FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 13 WRAPUP: 1:00 GAMES

       

Huge day in fantasy football on a number of fronts, especially among the receivers.  Let's get right to the latest news coming out of the 1:00 games.

-There are just no words now to describe how ridiculous Cleveland Browns WR Josh Gordon has been the last two weeks and the season as a whole.  Gordon made history in Week 13 by becoming the first receiver to go over 200 yards two straight weeks.  Following up last week's 14-catch/237 yards/1 TD abomination of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, Gordon actually IMPROVED on those numbers by catching 10 passes for 261 yards and 2 more scores Sunday.  Again I reiterate that Gordon accomplished this with quite possibly the worst starting QB in the NFL in Brandon Weeden primarily under center.  There was a ton of interest in Gordon leading up to the trade deadline but many teams (such as Seattle and Baltimore) didn't want to give up a first round pick.  These teams are likely regretting that decision.  Gordon's fantasy football owners are surely not regretting drafting him....and cheaply I might add.  In fact you can easily say Gordon has been the number 1 value in all of fantasy football this season. 

-Ace Sanders has come on to be a late season WR 3 and he established that further against the Browns by catching 8 balls for 67 yards.  Meanwhile Cecil Shorts caught 6 balls for 64 yards and a touchdown as he has put his Week 10-11 struggles behind him.

-Lost in the domination by Josh Gordon is the quieting of Jordan Cameron who caught only 4 balls for 43 yards.  Truth be told Cameron has not been much of a factor since around Week 8.

-Ouch for those who got aboard the Ryan Fitzpatrick train as a QB 2 this week.  Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions with only one TD as he reminded folks why the Bills ran him out of town.  I still like Fitzpatrick as a lower end QB 2 but the road figures to continue to be rocky.

-Donald Brown got the start for the Indianapolis Colts and did abyll right in rushing for 54 yards on 14 carries.  Brown did score however which made his day an overall positive.  The Colts can't run the football no matter who is in there but this reinforces what a joke Trent Richardson is as he got only 5 carries for 19 yards.

-Another listless performance by Andrew Luck as he failed to throw a touchdown among his 200 yards.  He did throw a pick however.  I am as shocked as anyone that Luck has not taken off this season and honestly he has taken a firm step back.  You can only blame offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton so much.  The blame has to fall on Luck as well who has not looked anywhere near what he did last season since losing Reggie Wayne.  Time to adjust kid.

-Even though Fitzpatrick turned the ball over a ton, he did make a nice day for Nate Washington (5 catches for 81 yards) and Kendall Wright (6 catches for 77 yards) in PPR formats.  Overall now I think Wright is starting to look like a poor man's Antonio Brown.  Remember this for next season.

-If you didn't think we are squarely in the era of the passing attack than I present to you Chicago Bears WR Alshon Jeffrey.  Along with Josh Gordon as the newest star receivers in football, Jeffrey broke the team's receiving yardage record in a game for the SECOND time this season by catching 12 passes for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns.  One of the scoring grabs was an absolute gem that brought back memories of Randy Moss and his acrobatic touchdown catches.  Jeffrey's big game continues the trend since Josh McCown took over under center of alternative monster outings by the already mentioned and Brandon Marshall.  Marshall went bust with 4 catches for 45 yards.  Note to McCown:  you can spread it around a bit.

-Matt Forte is showing he is not worn down from all the extra work he has received this season as he rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries while catching 2 balls for 31 more yards. 

-Adrian Peterson has reprised his ridiculous second half of last season as he rushed for 211 yards on 35 carries against the Bears.  This just a week after Peterson ran for 146 yards on 32 carries.  The workload is extreme but Peterson is long past the point of proving himself as being able to handle such a load. 

-Greg Jennings has been a borderline WR 3 this season but he turned back the clock to his Green Bay days Sunday by catching 7 balls for 78 yards and 1 TD.  While Jennings was made better than he really was with Aaron Rodgers as his passer, he is also better than what his numbers indicate with Minnesota due to the horrid play of Christian Ponder and company this season.

-Ryan Tannehill looked like Dan Marino against the New York Jets by throwing for 331 yards and 2 TD's with 1 INT Sunday.  Great game no doubt but it comes against a horrid Jets pass defense and Tannehill has not come close to reaching the point of being acceptable as an every week guy.

-Brian Hartline came out of the blue to catch 9 balls for 127 yards and a TD and Mike Wallace is making a late run to salvage his disappointing season by grabbing 7 balls for 82 yards and his own score.  Wallace in particular has been hot and it appears that he and Tannehill have finally figured out their connection.  Feel free to trust him now as a WR 3.

-Still waiting on that first Nick Foles interception.  It didn't come in his terrific outing against the Arizona Cardinals as Foles was locked in all game by throwing for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Foles now has thrown 19 scores and no picks since becoming the starter.  Absolutely incredible.  The Eagles clearly have their QB of the present and future as do prospective fantasy football owners next season.

-Carson Palmer is a tremendous thrower of the football and has been very good the last month.  However his penchant for turnovers bit him again Sunday as he tossed two INT's and lost a fumble which somewhat overshadowed 302 yards and 3 passing scores. There is a bit of a Matthew Stafford-mode here as Palmer is a pure gunslinger like his Detroit counterpart who is also prone to turnovers.  I still would ride with Palmer is my QB 2 heading into the playoff weeks.  Too many weapons to not taken advantage of.

-Michael Floyd has really been something the last three weeks.  He posted his third straight monster game Sunday by catching 5 balls for 99 yards and a touchdown.  Floyd is moving very close to low end WR 1 territory and his rise this season has been a classic case of receiver development.  His growth has overshadowed Larry Fitzgerald but also helped the former.  Fitzgerald scored for the second week in a row in catching 5 passes for 72 yards.  The attention Floyd is getting is now finally giving Fitzgerald room to operate. 

-Step back for Mike Glennon Sunday but one can understand since he went against the dominant Carolina Panthers defense.  We haven't talked enough about hos great this Panthers D has been all season as the Chiefs took all the early pub but they have been the most consistently good unit all year.  Glennon had no chance in getting shut out in the touchdown department while also throwing an INT in a rough 180 yard day.  Meanwhile Cam Newton was a bit mistake-prone himself with two interceptions but he offset that with two passing scores to go with a third rushing tally. 

-Tom Brady kept his late-season roll going by throwing for 371 yards with 2 TD's and 1 INT Sunday against the Houston Texans.  I sound like a broken record but having Rob Gronkowski back (6 catches for 127 yards and 1 TD) make all the difference in his fantasy football outlook.  It is utterly amazing how Gronkowski gets into the end zone in every single game. 

-I pity those who benched Ben Tate and there surely were many after his lackluster recent outings.  Tate went nuts Sunday by rushing for 102 yards on 22 carries and scoring three touchdowns.  The decision to plant Tate on the bench likely doomed his owners for the season.

-We all thought Danny Amendola would dominate the receptions battle among New England wideouts but Julian Edelman has had other ideas.  Edleman has been insane the last two weeks as he caught 9 balls for 101 yards Sunday.  Just to show you how Edelman was being widely disgarded after Amedola came back, he is on waivers in the Experts League.

There you have it.  As always let us hear your thoughts.