We wants it, we needs it. We must have the Precious (USAT Sports)

Friends, nothing ruins the holidays like a second-place fantasy finish. I've been there. I know. So please, DO NOT get distracted by yuletide nonsense today.

Instead, this is a day to focus on what truly matters: Fantasy excellence.

If you need a place to lurk online while the stats roll in during Championship Week — someplace you can be among like-minded fantasy managers — feel free to hang out right here at Sunday Scene, in the chat window below. We'll launch shortly after noon CT, then keep the conversation going at least through the early games (possibly longer).

At this late stage, there's not much left to do but watch the numbers pile up and celebrate like champions.

Gronk, still sidelined (USAT Sports)

Plenty of you were holding out hope that Rob Gronkowski could return today, just five weeks after breaking his left forearm, but I'm afraid he'll be sidelined again. The Patriots made it official on Saturday.

Sorry, fantasy owner. You'll have to continue to rely on the free agent pool. If you're evaluating the replacement tight end options, you can find the Week 16 Yahoo! position ranks right here.

Gronk's absence should lead to yet another significant target total for Aaron Hernandez, we should note. In each of his past three games, Hernandez has drawn double-digit targets, with a season-high 19 last week. Woe unto those who face him in a championship match-up. (I'm lookin' at you, Brad Evans).

RG3, sidelined in Week 15 (USAT Sports)Well, this seems like really, really good news, unless you happen to be facing RG3 in fantasy this week:

Quarterback Robert Griffin III is expected to start for the Washington Redskins on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles if he does not aggravate his mildly sprained right knee before then.

“If there’s no setback, doctors feel that he’ll be ready to go,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “There wasn’t a setback today, so that’s a good sign.”

That's the scoop from Rich Campbell of the Washington Times.

Griffin practiced on both Wednesday and Thursday, clearly satisfying his coaches. We obviously can't say if the rushing component to his game will be in full effect -- he's recovering from a sprained LCL -- but he put up a huge fantasy total the last time he faced Philly, strictly on passing stats. You'll recall that Griffin completed 14 of 15 throws for an even 200 yards and four touchdown passes in Week 11. Over his last four games, he's passed for 10 scores with just one INT. Like you need further evidence that he's good.

Danario Alexander pregame, assessing the Chargers season (Getty)

Entering Week 15, Chargers receiver Danario Alexander was looking like a must-start fantasy asset. He'd just roasted Pittsburgh, the NFL's top-ranked pass defense, for 88 yards and two TDs. Alexander was coming off a five-game stretch in which he'd delivered 30 catches for 494 receiving yards and five scores. There were few obvious reasons to doubt him.

But then Sunday happened.

DX put up a goose egg in a critical week — zero catches, zero yards, zero fantasy points. He was targeted just three times. He dropped the first throw that came his way (though it wouldn't have gained more than 3-4 yards), the second was well-defended, and the third "target" was actually a throwaway, a ball that Philip Rivers buried in the dirt to avoid a loss.

The closest Alexander came to a highlight was when he drew a PI flag, setting up San Diego's only touchdown. Aside from that play — which helped no one in fantasy — DX did nothin'. His ill-timed bagel knocked a few thousand fantasy owners from the playoffs.

But if you somehow survived that dud performance, you now have a tricky lineup decision to make in Championship Week. The Chargers will travel to face the Jets, the league's No. 2 pass D. Not so long ago, you weren't worried about match-ups with Danario. He was on the approved list. Today, you're probably wondering if you should cut him loose, as 4,506 Yahoo! managers did on Monday.

In the NFL, it's not often that we can accurately say we've never seen something before, that an individual or team accomplishment is completely without precedent in the league's 90-plus-year history. But at this point, I think that's where we are with Adrian Peterson.

All-Day rushed for another 212 yards on Sunday, raising his league-leading season total to 1,812. Here's the highlight run, an 82-yarder. Peterson has topped the 200-yard plateau in two of his last three games, and he's eclipsed 150 yards in six of eight. He hasn't delivered fewer than 100 scrimmage yards in any week since mid-September. With two games remaining on the Vikings' schedule (at Houston, vs. Green Bay), Peterson is 294 yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season mark.

So in other words, Dickerson will only hold the rushing record for another two weeks.

Just to remind you (not that you need it), this is what Peterson looked like back on New Year's eve...

James Jones, plane-breaker (USAT)

OK, maybe you personally were smart enough (or needy enough) to start James Jones in Week 15. If so, congrats. You're getting a huge day from No. 89.

However, plenty of Jones' owners are staring at this nonsense on their fantasy bench right now...

...and they're sick about it.

Jones is  rostered in 83 percent of Yahoo! leagues, but he was only 32 percent started in Week 15. There's basically nothing worse than leaving a monster stat line on your bench in the playoffs, so I'm not going to twist the knife here. (Plus I'm a Bears fan, so I'm hurting enough already). Let's simply note that Jones is beasting this week in Jordy Nelson's absence.

As of this writing, with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Jones has five catches for 60 yards on seven targets, with three touchdowns included. He currently leads all receivers in fantasy scoring this week, and he's climbing the year-to-date ranks. Jones has 12 touchdown catches so far this season, on just 51 receptions. That ain't easy.

Gonzo celebrates, emphatically (Getty Images)Atlanta's Tony Gonzalez is 36 years old — supposedly in his final NFL season — yet he's still capable of making plays like this, with defenders hanging all over him. First he out-jumped Will Hill on the touchdown reception, then he delivered a crossbar spike on a helpless Stevie Brown (pictured right). Well done, sir.

Gonzalez will likely finish the day atop the year-to-date scoring leaders at his position — incredible for a guy who should be well into the decline phase. He's now hauled in eight TD catches on the year, with over 850 receiving yards. At this point, there's basically no argument for any other player as the best in the history of the tight end position. There's Gonzalez, then everyone else.

[Also: Fantasy owners rue leaving WR James Jones on the bench this week]

Gonzo has actually ranked top-8 at his position in fantasy scoring every season since '98, with nine different top-3 finishes (not including 2012). So that's absurd. He might be the surest bet in our game's history. Maybe he's ready to hang up his cleats, but I'm not ready to stop drafting him.

Stick around, 88.

RG3 and Cousins (Getty Images)

Yup, pretty much everything you really need to know about the RG3 situation can be found in the headline up above. TAKE EVASIVE ACTION. INITIATE THE KIRK COUSINS PROTOCOL. This is not a drill.

Robert Griffin III will be sidelined at Cleveland in Week 15, still struggling with that sprained LCL in his right knee. We all knew this was a possibility, from the moment Haloti Ngata hit Griffin's knee last Sunday, late in the fourth quarter. Hopefully you already had a replacement option on your roster. If for some reason you didn't, here's a list of widely available QBs, arranged as I'd rank 'em for fantasy purposes: