NFL Week 12 Fantasy Football Recap: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Rams

• Isiah Pacheco: 22 carries, 69 yards, 1 touchdown; 1 reception, 17 receiving yards

• Travis Kelce: 4 receptions, 57 yards, 1 touchdown

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HOU@MIA | CIN@TEN | DEN@CAR | CHI@NYJ
ATL@WSH | TB@CLE | BAL@JAX | LVR@SEA
LAC@ARZ | NO@SF | LAR@KC | GB@PHI

The Rams without Allen Robinson II: The Rams were already without All-Pro Cooper Kupp (injured reserve), but they were also without Robinson this week because of an ankle injury.

• The Rams stuck with their usual strategy of staying in 11 personnel but rotated wide receivers in and out much more frequently than usual.
• They rotated five players, which meant usual starter Bennett Skowronek played less than usual.
• Van Jefferson led the team with three catches for 29 yards and a touchdown.
• Tutu Atwell was the only other wide receiver with double-digit yards, catching both of his targets for 23.
• After the game, the Rams announced that Robinson will undergo season-ending surgery on his foot. So, we will likely see this rotation over the rest of the season.
• With QB Matthew Stafford also injured, these are all players to avoid this season.
• Each of the top five wide receivers is under contract for next season, so Skowronek, Jefferson and Atwell are fighting for the third receiver spot in 2023. 

Add Kyren Williams: The Rams rookie played a bigger role, partially due to the release of Darrell Henderson but also because he took snaps away from Cam Akers.

• Williams got all of the passing-down work — as he did last week — but he also took half of the early-down snaps.
• He led the team in carries with 11, although he was largely ineffective at 3.2 yards per carry.
• He also finished second on the team in receiving yards at 25 after catching three passes.
• The Rams' next three games are all against teams that rank in the top eight in terms of fantasy points allowed to running backs. So, while the offense hasn’t played well recently, they could take advantage of some poor matchups.

The return of JuJu Smith-Schuster: The veteran receiver returned after missing Week 11 and most of Week 10 but didn’t play as much as usual.

• He didn’t play nearly as much as he usually does in two-tight end sets and rotated with Skyy Moore as the third receiver in three-receiver sets.
• Justin Watson dominated snaps for Kansas City, as he was almost always the wide receiver in 13 personnel.
• Moore led the team in targets, but six players on offense ran more routes.
• It wouldn’t be surprising for Moore to fall back to fifth on the depth chart once Kadarius Toney is healthy and Smith-Schuster isn’t on a pitch count.

The Chiefs without Clyde Edwards-Helaire: The former first-round pick landed on injured reserve with a high-ankle sprain, which cost him this game and at least the next three.

• Ronald Jones was active for the Chiefs as their third running back.
• Jones played a little more than Edwards-Helaire had in recent weeks, but it largely came at the expense of Jerick McKinnon on early downs.
• Isiah Pacheco not only maintained his role in the offense but took several goal-line snaps, something he hasn’t done in past weeks.
• This allowed Pacheco to score a 3-yard touchdown, his first score since garbage time in Week 1.
• Pacheco also set a career high in receiving yards at 17.
• His number of rushing attempts in recent weeks was enough to make him a borderline fantasy starter, but the possibility of scoring touchdowns moves him closer to a must-start.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.