Garbage time fantasy report: Week 15's garbage timers

Paradoxically, the Week 15 slate provided one of the most interesting weekends of the season while also leading to a ton of garbage time. Four teams ran 40 or more plays with the game out of hand, and another three ran 20 or more. A few of those blowouts proved interesting despite the game play itself. The Vikings and Jaguars punctuated their surprising seasons with blowout wins that put them in the playoffs. The Rams stomped the Seahawks to seize control of the NFC West. But also, a few teams were able to escape garbage time with some late-game drives and successful onside kicks, creating tension even if it failed to result in any come-from-behind wins.

Quarterbacks

My alma mater, the University of North Carolina, provided the top two entries of the fantasy points gained list this week. That isn’t exactly the recognition you strive for, but at least Mitchell Trubisky and T.J. Yates were starting games in the NFL.

Unlike their NFL teams, I doubt many fantasy players were starting Trubisky or Yates, or for that matter, Bryce Petty in the No. 4 spot this week. But I expect Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson were in a lot of fantasy playoff lineups. Rodgers was primed for a massive fantasy day, but Geronimo Allison fumbled away the potential game-tying drive that could have netted Rodgers his fourth touchdown on the day. He still threw for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for another 43 yards. Still, I think his 3 interceptions said a lot more about his current health than all the positive numbers. Rodgers seemed unable to get his typical power on his deep throws, which led to a couple of those turnovers. It’s not enough to prevent him from being a useful fantasy player, but expect the Packers to be hyper-conservative with him now that they’re essentially eliminated from playoff contention. I recommend you avoid relying on him in fantasy this weekend if you can in case the team decides to sit him.