NFL Week 15 Fantasy Football Recap: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

• Russell Gage: 8 receptions, 59 yards, 2 touchdowns

• Chris Godwin: 8 receptions, 83 yards, 1 touchdown

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PHI@CHI | DET@NYJ | PIT@CAR | KC@HOU | ATL@NO | DAL@JAX
ARZ@DEN | NE@LVR | TEN@LAC | CIN@TB | NYG@WSH

The return of Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd: The two receivers combined for three offensive snaps last week due to injury, but both were available for this game.

• Both players were on the field for the majority of plays, but neither saw as much playing time as usual.
• Whenever Higgins was off the field, it was a clear indication the Bengals were about to run the ball.
• Trenton Irwin was the fourth wide receiver, often coming in for Boyd.
• The injuries didn’t stop the receivers from seeing targets or scoring touchdowns, but Cincinnati was very restricted in terms of yards per pass. They averaged just over five yards per pass attempt.
• The Bengals’ receivers can safely be put in starting lineups next week.

The Buccaneers without Julio Jones: Jones didn’t practice most of the week with a knee injury and was ultimately inactive.

• This allowed Russell Gage to be the Buccaneers' clear third receiver.
• Gage was rotated out a little more often than usual, with six total receivers seeing at least some playing time.
• This was only Gage’s second game with more than five receptions or more than 40 receiving yards.
• The Buccaneers will likely be favorites the next two weeks despite losing three of their past four games. This means Tampa Bay probably won’t need as many three-receiver sets.
• Gage will also see a decrease in playing time if Jones is able to return by next week.
• This means Gage can likely be left on the waiver wire despite the good game.

Leonard Fournette leads the Buccaneers' backfield: Fournette led the backfield in snaps, rushing yards and receiving yards.

• The Buccaneers largely followed their usual running back rotation throughout the game.
• Rachaad White started the game and took odd-numbered drives, while Fournette played on even-numbered drives.
• Fournette had a 29-to-26 snap lead over the first eight drives of the game and was evenly matched with White in terms of carries and routes at that point.
• Fournette stayed on the field for the Buccaneers' ninth drive, likely because the Buccaneers like him more in late-game passing situations when they are trying to come back. 
• White returned to the field for drive 10, but Fournette took a clear snap lead on the Buccaneers' final nine-play drive.
• White should still be considered the better fantasy option of the two despite the opposite being true for this game.

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.