What We Saw: Week 16

Green Bay Packers vs Minnesota Vikings

 

Green Bay struggled out of the gate, fumbling on their first drive and closing out the first quarter by throwing an interception. Fortunately for the Packers, the Vikings also struggled and were only able to turn the slow start from Green Bay into a 10-9 halftime lead for Minnesota. The Vikings started off the second half with a three-and-out and then a Kirk Cousins interception, and from there it was all Packers as Aaron Jones and the running game took over. Minnesota’s defense held up well for most of the game, but with their offense only managing seven first downs they were eventually worn down. Green Bay went on to win 23-10 and dominated the time of possession 37:32 to 22:28

 

Green Bay Packers

 

Quarterback

 

• Aaron Rodgers: 26/40, 216 yards, 1 INT | 3 carries, -3 yards

 

Aaron Rodgers functioned mostly as a game manager tonight, letting his defense and Aaron Jones carry the Packers to the win. Rodgers really struggled to throw the ball downfield and had a badly underthrown pass to Davante Adams intercepted. Rodgers had more success throwing intermediate routes to Adams and Allen Lazard, allowing his big receivers to use their body to create space between the ball and the defense, but overall it was not a productive day for Rodgers. This was a tough road matchup for him against a strong Minnesota defense, but the Vikings secondary has been beaten this year and to see Rodgers fail to take advantage of that is discouraging for his fantasy value. He’s still capable of big days, but it would seem his days as an elite fantasy quarterback ended this season.  

 

Running Backs

 

• Aaron Jones: 23 carries, 154 yards, 2 TDs | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 6 yards
• Jamaal Williams: 6 carries, 33 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 19 yards

 

Aaron Jones fumbled early in this game, causing owners relying on him in their championship to fear that the Packers would turn to the more reliable Jamaal Williams. Green Bay showed faith in Jones to hold onto the ball, and Jones rewarded them with a great performance. He scored both touchdowns running to the left side of the line before bouncing to the outside of the defense and outrunning everyone for scores of 12- and 56-yards. Jones dominated the backfield touches, and while Williams was productive with his touches he did not see enough of them to be fantasy relevant.

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

 

• Davante Adams: 16 targets, 13 receptions, 116 yards
• Allen Lazard: 9 targets, 5 receptions, 45 yards
• Geronimo Allison: 2 targets, 0 receptions
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards
• Jimmy Graham: 1 target, 1 reception, 16 yards

 

Davante Adams dropped a touchdown, but otherwise, he had a very strong game. The drop came on a play late in the first half, and while the ball was thrown behind him it’s a play Adams is expected to make and would have been a huge touchdown at that point in the game. The rest of the game saw Adams routinely either beat his man or use his frame to create a window for Aaron Rodgers to throw into. Adams seems to be fully healthy and showed tonight why he is one of the top receivers in the game. Allen Lazard was the clear second target tonight, and similarly to Adams, he was able to use his size to protect the ball from defenders. Lazard has clearly passed the other receivers on this team and is the only pass-catcher besides Adams worth rostering. Geronimo Allison caught a two-point conversion but was otherwise blanked, and Marques Valdes-Scantling caught just one pass for six yards.

 

Minnesota Vikings

 

Quarterback

 

• Kirk Cousins: 16/31, 122 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

 

Kirk Cousins was playing behind an overmatched offensive line tonight and that caused him to really struggle. He did throw a beautiful touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs that hit the receiver in stride and in the end zone, but aside from that Cousins struggled to do anything more than checking the ball down. It’s hard to blame Cousins for the loss tonight but it is tough to take the Vikings seriously as a playoff contender when he seems unable to truly elevate his teammates against tough defenses. He remains a good fantasy option against weaker defenses and someone to avoid in difficult matchups.

 

Running Backs

 

• Mike Boone: 11 carries, 28 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards
• Ameer Abdullah: 4 carries, 27 yards | 7 targets, 6 receptions, 31 yards
• C.J. Ham: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

 

Mike Boone was one of the most-added players for championship week and unfortunately, he did not come through for his owners. With Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison sitting out with injuries Boone stepped in as the starter but was unable to get anything going. He looked fine as a runner and did a good job of sticking to north-south running as opposed to trying to dance in the backfield, but his offensive line was unable to create any push for him and he was unable to create any runs out of nothing. Ameer Abdullah was the better option as a receiver and saw the field more as the Vikings began to trail. C.J. Ham also factored into the passing game as a check-down option, with the result being that all three split the backfield touches and none of them had good performances.

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

 

• Stefon Diggs: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD
• Adam Thielen: 4 targets, 0 receptions
• Bisi Johnson: 2 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards
• Kyle Rudolph: 2 targets, 1 reception, 7 yards
• Irv Smith: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 4 yards

 

Stefon Diggs scored a touchdown but that was really the only positive thing that happened for Vikings pass-catchers tonight. With Kirk Cousins constantly under pressure, he was unable to look down the field which led to a lot of check-downs and incompletions. Adam Thielen dropped what would have been a fairly long completion, but on the plus side, he does seem healthier than he has in recent weeks. Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith split the tight end targets, and Bisi Johnson was essentially a non-factor.

 

–Dan Adams