All I can say is, are you ready for some playoff football?
Most fantasy leagues are having the first round of their playoffs this week, and some unlikely heroes emerged in the early going as Knowshon Moreno, Darius Heyward-Bey, Rod Streater and Matt Prater came up with strong performances.
Darren McFadden came back to score a receiving touchdown, while Peyton Manning's lackluster performance in the red zone may have put his owners in a little bit of a bind. In addition, Brandon Myers' 1 catch for 7 yards left a few owners feeling ill, I am sure.
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Rob Stewart is... The Fantasy Oracle
In one league alone, I lost DeSean Jackson, Ryan Broyles and Percy Harvin over a two week period. Players to pick up if you are desperate for wide receiver help due to the rash of wide-outs hitting Injured Reserve in the last few weeks: I recommend the aforementioned Heyward-Bey and Streater, along with T.Y. Hilton, Chris Givens, Josh Gordon, Golden Tate or Riley Cooper. If desperate at running back help, take a flier on Jacksonville's Montell Owens, as he is pretty much the only game left in town, aside from fullback Greg Jones. Speaking of Jacksonville, touchdown machine Cecil Shorts is out this week.
My eliminator pick went down as the Steelers upset the Baltimore Ravens. Nine in a row was a good feat, but the pickings were starting to get real slim. If anyone is still undefeated in their eliminator pick, congratulations, and please drop the Oracle a line on twitter at FantasyOracle1.
The Oracle's top 5 is Atlanta, Houston, New England, Denver and San Francisco. The Chiefs, at 2-10 despite their victory last week, still have a firm hold on the bottom rung of the NFL ladder.
Playoff time in the WTO Laid Back League after a crazy week saw Allen "Wingnut" Seybert, Derek "Mountain Man" Farr, Jacob "Where's Perryman" and Brian "defending champion" Hagberg snare the three-through-six seeds. Bob "Big Bossman" Patchen won the points title and the #1 seed, while Cody "Nightmare on Elms Street" finished as the #2 seed and both have a bye this week and an automatic entrance into the semifinals. Farr battles Seybert in the #4-#5 game, while 3rd-seeded Perryman takes on 6th-seeded Hagberg.
Last week's results: Oracles 78.64, Wilston 63.82; Patchen 135.98, Elms 103.22; Cotton 108.08, Sitler 86.24; Ferry 84.74, Hagberg 81.98; Farr 100.88, Perryman 123.26, and; Seybert 103.52, McAfoos 99.30.
ASK ALAINA (24-16): Alaina finished 4-1 last week. This week's calls are 1. Aaron Rodgers or Matthew Stafford Rodgers; 2. Pierre Garcon or Torrey Smith Garcon; 3. Trent Richardson or Jamaal Charles Charles; 4. Marshawn Lynch or Doug Martin Martin; 5. Jason Witten or Kyle Rudolph Rudolph.
FANTASY STAR OF THE WEEK: Andrew Luck's 36.94 points led all players in Week 13. This week sure looks like it will be Aaron Rodgers . I predict 350 yards and 3 touchdowns minimum against an overrated Detroit Lions defense.
STEELERS (7-5): Charlie Batch delivered for the Steelers and kept their playoff hopes alive. Now Big Ben comes back and Jonathan Dwyer, Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown all are decent starts against the Chargers. I think the Steelers will handle the Chargers easily and win 30-13.
BROWNS (4-8): The Cleveland Browns are on a roll. Am I really allowed to type that? What is this the 1960s? In all seriousness the Browns are playing some good football. This week they play the woeful Chiefs and I once again am picking the Browns. Look for Brandon Weeden to throw a pair of scores and Trent Richardson to go over 100 yards in Cleveland's 20-13 victory over Kansas City.
BILLS (5-7): The Bills dominated the Jaguars last week, but this week they play another winnable game at home against the St. Louis Rams. I like the running back tandem of C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson to gain 180 yards and score twice. Buffalo 20 St. Louis 17.
FANTASY BUST: My call on Vincent Jackson struggling was dead on for my 10th win in 11 weeks. I have been watching a very sluggish looking Arian Foster and I am left scratching my head. New England has a history of shutting down an opponent's best player so I am saying this week Foster will struggle.
RACHEL'S LOCKS OF THE WEEK (6-0): My oldest daughter remains unbeaten after three more perfect picks. This week's locks according to the expert are St. Louis, Baltimore and New Orleans.