It’s playoff time, which means more than a few hearts were pounding as Week 15 unfolded. It was an unusually slow day for most fantasy players and a lot of big names put up crappy numbers. LT and Westy kept things rolling while Tatum, Chester and Roy let their owners down. But enough with the tease, let’s get to this week’s Headliners and Flatliners.
HEADLINERS
Rex Grossman (339 yards, 2 TD)
Those owners that rolled the dice with the inconsistent Grossman reaped the benefits as he sliced and diced the Bucs defense to one of his best games of the year.
Honorable Mention: J.P. Losman (200 yards, 3 TD), Tim Rattay (268 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT), Jay Cutler (261 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT), Kyle Boller (238 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT), Derrick Anderson (223 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT), Ben Roethlisberger (140 yards, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD), Chad Pennington (339 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT)
LaDainian Tomlinson (26 touches, 204 yards, 2 TD)
Tomlinson single handedly lifted the Chargers over the feisty Chiefs. If you’ve got LT, the chances are pretty good that you’re on the way to your league’s title game.
Honorable Mention: Brian Westbrook (24 touches, 137 yards, 2 TD), Steven Jackson (31 touches, 127 yards, 2 TD), Maurice Jones-Drew (28 touches, 145 yards, 1 TD), Willie Parker (23 touches, 132 yards, 1 TD), Kevin Faulk (6 touches, 68 yards, 2 TD), Mike Bell (16 touches, 61 yards, 2 TD), Vernand Morency (7 touches, 54 yards, 2 TD), Tiki Barber (24 touches, 104 yards, 1 TD), Ladell Betts (25 touches, 162 yards)
Laveranues Coles (12 rec, 144 yards, 1 TD)
On a day when the wideouts around the league were pretty quiet, Coles huge day really stood out. The Minnesota pass defense is pretty bad, but Coles made a mockery of the Vikings’ secondary.
Honorable Mention: Joey Galloway (3 rec, 107 yards, 1 TD), Javon Walker (5 rec, 84 yards, 1 TD), Reggie Brown (4 rec, 77 yards, 1 TD), Plaxico Burress (6 rec, 120 yards)
Desmond Clark (7 rec, 125 yards, 2 TD)
The tight ends were also pretty quiet and it’s quite possible that Clark wasn’t started this week. But those that did have Clark in their lineup enjoyed his huge day at the Bucs’ expense
Honorable Mention: Jeremy Shockey (8 rec, 70 yards)
FLATLINERS
Steve McNair (0 yards)
My condolences go out to anyone who started McNair this week. He’s always a threat to be knocked out of a critical game, and that’s exactly what happened this week.
Dishonorable Mention: Philip Rivers (97 yards, 2 INT), David Carr (127 yards, 4 INT), Jon Kitna (135 yards, 2 INT), Aaron Brooks (98 yards, 1 INT), Brett Favre (174 yards, 3 INT), Matt Leinart (214 yards, 2 INT), Marc Bulger (137 yards), Trent Green (185, 1 INT), Drew Brees (207 yards, 1 INT), Vince Young (85 pass yards, 4 rush yards), Joey Harrington (20 yards, 2 INT)
Tatum Bell (20 touches, 41 yards)
Bell followed up a couple of huge games with a clunker this week and found Skeletor’s dog house after fumbling away the football. Mike Bell took over and finished with two scores. Remember this when you’re considering drafting a Denver running back next August.
Dishonorable Mention: Chester Taylor (11 touches, 38 yards), Reggie Bush (12 touches, 33 yards), Travis Henry (13 touches, 39 yards), Reuben Droughns (9 touches, 31 yards), DeShaun Foster (10 touches, 47 yards), Willis McGahee (28 touches, 79 yards, 2 Fumbles), Larry Johnson (22 touches, 93 yards)
Roy Williams (1 rec, 11 yards)
Williams blew a great matchup against a suspect Packers secondary and let down more than a few fantasy teams this week. He headed into the playoffs as one of the best third round picks of the draft, but this Week 15 performance tainted a pretty solid season.
Dishonorable Mention: Mike Furrey (3 rec, 20 yards), Chris Chambers (0 rec), Greg Jennings (1 rec, 5 yards), Devery Henderson (2 rec, 20 yards), Andre Johnson (5 rec, 28 yards)
Antonio Gates (1 rec, 7 yards)
Earth to Antonio. Come in, Antonio. It’s the playoffs. Do you copy? Earth to Antonio. Come in, Antonio. Do you copy? I repeat: do…you…copy?
