Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

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 standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.

39:31 TD to INT Ratio

So far this week, QB play has really been sloppy compared to the sharper, more efficient play that we saw the last few weeks. Of course, you can't blame all of these interceptions on QBs, some of this is the fault of awful play calling in the KC-NYG game. In that game, both Shane Vereen and Travis Kelce threw interceptions on plays that can only leave you scratching your head. Elsewhere in the league, there were 5 QBs that were responsible for at least 4 turnovers each. Among them, the Bills starter Nathan Peterman stands out, having thrown 5 interceptions in the first half, resulting in his benching and the second QB switch in as many weeks for Buffalo.  By contrast, Tyrod Taylor has 3 picks all season. How is there even a QB controversy in Buffalo?

32.40 Fantasy Points

Many of us were staring at a huge number all weekend after Antonio Brown had 10 receptions for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. Hopefully, you were on the good end of this performance, which was the second highest total for a WR all season, just behind Amari Cooper's 33 points in Week 7, also on a Thursday night. The Steelers put up 40 points against the Titans and it's finally looking like their offense may be starting to roll in the ways that were predicted early in the season. With 3 of their next 4 games at home, the Steelers can get their offense back on track, as they are clearly better at home than on the road. They will also have a chance to really secure home field advantage in the playoffs since the Patriots visit Heinz field in Week 15.

54-34 Chargers vs AFC West

Going in to Sunday, the tied-for-last-place Chargers were the victims of many close losses early in the season, so being able to pull Philip Rivers in the 4th quarter must have been a great relief. They also outscored their entire division by 20 points, springing them into second place in a now very winnable AFC West. The Chiefs haven't been able to do much winning lately, and the Broncos and Raiders both seem very lost at this point in the season. The Chargers are one of only two teams in the league that are under .500, yet have more points scored for them than against. A wildcard spot may be tough to reach, but if the Chiefs keep losing (even Andy Reid's awesome record after a bye couldn't save them yesterday), the Chargers just might wind up taking this division. Pretty good for a team that almost nobody cares about anymore.

0% Owned in Yahoo Leagues

Two of the top three TEs in Week 11 are owned in 0% of yahoo leagues. Allow me to introduce you to Ricky Seals-Jones of Arizona and Adam Shaheen of Chicago. Seals-Jones had zero points going into this game with only 1 target on the year. With Blaine Gabbert starting, he caught two touchdowns, which HELPS NO ONE! At least Gabbert got one to Larry Fitzgerald as well - side note: congrats to Larry on his contract extension, I hope we get to see him play for many years to come. Anyways, back to the ridiculous situation that TEs are in this season. Who is the other guy in the top 3, you may ask? Well that's O.J. Howard, who is owned in a whopping 22% of Yahoo leagues. Of the top 10 tight ends this week, only 2 of them are owned in over 45% of leagues. This will make for some waiver wire fun towards the end of the fantasy regular season.

4 D/STs Over 20 Points

With such a sloppy week on offense, it's only logical that the defenses should clean up, and some of the bigger names this season did just that. It's the first time since week 6 that we had that many teams break the 20 point mark. Three of the four teams that hit that total this week, The Ravens, Jaguars and Eagles, all hit that back in Week One as well. All three teams also have at least 3-20 point games (the Ravens have 4 of them). The Ravens have really needed their defense, too. They have three shutouts on the season, but just 5 victories. Even with a feast-or-famine defense, I think it's worth keeping them around for the next couple of weeks. When your defense can put up 20 points for you, good things are going to happen to your fantasy team.

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 standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.

3 Touchdowns in a Game

Last night Le'Veon Bell scored three touchdowns to help the Steelers in a dramatic comeback win over the Ravens. Yesterday was also, I'm sure you're aware, the first week of the fantasy football players. When it comes to the playoffs, one guy really excels at getting you off to a good start. In his last three Week 14 games, he has scored 3 times each. Over those three games, Bell is averaging just under 40 points per game. That's a hell of a way to start the playoffs and well worth his high draft position every year. This year, his performance was a bit below average, putting up a measly 30.50 points, which was still good for the best fantasy performance of the weekend. This "disappointing" performance will cause me to limit my entries on Bell this year, unlike Week 14 of last season.

116 Receiving Yards Per Game

Even though Bell is scoring touchdowns left and right, he's not the MVP of his team. No sir, that title belongs to Antonio Brown. Last night he hung 213 yards on the Ravens on 11 receptions. This is his second 200+ yard game, and the 12th time he has gone over 150 yards in his career. 5 of those 150+ yard games have come this season. This year, Brown is averaging 116 receiving yards per game, he leads the league with 1509 (well ahead of the pack) and he's on pace to set a career high in receiving yards. This is his most explosive season of his career as well, averaging 15.2 yards per catch, another career high. His yards, yards per game, and total receptions of 99 also lead the league in 2017. If ever there was a case for a non-QB to be considered for league MVP, Antonio Brown's 2017 season is it.

2-0 Record

Since assuming starting duties for the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo has gone 2-0, leading the 49ers directly away from very high draft pick territory. If they're not careful, they could even drop out of the top 10 picks. Sarcasm aside, tanking is disgraceful (lookin' at you, John Mara). So, Jimmy G hasn't lit up the score sheets, but he is playing well and creating some fantasy value for himself (in 2 QB leagues) and the guys around him. Robbie Gould has 9 field goals in the last 2 games, a product of an offense that is moving the ball quite well. Marquise Goodwin has put together two solid games, Carlos Hyde is back to a regular RB2 and even Garrett Celek got in on the action this past week. The 49ers have matchups against the Titans and then Jaguars, so get them in your lineup for Week 15 and be very cautions for Week 16.

2-0 Record in Overtime

Not only did Brett Hundley preserve the Packers chances to make the playoffs, but he improved his career record in overtime to 2-0. Sure, it's a small sample size, but it looks a lot better than Aaron Rodgers' 1-7 record. The major side effect of this win for Hundley is that it basically assures that Rodgers will come back next week. Assuming that Rodgers is back to himself for this week (indications so far are that he is), this is great news if you stashed him for your playoff run. Jordy Nelson should also return to relevance, so check your wire to see if a frustrated owner cut him a few weeks ago. Davante Adams has actually been solid with Hundley, so hopefully you've already been starting him. The biggest question is going to be the production of Jamaal Williams. He has been a great waiver wire find to close out the season, scoring 67.6 points over the last 3 weeks. I feel that his production will take a hit with Rodgers in, but he has to be started because his usage should still be high.

161 Yards

No, that's not how much snow fell on the Colts-Bills game on Sunday. This was a freaking awesome game to watch on TV - I love watching bad weather games, and none look better than a game with a ridiculous amount of snow. In the, we'll say inclement weather, both teams combined for a whopping 161 passing yards. Jacoby Brissett's longest pass went for 11 yards, so maybe it wasn't exactly a banner day for all of the ex-Patriots quarterbacks. On the other hand, LeSean McCoy had 156 rush yards in the game. He had the walk-off winner, a 21 yard rush for a touchdown in overtime with only 1:33 left in the game. McCoy clearly loves playing in the snow - 4 years ago he had 217 yards and 2 TD's in Philly against Detroit in an equally snowy game.

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 standard Yahoo scoring, unless otherwise noted.

20 Fantasy Points per Game

Todd Gurley's monster game in Seattle on Sunday brought his season average up to 20 points per game. There are only 3 active players who average more points per game than Gurley, all of them top end QBs. Ezekiel Elliott is the only non-QB even in Gurley's neighborhood, and he finally returns this week (against the Seahawks, to boot). I do, however, expect Gurley to be on a lot more championship teams than Elliott. The torch in the NFC West has been passed, though maybe not passed so much as ripped from Seattle's grasp with Gurley's 4 touchdowns. In a year where the MVP debate seems to have someone drop out every week, Gurley is looking like the best non-Brady pick of the leftovers.

74-14 Over Two Games

The Jaguars exploded on to the 2017 season in Week 1 by laying a 29-7 whooping on the Texans and announcing their arrival. They completed the season sweep of the Texans this week, this time by a score of 45-7 and clinched their first playoff berth since 2007. The Jaguars scored six touchdowns, and not a single one of them were on your fantasy team. A pair of them from Jaydon Mickens and Tommy Bohannon led the way for Blake Bortles to continue his excellent fantasy streak since Week 12. There will be some waiver pickups this week available from the Jaguars - their matchup against the 49ers looks good, so Keelan Cole will be a guy to check out this week.

4 Passing Touchdowns

A pair of NFC QBs threw four passing TDs each on Sunday, both leading their team to wins while overcoming halftime deficits. Cam Newton was unimpressed with Aaron Rodgers' return, outperforming him at nearly every turn. Newton had no picks to Rodgers' three - his first time doing this since 2009. The Panthers strengthened their playoff resume, with Greg Olsen announcing he's returned, and Christian McCaffrey continuing to roll along, just 26 yards shy of 1000 yards from scrimmage for the year. Nick Foles also threw 4 TDs, though he's in a much different situation than Newton. Foles is taking over for Carson Wentz and had quite a good showing on his first start. He keeps the Eagles in as the #1 seed in the NFC and has a great matchup for Week 16 at home against the Raiders.

5-0 As A Starter

Well, it looks like the 49ers definitely are happy with their choice of QB, as the Jimmy Garappolo era has begun. He's now 3-0 as the 49ers starter (he was 2-0 last year for the Patriots) and has spawned memes with 49ers GM John Lynch. Jimmy G threw for a career high 381 yards on Sunday, but still hasn't surpassed 1 TD in a game this season. This week his matchup against Jacksonville keeps him from being on the streaming radar, but the future is bright for the 49ers and their new QB. Perhaps the biggest fantasy impact on the 49ers is Robbie Gould, who's made 15 field goals in the last 3 weeks. He's responsible for 48 of the team's 66 points in their last three wins. An honorable mention also goes to Marquise Goodwin, who had 10 catches for 114 yards this week.

100+ Receptions 5 Years in a Row

This week's MVP candidate to go down is Antonio Brown. He'll be back for the playoffs, but won't return during the regular season. Before going down, Brown was able to go over 100 catches for his fifth straight season, the first player in league history to do this. The rest of the Steelers delivered on your fantasy hopes, despite the outcome of the game. On the other side, Gronk smashed, Brady led a last minute comeback, and the Patriots won again. Ho hum...I'm getting so sick of the Patriots. I figured the Steelers would have a chance to take them down, but if the AFC Championship game is in Foxboro, then it's going to be a tough road. Perhaps the Jaguars and their league leading 51 sacks can get the job done. The Dolphins gave the league a blueprint for beating the Pats, someone please make it happen in the playoffs this year.

Well that was unexpected. Lots of major QB injuries and surprises in the NFL world this week. As Antonio Brown returns to fantasy production as a New England Patriot and Odell Beckham Jr. proves against the hapless Jets' secondary that he didn't just go to Cleveland to die, we're seeing quite a few new players rise up as well, like Raheem Mostert and Terry McLaurin. Best of luck on your decisions this week, and tune in to the podcast on Wednesday at 9pm CT with any lineup questions!

Pay attention to these rankings throughout the week, as they will continue to evolve based on the latest injury updates, news, and player/matchup analysis. Good luck this season and remember, you can tweet us @drinkfive with any of your lineup questions!