This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
The Patriots finally got Julian Edelman back from injury and defeated the Chiefs just like everyone thought they would. Tom Brady threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rob Gronkowski, and rushed for a score, while Edelman, playing his first game since Week 10, caught 10 of 16 targets for 100 yards. Edelman and Gronk dominated the looks from Brady, as no other player had more than five passes thrown his way.
If there was a nit to pick, it's that the Patriots' rushing attack did little, as Steven Jackson led the team with six carries for 16 yards. Then again, Brady was more than good enough through the air that Jackson was hardly needed. Fantasy owners who were hoping for a lot out of James White were left disappointed, as he caught two passes on three targets for 39 yards and rushed once for five yards. White did play 42 of the 59 offensive snaps, but his lack of usage was a big hit from a fantasy perspective.
The Patriots will travel to Denver for the AFC championship game as the favorites, with the early lines out of Vegas having the Patriots at -4 after the Broncos struggled to beat a Steelers team that was starting a quarterback with ligament damage in his shoulder, while their top wide receiver was ruled out with a concussion. Oh, and they were playing with a running back who didn't get his first carry for the team until
The Patriots finally got Julian Edelman back from injury and defeated the Chiefs just like everyone thought they would. Tom Brady threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rob Gronkowski, and rushed for a score, while Edelman, playing his first game since Week 10, caught 10 of 16 targets for 100 yards. Edelman and Gronk dominated the looks from Brady, as no other player had more than five passes thrown his way.
If there was a nit to pick, it's that the Patriots' rushing attack did little, as Steven Jackson led the team with six carries for 16 yards. Then again, Brady was more than good enough through the air that Jackson was hardly needed. Fantasy owners who were hoping for a lot out of James White were left disappointed, as he caught two passes on three targets for 39 yards and rushed once for five yards. White did play 42 of the 59 offensive snaps, but his lack of usage was a big hit from a fantasy perspective.
The Patriots will travel to Denver for the AFC championship game as the favorites, with the early lines out of Vegas having the Patriots at -4 after the Broncos struggled to beat a Steelers team that was starting a quarterback with ligament damage in his shoulder, while their top wide receiver was ruled out with a concussion. Oh, and they were playing with a running back who didn't get his first carry for the team until Week 13, finishing the regular season with 18 carries for 42 yards.
The Steelers actually led 13-12 with less than 10 minutes remaining before Fitzgerald Toussaint lost a fumble and Peyton Manning led the Broncos on a 35-yard touchdown drive, their only TD of the game. C.J. Anderson got the goal-line carry, as he vastly outplayed Ronnie Hillman, finishing with 72 yards and the score on 15 carries while the latter rushed 16 times for 38 yards. After fully recovering from the foot injury that bothered him for much of the early part of the season, Anderson finally looks like the back that everyone thought they were getting when they used early round picks on him in preseason drafts. Unfortunately, the Broncos continue to split the touches out of the backfield, which limits his fantasy upside.
The Broncos' defense was one of the best units in the NFL this season, but Ben Roethlisberger, despite the shoulder injury and lack of Antonio Brown, threw for 339 yards, with Martavis Bryant taking on the Brown role by catching nine of 15 targets for 154 yards. He also picked up a team-high 40 rushing yards on two carries, as he racked up more yards from scrimmage than any other wideout or running back this weekend.
Denver did a solid job against the run, holding Toussaint to 39 rushing yards on 12 carries, though the Patriots showed Saturday that they can win without a running game, so that positive performance doesn't seem like a big deal heading into next weekend's conference championship game.
The NFC championship will feature the Panthers and Cardinals, as every team with a first-round bye won this weekend. The Cardinals advanced after one of the most remarkable endings this season, as Aaron Rodgers threw another Hail Mary but the Cardinals scored a touchdown on their opening drive in overtime to win without the Packers ever getting the ball back. There was also a bit of a coin-toss controversy but, amazingly, common sense won out.
The Packers' receiving corps was already limited after Davante Adams was ruled out with a knee injury, and it got even worse when Randall Cobb was knocked out of the game with a bruised lung, leaving Rodgers with Jeff Janis and Jared Abbrederis on the outside, with James Jones being closely guarded by Patrick Peterson all night. Janis turned out to be the biggest producer, catching seven of 11 targets for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-tying 41-yard Hail Mary as time expired in regulation. To exemplify just how crazy it was that Janis was the break-out star, he had two catches for 79 yards back in Week 6 and failed to catch a pass in any other game this season, including the Packers' opening-round playoff win over the Vikings.
On the other side, Carson Palmer finally won his first playoff game, passing for 349 yards and three touchdowns, though he threw two interceptions, including one horrific pass that was picked off in the end zone. He used his regular weapons, as Larry Fitzgerald exploded for 176 yards and a touchdown, while Michael Floyd was limited to only 23 yards, except that two of his three catches went for scores.
The biggest issue with the Cardinals' offense was the lack of production from David Johnson, who rushed 15 times for just 35 yards, though he did catch six of nine targets for 43 receiving yards. Johnson was widely considered the top running back this weekend because he was the only healthy three-down workhorse, but the Packers did a great job of limiting his production. However, Palmer and Fitzgerald did just enough to clinch their trip to Charlotte to face the Panthers.
While most people turned to Johnson as their top running back this weekend, the Panthers' Jonathan Stewart turned out to be the top fantasy producer from the position, rushing 19 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns Sunday against the Seahawks. Stewart, who also scored twice against Seattle earlier this season, last played in Week 14 due to a foot injury, but he hardly looked limited Sunday against an improved defense. However, Carolina dominated the first half, using their excellent field position to go up 31-0 before halftime. The Seahawks stormed back on the arm of Russell Wilson, scoring 24 unanswered points before the clock finally ran out. Running back Marshawn Lynch returned from his abdomen injury, but the Panthers got out to such a lead so quickly that he was limited to just six carries for 20 yards.
Wilson's remarkable passing stats were only helped by the early deficit, as he threw 48 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns, which went to Jermaine Kearse (11 catches on 15 targets for 110 yards and two scores) and Tyler Lockett (three catches on four targets for 75 yards), while Doug Baldwin, who had been his top option, finished with 82 yards on eight catches. And while Wilson's prolific passing of late has been great for the Seahawks, it may help bring the end of Lynch's time with the team.
It's unclear if Lynch will be back next year, but the very solid play of Thomas Rawls before his season-ending injury and Wilson's emergence as an excellent volume passer could spell the end. If Lynch does move on, either to another team or retirement, Rawls likely will be a very appealing fantasy option, even with the Seahawks' penchant for passing. Lynch has an $11.5 million cap hit next season and will turn 30 in April, and with the way the economics works in the NFL, that's hardly an investment worth making.
