I am a co-founder and the editor of drinkfive.com. In order to stave off fantasy football insanity, Dave and I have branched out to cover a variety of interests. When I'm not knee deep in wikipedia pages, I like to hang out at breweries or a disc golf course (especially both in the same day). FSWA Member for 5+ years.
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.
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.
1500 Yards from Scrimmage
Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram continue to be the most prolific RB tandem that we've seen in a long time. Currently, they're both on pace to pass 1500 yards from scrimmage by the end of the season, a feat that has never occurred with teammates before. Ingram and Kamara are now sitting as the 2nd and 3rd highest scoring fantasy RBs on the season. They've combined for 20 touchdowns on the season. They've been the driving force behind the Saints leading the division and are now 9-3, just a game behind getting a bye in the first week of the playoffs. The Saints are once again an offensive juggernaut, ranking 3rd in the league in rushing. Interestingly enough, they are just 16th in pass attempts, but 3rd in passing yardage. I suppose it helps to have Drew Brees to go along with a pair of amazing RBs.
70+ Yard Plays
Alex Smith had a 70 yard run on Sunday to go along with a 79 yard passing TD to Tyreek Hill. This makes Smith the first player in the Super Bowl-era that has both a passing and rushing play of at least 70 yards in the same game. This was the rebound game that Smith was looking for, despite the outcome, fantasy owners are really happy with his performance. The Chiefs changing signal callers seems to have worked for them, at least for now (reminiscent of the Bengals in Week 3). Now for the Chiefs, they need to figure out how to fix their defense, because giving up 38 points to Josh McCown's Jets just isn't a good look for a team that's still leading a division. Want to know how frustrating it is to be a KC Chief this year? I leave you with Marcus Peters's mini tantrum.
3 Years & 85 Yards
It's been 3 years since we've been able to go nuts with real Josh Gordon hype, and though his return to the field wasn't Flash Gordon style, it was very promising. Gordon, you'll remember, led the league in receiving yards in 2013 with 1,646 on 87 receptions in only 14 games. That season he went over 100 yards 7 times and over 200 yards twice (in a row). He had 8 games with touchdowns and was a fantasy juggernaut. On Sunday, he had a very tough matchup against a Chargers passing defense that hasn't had a 100-yard receiver all season. In fact, the only player to get more yards than his 85 (4 rec out of 11 targets) was Odell Beckham Jr. way back in Week 5. The volume of his targets is very encouraging, now if only you could have any faith whatsoever in DeShone Kizer.
85.7% of His Team's Offense
Russell Wilson demands to be a part of the MVP discussion. Not that he would ever say that out loud. No, the leader of the Seahawks speaks exclusively in cliché's (I think I counted 7 in his extremely brief post-game interview on NBC). Going in to Sunday's game, he accounted for well over 80% of his team's total offense by yards. He got a little break with the help of the briefest glimmer of a run game and only had to handle about 78% of his team's offense last night as they took down the former top team in the NFC. Wilson's continued ability to just do whatever the hell he wants is incredible, considering the offensive line crumbles around him every play. He's certainly the fantasy football MVP, considering he was drafted at the end of the 5th round and is the highest scoring player in the league, by a decent margin.
27-3 Against Buffalo
Tom Brady owns the Bills. Even, arguably, more than Roethlisberger owns the Browns (he does own their stadium, however). No quarterback in the Super Bowl era has more victories against a single team. In that game, he also became the 4th QB to eclipse 65,000 passing yards for his career. That's about 37 miles of passing yards or 2600 fantasy points. Brady, now 40 years old, is currently leading the league in completions with 300 and passing yards with 3632 and has his 14th straight double digit win season as the Patriots starter (yes, they still won double digit games when he didn't play in 2008). The Patriots are, once again, the team to beat in the AFC had are on a collision course for a huge game in Pittsburg in Week 15. That game will likely determine home field advantage in the AFC playoffs, provided the Patriots can get by without Gronk in Week 14.
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.
8 Turnovers in 3 Games
Since Ezekiel Elliott took some mid-season R&R about 3 weeks ago, the Cowboys have struggled mightily. Dak Prescott, hailed last year for his ball security, has turned the ball over 8 times in the last 3 games, all of them without Zeke. He has 5 INT and 3 fumbles lost in those games and has thrown zero touchdowns. In fact, the Cowboys have only scored 2 TDs in those three games. With Zeke in, Dak threw 16 TDs with only 4 INTs over 8 games. The rest of Zeke's suspension will see the Cowboys taking on the Redskins, Giants and Raiders. I'm not sure that the Cowboys are going to win any of them. This strangely begs the argument - Is Zeke the most valuable player to his team? It sure would be a hilarious thing for Goodell to have to see the Zeke be given such a big award that was highlighted by the suspension that ruled (and ruined) the news cycle for the first half of the season.
-0.6 Yards per Carry for Bears RBs
Several bad rushing days have found their way into my column this season, but oh boy, the Bears took it to another level yesterday. The three Bears running backs, Jordan Howard, Benny Cunningham and Tarik Cohen combined for 10 carries and -6 yards. It took QB Mitchell Trubisky's monumental 4 carries for 12 yards to make sure that they didn't finish in the negative as a team. But yes, of course, the Bears are bad. I'd rather talk about the team that beat them, the best team in the league right now, the Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wentz threw another 3 touchdowns, making it his 5th game where he threw 3 or more TDs. He's also got the league lead with 28 for the season. The Eagles have won 9 in a row, and now have two huge tests over the next two weeks, both on the west coast. First to Seattle next Sunday night, and a visit to the Rams the following week.
1.24 Points Per Touch
Step aside Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara just took your spot for the favorite to win rookie of the year. He's now third in STANDARD fantasy scoring and he only has 77 carries on the season. His production is off the charts, fantasy wise. At 1.24 points per touch(ppt), he's even crushing Chris Thompson (ended the year at 1.09 ppt), whom we gushed about earlier this season. The next closest player still going is Duke Johnson at 0.94 ppt, but seeing as Duke has only the 17th most fantasy points, there's really no comparison. Look instead to how much he's dominating the guys above him. Todd Gurley is averaging about 0.80 ppt, and high volume guy Le'Veon Bell is getting just 0.52 ppt. This means that somehow, Alvin Kamara is more than twice as efficient with the ball than the guy commonly accepted as the best back of the last couple years. All this talk about Mark Ingram being a first team all-pro might be a bit premature. He's got a teammate doing at least as well as he is!
46:21 TD:INT Ratio
This week, quarterback play was a lot cleaner than last week. With a ratio of 46 touchdowns to only 21 interceptions, this week's games felt a lot less sloppy than last week's 39:31 ratio. An obvious side effect of this better play is improved numbers for wide receivers. This week, 6 guys found themselves north of 20 points, with Julio Jones leading the way with an absurd 38.8 in standard leagues. His 253 receiving yards was the highest total for a player in one game since his 300 yard game last season. Meanwhile, Antonio Brown is the major beneficiary of an improved Ben Roethlisberger and has put up an absurd line of 20 receptions for 313 yards and 5 touchdowns in the last two games. Not to be outdone, the surging Chargers have scored 82 points in the last two games, behind Philip Rivers awesome Thanksgiving performance and Keenan Allen's 331 receiving yards over that same stretch. All of this means that the end of the fantasy football season is sure to be freaking amazing.
7-0 Since Week 5
Congrats to Case Keenum, easily the best performing player in the league whose job is constantly in jeopardy. Since taking over for good in Week 5 - remember Sam Bradford? - Keenum has won 7 straight games and the team has averaged 27.4 points per game. This has the Vikings sitting pretty at 9-2, while every week, Coach Zimmer has to announce Keenum as his starter, and not Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater may be the future of the team, but he has almost nothing to do with their success this season. I think that changing the signal caller at this point in the season would be disastrous, but hey, with Zeke finally suspended, what else do talking heads have to discuss?