The ageless Larry Fitzgerald winning titles for his fantasy owners highlights this week’s Week That Was.

Larry Fitzgerald:   Larry Fitzgerald had another great game hauling in nine receptions for 119 yards and a TD on 15 targets.  On the year, the ageless one has 101 catches for 1,101 yards and still has a game to go.  This guy plays with pride.  So, with a game against the Seahawks that has serious playoff implications on the schedule for Week 17, you can be sure the future HOF will bring his A-game.  He will be in all my DFS and still playing Week 17 season-long lineups.  He should be in yours as well. 

Jameis Winston:   Jameis Winston looks like a player trying to prove something.  Sunday, Winston almost pulled off a huge upset over the Panthers throwing for 367 yards and a TD.  Despite playing the last two weeks against teams with a ton to play for and playing without DJax, O.J. Howard or any running game to speak of, Winston has thrown for 666 yards and 4 TD in those two games.  With the Saints and a game with playoff implications next on the schedule and another shootout game possible, the fantasy stats should be there for Winston in Week 17. 

Kareem Hunt:  Kareem Hunt’s puzzling season continued.  He was great at the start, ignored in the middle and has been great near the end.  Sunday, Hunt carried 29 times for 91 yards and a TD.  He also added 4 grabs for 15 yards.  That was good for over 20 PPR fantasy points.  That is where the good news for fantasy ends.  With the Chiefs basically locked in their playoff seeding (they won the worst division in football), there is little reason to push Hunt in Week 17.  As to NFL playoff fantasy, it is hard to imagine the Chiefs making a deep run on the road in the playoffs so Hunt is a guy I do not ride in set it and forget it NFL fantasy playoff leagues but one I do play in the first week in the use only once, pick new lineups each week leagues.

Dion Lewis:  Dion Lewis has ended all debate about who is the number one back in New England.  Sunday, Lewis carried 24 times for 129 yards and a touchdown.  He added five grabs for 24 yards and another touchdown.  That is a sweet 32+ fantasy points in PPR.  With no Rex Burkhead, Lewis will continue to see substantial touches.  Moreover, he has the advantage of fresher legs given his sparing usage in the early going (no games in the first six with double digit touches). Even with the Patriots penchant for messing with you on RB usage, I would be comfortable using Lewis Week 17 and in the NFL fantasy football playoffs.   

Alvin Kamara:  Alvin Kamara rushed for just 32 yards Sunday and failed to find the end zone. However, because he is such a danger in the passing game and notched 7 grabs for 58 yards, Kamara finished with 16 points in PPR scoring.  That is one heck of a floor for a great player who had a bad fantasy game.  Kamara is the player on the Saints to own in Week 17, in cash game DFS and in NFL fantasy football playoffs. 

Blake Bortles:  Last week we wrote: “Blake Bortles had a day Sunday.  Bortles completed 21 of 29 passes for 326 yards and 3 TD.   Even better, there were no interceptions.  Over the last three games, Bortles has been awesome, averaging over 300 yards per game, over 70% completion percentage and has tossed seven touchdowns against zero (yes, zero) interceptions.  With the 49ers on the horizon for the fantasy football finals, Bortles will and should be on a lot of title winners.  Geez, even Marcus Mariota had a decent game against the 49ers.  [Full disclosure, I am starting Bortles in a fantasy football finale this week so feel free to follow suit].”  Did Bortles play well from an NFL perspective?  Hardly.  However, fantasy is not reality.  In fantasy, Bortles put up 382 yards, two TD, a two-point conversion and 31 yards rushing to boot.  I will take that in my fantasy playoffs any Sunday.  For those looking toward NFL playoff fantasy football in January, Bortles makes a very interesting play as with that defense, the Jags will be a threat (and yes, I think the 49ers big game was partially a function of the Jags looking past them).

Final Note:  Fantasy and real NFL teams lose games in all kinds of ways.  They get beat clean, they get unlucky (see butt interception by the Saints), they find themselves on the wrong end of another one of those “so dumb it cannot be real” catch/no-catch instant replay calls, etc.  However, there is no excuse for losing in the NFL because you try to be too clever.  Seattle lost a Super Bowl because they threw a high-risk slant in traffic rather than going to Beast Mode.  No excuse.  Well, that happened again Sunday as the Cowboys, who have been dying to get Zeke Elliott back failed to give him the ball as they tried to score in the 4th quarter of a close game with 1st and goal from the three-yard line.  Would they have won?  I do not know.  Is there an excuse for that play-calling?  No.  Some times too clever is exactly that.  Ok, rant over.  I hope you all out there are enjoying a wonderful holiday season and have some fantasy football titles to show for it!