Week 16 Booms & Busts: Passer's delight in Green Bay

Usually this game-day column is a look at the fantasy stars and the fantasy letdowns, but on a Christmas Eve, we’re only going to take a positive tack. Here are the star performers who came through for you on a Week 16, who made sure you were headed for the winner’s circle, even on Any Given Saturday.

Start with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, a good place as any to start. Rodgers kick-started his season — and Green Bay’s — around Week 7, and he’s been letter-perfect for several games. The Vikings know all about that, as Rodgers threw a brilliant 347 yards and four touchdowns at them Saturday, in a 38-25 Packers victory. Rodgers also had a touchdown scramble, and was over 30 Yahoo points at halftime. (As usual, Mike McCarthy let up on the gas, a bit, in the second half.)

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Let’s add up what Rodgers has done over his last 10 games: 26 touchdowns, three picks. Sure, the two Davante Adams drops from Week 15 hurt, but if you got to the final with Rodgers in the captain’s chair, No. 12 did the rest.

And if you didn’t buy the hype about Minnesota’s secondary, perhaps you linked Rodgers and Jordy Nelson in your DFS contests. Good move, grasshopper. Nelson will probably go down as the best value in the receiver pool this year, and he had a smooth 9-154-2 line on 11 targets. Minnesota didn’t use Xavier Rhodes as the dedicated Nelson stopper until the second half (a curious story in its own right), but I don’t think it would have mattered much. Rodgers and Nelson are too locked in. (Adams also had a score, though he dropped a catchable second touchdown.)

If you play in a gigantic league or felt frisky for an underdog, the Minnesota passing game also had its moments. Sam Bradford chucked for 382 yards and three scores, two of them to Adam Thielen (a jaw-dropping 12-202-2 on 15 looks). One of the scores came in the final minute, full garbage time, but those points are all the sweeter, aren’t they?

Runner’s Delight In Buffalo

Maybe you prefer your fantasy points by ground, not by air. If so, Orchard Park was the place for you. The Dolphins scored the 34-31 overtime victory (while Rex Ryan botched another endgame), but the big story was the production on the ground. Jay Ajayi (32-206-1) went over two bills for the third time this year (joining Earl Campbell and Tiki Barber in an exclusive club), LeSean McCoy rumbled for 128 yards on the other side, and the game as a whole featured 533 rushing yards.

Heck, Kenyan Drake had a long touchdown run and Mike Gillislee (11-91) and Tyrod Taylor (12-60) also made tracks. The only rushing fail anyone will remember from this game was the ill-fated Reggie Bush carry in overtime, a critical eight-yard loss for Buffalo.

This Bills offense could be fun for years to come. Taylor also threw for 329 yards and three scores, two of them to late-surging TE Charles Clay (8-85-1). Sammy Watkins (7-154-1) finally looked healthy for the first time all year. Imagine what Taylor, McCoy & Company could do it if played against the miserable Bills defense.

Post-Bradley Jags Have A Party

If you had the stomach for one more go-round with Blake Bortles and Allen Robinson, they finally brought the noise in Saturday’s 38-17 upset of Tennessee. Maybe getting Gus Bradley off their back — I recognize he’s not the offensive mind here — was a good thing.

Bortles was terrific throughout, throwing for 325 yards and a score, posting a rating over 103. He had a TD pass and a touchdown catch (thank you, Marqise Lee), didn’t throw a pick, only absorbed two sacks. Who are you and what have you done with Blake Bortles?

Robinson didn’t get into the scoring box but a 9-147-0 game at least validated why we loved him in August. It was efficient, too, only 12 targets needed. Lee, a nifty breakout player from 2016 and one of the few success stories here, had a touchdown pass and a touchdown catch. Remember, he went in front of Robinson in the 2014 draft class.

Antonio Gates Drives Down Narrative Street

The Browns finally got their victory and the Chargers kept pushing Antonio Gates towards the tight end touchdown record. Everybody happy?

Philip Rivers continually chucked the ball to Gates in the 20-17 loss, and why not — Gates romped to a 8-94-1 line on 13 targets, and was absurdly wide open on several of his routes. The Browns have been totally clueless in tight-end coverage all year. Unfortunately for some rotoheads, that angle didn’t carry over to rookie TE Hunter Henry; he wasn’t targeted Saturday.

If you happen to play in Week 17, the Steelers draw Cleveland. Maybe Heath Miller and Benny Cunningham can come out of retirement for this one. Gates still needs a touchdown to tie Tony Gonzalez; he’ll be challenged by Kansas City (and Eric Berry) next week.

Kirk Cousins Bounces Back (Sorry, Fat Rob)

Cousins had his worst game of the year at the worst fantasy time — the fantasy playoffs. He didn’t get much accomplished in Monday’s ugly loss to Carolina. But if your team pressed on despite Cousins, good things happened in Week 16 — he picked up two touchdown runs, plus a touchdown pass, in a romp at Chicago.

The two scoring runs from Cousins, and a pair of touchdowns from Chris Thompson, were pesky sights for Rob Kelley’s fantasy public. Although Kelley had a passable 21 touches for 82 yards, he wasn’t able to get into the end zone (nothing’s more frustrating than seeing a non-running quarterback vulture the red-zone chances; unless it favors you, of course). Backup Mack Brown added a 61-yard score in garbage time.