Merry Week 15 Sunday Blitzmas for Fantasy Football: Jaxon Smith-Njigba Will Ride High Over the Colts

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Mike's Hard Lemonade:

‘Tis the season for a holiday look at the Week 15 Sunday Blitzmas. Bless us every one in the fantasy playoffs.

Las Vegas Raiders at Philadelphia Eagles

‘Twas the night before fantasy playoffs, and Geno is out,

Must start Jeanty and Bowers despite fears of a rout.

Play Eagles with confidence in lineups with care,

In hopes that Lane Johnson soon would be there

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Chargers all splitting time in their roles,

Hampton or Vidal hitting the holes,

Chiefs fans crying, alone in their bed,

That Patrick and Trevor’s playoff chances are dead

Cleveland Browns at Chicago Bears

Shedeur in his jersey, Caleb his cap

Both make really tough starts when the weather’s such crap.

And out from the B-gap, arose such a clatter

Judkins’ two scores, a fantasy player that matters!

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals

Away to Cincinnati I flew in a crack,

The MVP Lamar and King Henry were back!

Burrow and Chase are hard to out-do,

But lose on the last play, going for two!

New York Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a Jets offense QB-less, with no one to steer.

The other, ascendent, long hair and square jaw…

I knew in a moment it must be T-Law!

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots

AFC East up for grabs, divisions and braggin’

No one’s like Buffalo at circlin’ the wagons,

Allen and Cook top scorers in spats,

But don’t be discouraged from starting Maye and your Pats

Arizona Cardinals at Houston Texans

Now CJ! Now Nico! Now Texans, with sparks!

Overall RB1 finish for rookie Woody Marks!

McBride’s a must; Jacoby, Mike Wilson's bubble could pop,

As Houston’s D swarms and the second shoe drops

Washington Commanders at New York Giants

So up to MetLife, Commanders they flew,

Roll with Jaxson and Wan’Dale, bench the rest of Big Blue.

Start Chris Rodriguez, can’t forget Terry,

To advance and kick off a season most merry

Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The hopes of all Indianapolis go poof!

Darnold draws back, safeties turning around,

JSN to the end zone, two feet, both dragging in-bounds

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints

Bryce’s Panthers are back, roll into town

Still all in the hunt for a divisional crown.

Mad at Week 10’s loss, calling it luck,

All at the hands of a rookie called Shough.

T-Mac in the paint, ball in his belly,

Score bouncing around like a bowl full of jelly …

Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos

A wink of his eye and wrist of his head,

Jordan Love gave me to know I had not to dread.

Threw a few touchdowns, went straight to his work

Glad I benched Bo Nix and all Broncos, and not felt like a jerk.

Tennessee Titans at San Francisco 49ers

CMC nods, finger aside of his nose,

Purdy’s playoff schedule’s so easy, up the rankings he goes.

Titans’ defense so porous, the metrics so sticky

Deep Touchdowns to Jauan, to Kittle and Ricky

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Rams

Away Detroit’s Lions flew, fast as they could,

To face Stafford, Adams and Puka in Old Hollywood.

A shootout delivered, devoid of all duds,

Rock Amon-Ra, Jahmyr, you’re starting all studs.

Heard Dan Campbell exclaim, as he drove out of sight,

Merry Blitzmas to all, and to all a good night!

IDENTIFYING THE RB BELL COWS FOR WEEK 15

🍋 Win Big All Season Long with Mike’s Hard Lemonade & Fantasy Life! 🏈

Fantasy season just got a whole lot sweeter. Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Fantasy Life are teaming up to bring you the ultimate sweepstakes—with fresh prizes dropping every week.

We’re talking Fantasy Life+ subscriptions, gift cards to Homage, New Era, and Knockaround, plus LG TVs and soundbars, and the grand prize: a trip to this year’s Big Game.

And that’s not all. Mike’s and Fantasy Life have cooked up a limited-edition 12-pack of Fantasy Football-inspired flavors, like Hard Berry Blitz, Hard Pineapple Rush and more. It’s the perfect sidekick to your Sunday lineup decisions.

Don’t sit on the sidelines—this is your chance to score BIG.

ENTER SWEEPSTAKES TO WIN!

_{MSG & DATA RATES MAY APPLY WHEN SCANNING QR CODE®. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal U.S. residents of U.S./D.C., 21+ ONLY. Void where prohibited by law. Subject to entry deadlines. See official rules @}_{https://www.mikeshard.com/sweepstakes/fantasylife}_{. Alcohol is not included in the Prize. Sponsor: Mark Anthony Brands Inc., Chicago, IL. MIKE’S IS HARD, SO IS PRISON. DON’T DRIVE DRUNK. ® PREMIUM MALT BEVERAGE WITH FLAVORS. All Registered Trademarks, used under license by Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co., Chicago, IL.}

About Last Night …

So this is the “generational” Kyle Pitts we’ve been hearing about. It only took almost five years! Pitts was spectacular, obliterating the Buccaneers secondary for 11-166-3 for an astounding 45.6 points, leading the Falcons to a 29-28 last-second victory. More highlights from the NFC South slugfest:

If you started Pitts, welcome to the second round of the playoffs.
To those facing Pitts, happy offseason.
Let’s not forget Bijan Robinson and his 175 scrimmage yards and this score, good for 29.5 points.
We had a rare octopus sighting, thanks to Chris Godwin. Baker Mayfield passed for 277-2-1.
Welcome back, Mike Evans! He even Mossed a defender.
Primetime Kirk Cousins was stellar: 377 yards, 3 TDs and 26.92 fantasy points.
At least the Bucs were in the old school creamsicle jerseys.

THE KYLE PITTS WEEK 15 UR SCORE, PURE CINEMA

Editors’ Picks

Those of you who started Kyle Pitts, you can stop laughing anytime now. There’s more playoff work to be done, so our Fantasy Life content, Rankings and Xfinity Best Projections will guide you on the way …

Week 15 Smash Starts

Yes, Saquon Barkley looks like an automatic start against the Raiders. Mark Drumheller and John Laghezza also give plenty consideration to Wan’Dale Robinson and more players for the fantasy playoffs.

Injury Report

We’re keeping an eye on De’Von Achane’s injury status ahead of Monday Night Football. Adam Ronis and Jorge Martin dive in on all the injuries for Week 15.

Guillotine Leagues^TM Notes

Can you picture the NFL playoffs without Patrick Mahomes? Chris Allen runs through news and notes for Guillotine Leagues^TM.

Week 15 Start/Sit: What’s That You Say, Mr. Robinson?

Attrition builds unlikely heroes. Take Wan’Dale Robinson. He’s been called a PPR scam artist. But with injuries to Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo, the Giants offense needed to turn to someone. Enter Robinson, who has 53 targets in the past five games and Coach Gene Clemons ackowledged his growing role in the New York offense as well as the great matchup that awaits:

“Washington has one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL. It is ranked 30th in passing yards and 28th in passing touchdowns allowed. Robinson has been the go-to guy this season. He has hit double-digit targets in five games, having only failed to receive 7 or more targets three times. In six of the past seven weeks, he has ranged between 8 and 14 targets. In that time, he has caught 41 passes. That is monster PPR production. He has produced double-digit numbers in five of those seven weeks. This is a game to tee him up.”

Coach Gene and John Laghezza tag team this week’s Start/Sit column, highlighting players like Mike Gesicki, Christian Watson, Caleb Williams and more.⤵️

THIS TIME ISAIAH LIKELY WILL GET ALL THE FEET DOWN HE NEEDS

WR/CB Matchups: Target Terry McLaurin

Yes, that 31-0 blanking by the Vikings sure made for a rough Week 14 for the Commanders. But we look forward in this league, and when it comes to Terry McLaurin, Chris Allen finds a lot to look forward to in his matchup against the Giants:

“Three of the previous four WR1s to face the G-Men have scored more than 20.0 PPR points (Amon-Ra St. Brown, Christian Watson and Rome Odunze). Even better, the last two in the list play a similar role to the Commanders’ primary WR. Since his return, McLaurin has primarily stuck to the outside and played intermediate-to-deep X-receiver. The only concern is that he’s yet to catch a pass from Marcus Mariota. However, with one fewer option in the passing game and a full week of practice, they should have plenty of opportunities to get in sync either before or on Sunday afternoon.”

Chris highlights several WR/CB matchups for Week 15, and he throws in one player to fade this week.⤵️

MORE MATCHUPS TO TARGET AND FADE