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With the league extending to 17 games and 18 weeks this season, bye weeks have also been extended.

Unfortunately this year the league gives us another super bye week with six teams taking a breather. As was said before, weeks like this are where we need to hit as much as we can. And with the roll we’re on after last week, I’m not too worried!

Week 14 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

13 – DALLAS over Houston – The Cowboys just put up 54 points at home…but at least the Texans will have Davis Mills back!!!

12 – CINCINNATI over Cleveland – It’s a little more difficult to win a game without any offensive points against the Texans than it will be against the Bengals.

11 – SEATTLE over Carolina – The Panthers don’t exactly have an offense that makes me feel they can score against the 12th Man.

10 – SAN FRANCISCO over Tampa Bay – Barely winning at home against the Saints means you don’t get to travel cross-country and beat the 9ers.

9 – TENNESSEE over Jacksonville – King Henry always seems to have fun hosting the Jags. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that DERRICK HENRY WILL RUN FOR AT LEAST 200 YARDS.

8 – Kansas City over DENVER – Remember people thinking this game would go a long way in determining the AFC West race? Not me, but other people? Remember?

7 – BUFFALO over New York Jets – Weird to think that the Bills will come out on top in this one just because they are the home team.

6 – Las Vegas over LOS ANGELES RAMS – As a Raiders fan, I was very happy to see Baker Mayfield get picked up by the Rams this week.

5 – ARIZONA over New England – This is a Monday Night matchup that will have Buck and Aikman looking at their bank accounts to remind themselves why they took the Monday Night Football job.

4 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Miami – This is a game the Chargers should win – all depends on their defense that has not lived up to expectations.

3 – Minnesota over DETROIT – I feel that this game should be higher on our list…but there’s just something about this that makes me keep it this low.

2 – PITTSBURGH over Baltimore – No Lamar…the Steelers offense…take the under!

1 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Philadelphia – Pure “Home Team Hunch” on this.

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are half PPR scoring unless otherwise noted.

33.70 Fantasy Points

This week’s best performance by a WR/RB/TE came from a very unexpected place. Evan Engram had a monster game, putting up 33.70 points in the best game of his career by a long shot. He caught 11 passes on 15 targets for 162 yards and found the end zone twice. That’s a career-high for targets, yardage, touchdowns, and tied his high in receptions. He increased his season total in yardage by 42%. He scored more than 31% of his fantasy points this season this week. It took him the first 6 weeks of the season to get to 33.7 points. He has jumped all the way up to TE4 for the year – he was the TE15 going into the week. He’s increased his weekly average by 2.2 points. He scored more than the TE1 and TE2 combined last week. He scored more than the TE2 and TE3 combined this week.

4 Touchdown Passes

Russell Wilson threw 4 touchdown passes on Sunday, though one of them was to the wrong team. It took Russ 4 games to throw his 4 first TDs of the season. Over his next 7 games, he only threw 4 more. Then on Sunday, he managed to throw another 4 – with three of them going to his own team! It’s only the second time all season that he’s thrown for more than one touchdown. He improved from QB22 to QB19 – almost worth starting in a superflex league. He’s averaging more than a point per game less than Marcus Mariota. Russ finally got to cook in Kansas City, but he provided his opponents a little too much of their own home cookin’ to be able to try and avoid his 5^th L in a row.

223 Receiving Yards       

Marking a new career high, Justin Jefferson caught 11 passes for 223 yards. He did not make it to the end zone but still was the WR2 on the week with 27.8 points. He’s less than 2 points behind the unexpected 3 TD performance of Jerry Jeudy. But back to Jefferson – it’s the 6^th time he’s had 139 or more receiving yards. He’s at an even 1,500 yards for the season, and with 4 games left, he has a real shot at passing 2,000 yards receiving, which would be a first for any NFL receiver. I suppose it helps when your QB throws the ball 41 times in a game – the 5^th time Kirk Cousins has done that this year. Amazingly, Cousins is only 4^th for attempts this season – Tom Brady leads the way with 89 more attempts than Kirk!

99 Rushing Yards

So close to that mostly meaningless mark of 100 yards – unless you’re in a league with bonuses. In which case, I offer my condolences to those with Josh Jacobs on their team, but not really. Honorable mention goes to those with Joe Mixon on their team, 96 yards. Jacobs finds himself as the RB1 on the season, a spot he’s held the last couple of weeks. He has 1,402 rushing yards, which is 203 more than the second-place RB, Derrick Henry. He has 1,748 yards from scrimmage, which is 224 more than the aforementioned Justin Jefferson. Jacobs is averaging just over 134 yards from scrimmage per game. He has 11 touchdowns on the season, but if he had zero, his yardage and receptions would make him the RB7.

3 D/ST Teams with Negative Points

The Tennessee Titans became the 6^th team this season to post the absolute failure of a fantasy stat line. -4 points from your D/ST. That means that they gave up 35+ points to the opposing team, while not forcing a single turnover or sack or really blocking anything or doing a single thing of note all game long. Joining them in their failure are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Minnesota Vikings. All three teams gave up at least 34 points and over 400 yards of offense. It’s the third time this year that the Titans have finished with negative points. I don’t understand what the people who roster this team were thinking, going against the upsurging Jaguars – 45% of leagues in Fleaflicker have the Titans rostered. And while, yes, I’m responsible for the Titans being on a roster in two of those leagues, I must defend myself by pointing out that in two other leagues, I have the Buccaneers.

Finally! They’re done!

We are heading into week 15 and FINALLY we are done with bye weeks! 16 games a week for the rest of the season! That means we’ll have more chance for points in our pools.

Of course…we do have to pick them correctly.

So let’s get to it!

Week 15 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – WASHINGTON over New York Giants – Remember when the Giants were 6-1? Yeah Pepperidge Farms doesn’t even remember at this point.

15 – Philadelphia over CHICAGO – I really wanted to break my “don’t put a road team on the top line” rule for this one …

14 – Kansas City over HOUSTON – …aaaaaand this one!

13 – Dallas over JACKSONVILLE – I feel that the Jags used all of their “dominant over a good team” points in Nashville last week.

12 – MINNESOTA over Indianapolis – I see this as the Vikings making their long-awaited statement that their record isn’t a lie and they are a legit contender.

11 – GREEN BAY over Los Angeles Rams – It’s just funny that this would be a bold prediction, but, my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that AARON RODGERS WILL GET HIS FIRST 300 YARD GAME OF THE SEASON THIS WEEK.

10 – NEW ORLEANS over Atlanta – I’d be more confident in Desmond Ridder’s debut if he had the safety valve of Kyle Pitts on the field with him.

9 – SEATTLE over San Francisco – It’s unfortunate for San Francisco that they have a short week to figure out filling the Deebo Samuael gap.

8 – Cincinnati over TAMPA BAY – Getting blown out by Mr. Irrelevant is not the best way to prepare for  a recent first overall pick.

7 – BUFFALO over Miami – Well, its not the freakish blizzard game we were hoping for a couple weeks ago, but still should be fun non-South Florida like conditions in Orchard Park.

6 – CAROLINA over Pittsburgh – I’m on board with Carolina being the “someone has to represent the NFC South” representative in the playoffs.

5 – DENVER over Arizona – A home game against a backup quarterback, finally Bronco’s Country can indeed ride.

4 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Tennessee – If you get smoked at home by the Jaguars, you don’t get to win in LA.

3 – New England over LAS VEGAS – FIRE…JOSH…MCDANIELS

2 – CLEVELAND over Baltimore – The Browns gave Deshaun Watson $230 million … guaranteed … just want to throw that out there.

1 – Detroit over NEW YORK JETS – So obviously back in August we all had this game circled as what could be an incredibly entertaining late-season game…right?

Football…I mean…FOOTBALL!

What can I say here about the week that we all just experienced. No we didn’t just watch, it was an experience that we will remember where we were when we were watching!

The best part about it – who’s to say that we won’t get an even more exciting week this time around?

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Week 16 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – SAN FRANCISCO over Washington – I has the Commanders on the top line last week and they lost – their punishment this week is to be on the opposite end of the top line!

15 – MIAMI over Green Bay – Watching the Packers try and stop, or at least slow down the Dolphins offense will be a fun way for Bears fans to spend Christmas!

14 – TENNESSEE over Houston – The Texans have made some games exciting against far superior teams, but they still find ways to lose.

13 – Buffalo over CHICAGO – Is it me or does it seem like blizzard-like conditions just seem to follow the Bills this year?

12 – KANSAS CITY over Seattle – This just seems like a week the Chiefs will want to make a statement. My BOLD PREDICITON for this week is that PATRICK MAHOMES WILL THROW FOR OVER 400 YARDS.

11 – MINNESOTA over New York Giants – Doesn’t it seem like a totally Vikings thing to have the biggest comeback in league history and STILL not be the game of the week that everyone talks about??

10 – NEW YORK JETS over Jacksonville – Maybe it’s not the end for Zach Wilson…

9 – CLEVELAND over New Orleans – Take the under on this one for sure.

8 – Cincinnati over NEW ENGLAND – If you lose the way you did last week, you don’t get to beat one of the hottest teams in the league…even at home.

7 – DALLAS over Philadelphia – Safe to say that not having Jalen Hurts under center will … well…hurt (pause for hysterical laughter/audible groan and eye rolls).

6 – Los Angeles Chargers over INDIANAPOLIS – This was supposed to be a lot more exciting game than it will end up being.

5 – Detroit over CAROLINA – We’re all in on the Lions playoff bandwagon, right?

4 – Las Vegas over PITTSBURGH – If ever there was a way to reignite the spark for a final Raiders playoff push! … … … but it’s still #FireJoshMcDaniels

3 – BALTIMORE over Atlanta – This will be boring…there really isn’t anything else to say about this one.

2 – Tampa Bay over ARIZONA – Tom Brady is at the point where he MIGHT barely beat a team led by a backup quarterback…isn’t that great?

1 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Denver – Obviously we all thought the defending champs would be at a place where if you think they’ll win you keep them on the one-point line, right?