Lance's 2021 Week 14 Recap and Week 15 Waiver Priorities
RECAP
-The Vikings won, but it went from being a sure thing to needing a great deflection on the final play of the game to secure the win. These fourth quarter collapses of theirs are not only becoming way too common, they’re getting uglier and uglier.
-Congrats Carolina, you fired the one good thing you had going for (that would be the offensive mind that sits inside Joe Brady’s head) because you needed a scapegoat and then you managed just 21 points against one of the worst defenses in the league. I see it worked…
-I know the urge is starting to burn inside the analysts fingers to write up long articles on how Wilson is back, the Seahawks are back, and Rashaad Penny is finally breaking out. Instead, let’s all take a deep breath and acknowledge that it came against the Texans. And with all due respect to Detroit, Houston is the worst team in the NFL right now.
-The Chiefs win over Vegas was a nice blend of their offense and defense coming together, and avoiding the trap game that laid in front of them. There are little things that I would want to nitpick, but I won’t.
-Cleveland almost collapsed worse than the Vikings did on Thursday night. Not in total points, but the fact that it was against Lamar Jackson’s backup made it worse! (I don’t mean anything bad toward Huntley, I like him and was high on him on my 2020 draft board). But hey, at least on a day when the running game failed to really get going, Mayfield was able to take advantage of a weak secondary and get the win.
-It wasn’t pretty on offense, but the Titans got the job done and kept themselves on top of the AFC South in the process. They will hopefully have A.J. Brown back soon, and winning this one might have been what they needed to keep themselves from drowning before their offense gets back to being as close to whole as they can this season.
-I thoroughly enjoyed those Cincinnati and Buffalo comebacks. The second set of games were incredibly boring right up until fourth quarters of both of these games. It was unfortunate that neither was able to secure the win in OT, but I do appreciate them adding some excitement to my Sunday afternoon.
-Chicago may have fallen apart in the second half, but at least Fields and company were able to make it somewhat interesting against one of the top teams in the league. The future is bright, they just need Fields’ development to continue to trend in the right direction.
-The Rams win was big for all of us. It keeps things close not just in the NFC West but the NFC as a whole. While most of the NFC is fighting to keep their heads just above water, the Rams win has brought a five team battle to the top of the conference.
FANTASY WAIVER WIRE TARGETS
QB: Justin Fields (Chicago)
If you need someone to step in, Fields is widely available. He’s coming off a pretty good outing against the Packers and takes on Minnesota in week 15. The Vikings pass defense is a joke, and it’s not going to help that their team always seems to struggle in Chicago.
WR: DeVante Parker (Miami)
He returned from I.R. just before the week 14 bye and caught five passes on five targets. I would hope that the extra week of rest will have him extra healed, so he can go back to averaging around 8 targets a game. Bonus, the Dolphins face the Jets in week 14, at home.
K: Jason Sanders (Miami)
Based on the opponent (the Jets) and Yahoo’s rostered percentage (14), I like Sanders as a streaming option at Kicker in week 14.
D: Cincinnati Bengals
They’re playing Denver, so I wouldn’t expect Cincy to post 21 points like Tennessee did against the Jags last week. However, the Bengals have been a pretty reliable option, and I could see them ending up in the 5-8 point range, so if you’re concerned about going for the boom or bust option (that’s Miami, San Fran and Philly this week), then play it safe.
