down at a must-win game against the Seahawks.
The Bills are heading to the playoffs after a bruising, hard-fought victory against the Steelers. The Bills play with such intensity, much like their coach, Sean McDermott. Every time I watch RB Devin Singletary play, he reminds me of a young LeSean McCoy. The Bills will need him to be a more significant part of their passing attack if they want to go deep into the playoffs.
