Week 16 Fantasy Football Review: Down With Kaepernick
Kaepernick was one of many fantasy disappointments in week 16.
It was Super Bowl week and everyone knows you have to live and die with your studs. Don’t get cute, right? Isn’t that what we’re told from the time were old enough to understand? Aaron Rodgers, check. Ray Rice, check. Megatron, check. But for owners of Arian Foster, Frank Gore, Victor Cruz and Tony Gonzalez, there was only endless misery.
Onward to a look back at Week 16.
- Kaep rhymes with crap.
- He Giveth and He Taketh Away – After consecutive weeks spent leading his fantasy owners through the playoffs, New England’s Aaron Hernandez left them at the altar on Sunday. His one catch for 13 yards undoubtedly torched many a fantasy title chase. Ditto for Danny Amendola, whose successful return from injury last week had his owners jacked for Sunday’s matchup against the NFL’s worst pass defense in Tampa Bay. His second (and final) catch for eight yards in the third quarter pushed his yardage total into positive territory, allowing him to avoid the ignominious distinction of finishing with negative receiving yards. Final tally: two catches for five yards. His fumble only added to the Amendola festivities.
- The Finger Seems Okay – Last week’s touchdown likely convinced you he was healthy enough to start this week, especially against the Saints defense, but pity the poor soul who decided to sit Dez Bryant Sunday. The splinted one was simply unstoppable, racing for a pair of 58-yard touchdowns in the second quarter and then piling on the yardage in the second half. Bryant finished with nine catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
- Pain Alert #1 – Yes, it was a tough matchup against the Seattle rushing defense, but he did have 131 yards rushing and five catches for 51 yards against them in Week 7, so you started Frank Gore. A whopping 28 yards later, Frank was done destroying your fantasy team.
- Pain Alert #2 – With home field advantage on the line, the Texans figured to send a huge dose of Arian Foster Minnesota’s way before easing up on him in Week 17. Foster finished with 15 yards on 10 rushes before leaving midway through the third quarter with an irregular heartbeat. Foster’s likely doing better than his owners, who suffered from cardiac arrest when they saw him walking to the locker room in the third quarter.
- Pain Alert #3 – You suffered through the worst quarterback play ever recorded in the history of the NFL so you finally succumbed and sat Larry Fitzgerald for his matchup against the rugged Bears defense. Still not sure how it happened, but Fitzgerald caught eight passes for 111 yards, padding your bench totals.
- Pain Alert #4 – You weighed your options at quarterback and decided that the prospect of the Niners defense was too much to contend with, so you picked up Sam Bradford or Josh Freeman instead of Russell Wilson. Wilson’s four TD’s made for an uncomfortable night.
- Pain Alert #5 – You’ve owned him all year so you’re well aware of his pain potential, but after last week’s three touchdown outburst you held your nose and inserted him into your starting lineup: Beanie Wells, ladies and gentlemen, four rushes for three yards and a fumble. Wow.
- They might need an electrician: All season long we’ve heard about their ability to flip the switch when they needed to, but yesterday it was a fantasy blackout for all Giants. Led by Hakeem Nicks (0 catches), offensive players were…well, offensive. Cruz finished with three catches for 21 yards, Ahmad Bradshaw ran for just 39 yards and Eli Manning threw for 150 yards and 1 TD.
- Unlikely that anyone had Rams TE Lance Kendricks (4-119) in their lineup Sunday, but he was about the only tight end with any value Sunday. Big hitters Aaron Hernandez (see above) and Tony Gonzalez (one catch for nine yards) led a parade of tight end failure. Jimmy Graham (7-88) was only TE to join Kendricks among the top 25 in receiving yards.
- Give yourself a hand if Shonn Greene and his two touchdowns on Sunday led you to a fantasy championship. It took some stones to start Greene with third-string quarter Greg McElroy at the helm, but you were rewarded handsomely by the plodding one.
