Saturday Night Football: Lock’d Out

So with MB’s Zoom retirement party happening tonight, DT asked me to step in and do the write-up for Saturday Night Football. I said to DT, “But, Zoom allows like 50 people to join in on a call!” And DT replied, “Yeah, it’s me, MB, and all 48 members of the Japanese pop idol group AKB48. Sorry, we’re full up!” So, sayonara my dear MB. I hope you have fun playing Apples to Apples with your new crowd. 

In the mean time, I’ve got your fantasy roundup for Saturday games: Buffalo vs. Denver, and Carolina vs. Green Bay. 

Buffalo Bills: 48, Denver Broncos 19

• Josh Allen: 359 passing yards, 2 passing TDs; 33 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs. As I mentioned in my QB rest of season rankings around Week 13, Allen has as many top 10 fantasy QB finishes as he did finishes around QB20. Of course, after this Week 15 performance, he’s much more in the “good” territory right now. That’s where you want to be around holiday time, right? Allen brings his War on Christmas to the Patriots in the final game of your fantasy season, and I give a full “charge” to Field General Allen in that game.
• Zack Moss: 81 rushing yards. There was a small Twitter beef among analysts who stanned Moss in the pre-season, and how he ended up under-performing most expectations. Moss got 30%-ish of his season yards in Week 15, which is basically the weighting of your college final. You got an A in that class — what do you care? The game was out of hand early, so 13 touches for Moss was just fine. For best ball managers. If you were starting Moss in head-to-head, you were probably in desperation mode, and you were handsomely rewarded for gambling wildly. 
• Stefon Diggs: 11 rec, 147 yards on 13 targets. Diggs is over 100 catches and 1,000 yards on the season. Touchdowns are fluky, and I almost spelled that in a way that would get me fired from my relief writer position. 
• Cole Beasley: 8 rec on 10 targets, 112 yards. Y’all thought I was crazy writing up Beasley in the pre-season as a quiet late-round WR to grab. Through 15 weeks, he’s got 71 catches, 838 yards, and 4 TDs. That’s a hit. Just don’t look at my Marvin Jones writeup. 
• Drew Lock: Sigh emoji. 132 yards and a TD. Averaged 4 yards per attempt. I mean, come on. There’s a whole Drew Lock fanclub on Reddit, and they ran with Lock through thick and thin. Guy went wild in garbage time against the Falcons and won somebody a million dollars one week. But for everybody else who actually tries to win season-long sports, Lock has been busted all year and there’s no sign of a key going into 2021. Unless the Broncos sign a Smith in the off-season (Lock-Smith! I’m like Grey Jr!), stay away from Lock in 2021. 
• Melvin Gordon: 61 yards rushing, 4 catches and 20 yards receiving, and a TD. Boomslang had a wild year, but despite playing on a team that was always behind and an embarrassing DUI, Gordon’s nearing 800 yards rushing and has 6TDs so far. Maybe next year. 
• Noah Fant: 8 catches on 11 targets, 68 yards, and a TD. Of course, Drew Lock’s top targets were his running back and tight end. Duh. If Lock is the QB in Denver again next year, Fant is a nice TE target for the simple fact that Lock can’t do much other than throw to his TE. 

Green Bay Packers: 24, Carolina Panthers: 16 

• Aaron Rodgers: 143 passing yards and 1 TD, 27 rushing yards and 1 TD. Anybody have a GIF of A-Rog shaking his head in disappointment? Or maybe it was so cold in Green Bay that he just shook his head to stay warm. In the post-game show, Rodgers called the game a “disappointing win.” Bleh. He’s got a disappointing beard. Either way, Rodgers was flustered by a Panthers DEF that’s just not that good. Luckily, Aaron Jones had a great night on the ground. A-Rog should be good to go to finish out your fantasy championships. 
• Aaron Jones: 145 yards on the ground and 1 TD, 3 catches for 13 yards. You know that “Christmas Star” all the memes are talking about? It’s just Aaron Jones showing up in time for the fantasy playoffs. It’s his second time topping 100 yards on the ground in three weeks, so let him run if you’re in the fantasy championships next week. 
• Allen Lazard: 5 catches for 56 yards on 6 targets. Rodgers was frustrated, and Lazard was the only non-Adams wide receiver to haul in a pass. You know it’s a tough night when A-Rog only gets two wide receivers involved.
• Davante Adams: 7 receptions on 10 targets, 42 yards. Disappointing game for Adams, who averages 10 targets a game over the last month, and he’s pulling in more TDs than some QBs are throwing. Adams starts against the awful Titans passing DEF next week, so let Adams loose in your fantasy championships. Regardless of your religion, you’ll get a nice present next week.
• Teddy Bridgewater: 258 yards passing, 26 yards rushing and 1 TD. It’s not a stellar line for Teddy B_H20, but he’s been a surprising delight for fantasy managers who streamed QBs this year. He faces the stout Football Team secondary next week, and his fantasy season is best called “Fin” for now…and I don’t mean Dolphins. 
• DJ Moore: 6 receptions, 131 yards, 8 targets. Guess who’s second in the league in average yards per catch? OK, rhetorical voice in my head, I suppose it’s DJ Moore? Yup. He’s averaged 9 targets a game over the last month and has topped 100 yards 2 out of the last 3 games with that fourth game being 96 yards receiving. Even against the tough WFT DEF, Moore is worth a start next week. 
• Curtis Samuel: 4 receptions and 42 yards on 9 targets. Looking for a reason the Panthers lost? Maybe Samuel pulls in that fourth quarter bomb for a 40 yard gain and history changes. Never let somebody tell you that one step doesn’t matter. It’s not all on Samuel, of course, but different regimes of Panthers coaches have never really figured out how to use him, and he’s been a frustrating WR to roster in 2021. Overall, he’s been a good possession receiver this year, pulling in 61 receptions on 72 targets, but he’s going into Week 16 with an unimpressive 585 yards and 3 TDs. In most leagues, that did nothing for you. Maybe next year. 

If you follow my QB rankings, you probably know that the QB rest of season rankings are done for the year. If you have a Q, I’ll provide an A below. Otherwise, keep checking in on Fridays for the Razzbowl Recaps and find out how our mini-drama ends!