Team of the Week

 

QB: Aaron Rodgers

A few unlikely quarterbacks were towards the top of the leaderboard for Week 14, but Rodgers sits at No. 1 heading into Monday Night Football after 290 yards and three touchdowns through the air with another score on the ground. Next up, one of the leading NFL MVP candidates will get a primetime showcase game against the Panthers on Saturday night.

 

RB: Derrick Henry

The fourth career game with 200+ rushing yards and multiple rushing scores for Henry broke a tie with Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, and LaDainian Tomlinson for the most in league history, and it was the third time that the monster runner had 35+ fantasy points this year. Henry should be the top play the rest of the way.

 

RB: Jonathan Taylor

Taylor continued his late-season surge with a career day on the ground (150 yards and two touchdowns) in a win over Las Vegas, and the highlight was a 62-yard sprint to essentially break the game open in the second half. Indy should continue feeding their second-round pick next week in another excellent matchup versus Houston.

 

WR: Stefon Diggs

Buffalo struggled to get going in the first half last night, but Josh Allen and Diggs completely took over in the final 30 minutes—finishing with ten connections for 130 yards, including a 19-yard score. Diggs now leads the league with 102 receptions, and he’s cleared 92 yards in five of the past six games.

 

WR: T.Y. Hilton

Just when most everyone had jumped of the Hilton bandwagon, he’s emerged with lines of 4/81/1, 8/110/1, and Sunday’s 5/86/2 over the past three games while looking like he’s back in his prime. Hilton might not cool off in Week 15 when he takes on the Texans again.

 

TE: Mike Gesicki

A late shoulder injury that appeared fairly serious could force Gesicki to miss time, but he rewarded fantasy owners before leaving Sunday’s game in the fourth quarter—catching five-of-six targets for 65 yards and two scores. The 29-yard touchdown in particular showed again that Gesicki is one of the best contested-catch receivers in football.

 

FLEX: Miles Sanders

The running game was huge in Philadelphia’s upset victory over New Orleans, and Sanders only needed 14 carries to rush for 115 yards and two scores (in large part thanks to an 82-yard touchdown in the second quarter). He’s only rushed 132 times this year, but Sanders is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

 

D/ST: Washington

Led by Chase Young (who scored his first career touchdown), Washington had four sacks, two fumble recoveries, one interceptions, and two scores on their way to a week-high 23.0 fantasy points for D/ST options.

 

K: Rodrigo Blankenship

Blankenship had a couple of quiet weeks heading into the fantasy playoffs, but he was a top option on Sunday—hitting eight-of-eight kicks (three field goals) to give him 14.0 fantasy points.

 

Surprise of the Week: Miles Sanders

Sanders has been arguably the most frustrating player to own this season, and the last two weeks says all you need to know with 31 scoreless yards versus Green Bay (one of the best matchups for a running back) being followed by 136 total yards and two touchdowns versus New Orleans (one of the worst matchups for a running back). Overall, the three best fantasy games for Sanders—and all of his touchdowns—have somehow come against the Rams, Steelers, and Saints; he’s yet to crack 13.0 fantasy points against anyone else.

 

Disappointment of the Week: Early exits

There were a crazy amount of duds for the first week of the fantasy playoffs, but perhaps the toughest ones to swallow are when the players didn’t even really have a chance—which was the case for Noah Fant (illness), DeVante Parker (leg), and Deebo Samuel (hamstring). Anyone that needed just a single point from any of those guys to win a one-week matchup unfortunately didn’t get it.

 

Rookie of the Week: Jonathan Taylor

Tua Tagovailoa deserves recognition with 27.0 fantasy points in a battle versus the Chiefs, but Taylor’s big day gives him Rookie of the Week honors for the second week in a row. Indy’s lead runner has yardage totals of 114, 135, and 165 over his past three appearances.

 

Week 14 MVP: Derrick Henry

Henry has proven to be unstoppable in the fantasy playoffs over the past couple of years, and that continued on Sunday with a record-breaking performance. A 2,000-yard rushing season is well within reach if Tennessee continues feeding their best player.