NFL Scores Week 13: Results and Top Fantasy Football Stars for Sunday Games

There are few things more stressful for fantasy football owners than the last week or two of the fantasy regular season with playoff spots, seeding and potential first-round byes up for grabs.

Things were slightly less stressful Sunday, though, if you have players such as Andrew Luck, DeAndre Hopkins, Rashad Jennings, Tre Mason or even Ryan Fitzpatrick (of all people) on your team. Clutch performances from star players or under-the-radar sleepers ultimately decide fantasy games, and there was plenty of that to go around Sunday.     

With that in mind, here is a look at the scores and top fantasy performers from Sunday’s slate of games.

Away	Score	Home	Notable Fantasy Star
Tennessee Titans	21-45	Houston Texans	Ryan Fitzpatrick (358 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT)
Washington	27-49	Indianapolis Colts	Andrew Luck (370 passing yards, 5 TDs, 20 rushing yards, 1 INT)
Cleveland Browns	10-26	Buffalo Bills	Bills defense/special teams (1 TD, 2 INTs, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
San Diego Chargers	34-33	Baltimore Ravens	Keenan Allen (121 receiving yards, 2 TDs)
New York Giants	24-25	Jacksonville Jaguars	Rashad Jennings (91 rushing yards, 2 TDs)
Cincinnati Bengals	14-13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	A.J. Green (4 catches, 57 yards, 1 TD)
Oakland Raiders	0-52	St. Louis Rams	Tre Mason (117 rushing yards, 47 receiving yards, 3 total TDs)
New Orleans Saints	35-32	Pittsburgh Steelers	Drew Brees (257 passing yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs)
Carolina Panthers	13-31	Minnesota Vikings	Vikings defense/special teams (2 blocked punts for TDs, 4 sacks, 1 INT
New England Patriots	21-26	Green Bay Packers	Aaron Rodgers (368 passing yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs)
Arizona Cardinals	18-29	Atlanta Falcons	Julio Jones (189 receiving yards, 1 TD)
Denver Broncos	29-16	Kansas City Chiefs	C.J. Anderson (168 rushing yards, 17 receiving yards 1 TD)

Top Fantasy Performers for Week 13

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Houston Texans

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Apparently, Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t a fan of being benched.

The Houston Texans turned to Ryan Mallett after a disappointing start to the 2014 season, but he was placed on injured reserve last week so the Texans turned back to the journeyman Fitzpatrick. Good thing they did.

Fitzpatrick made fantasy owners who took a chance on him look like geniuses Sunday with a career-best performance against the Tennessee Titans. Sure, Tennessee may not be one of the league’s best teams, but it was 10th in the NFL against the pass coming into Sunday’s action. That won’t be the case anymore. 

Fitzpatrick finished with 358 passing yards, 10 rushing yards and six passing touchdowns, and Michael Fabiano of NFL.com had some fun with the performance:

Perhaps best of all, Fitzpatrick’s sixth touchdown pass came to something of a secret weapon for the Houston offense, as Adam Schefter of ESPN pointed out:

Considering Fitzpatrick had 11 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions and five fumbles entering the game against the Titans, he is still a risky fantasy play moving forward. We have seen impressive individual games from him before, especially when he was with Buffalo, that were followed by lackluster showings.

However, there is something to be said for playing the hot hand, and there were no hotter hands than Fitzpatrick’s on Sunday. Next up for the Texans is a date with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 27th-ranked secondary, so Fitzpatrick may be a solid sleeper for your fantasy playoffs.

RB Tre Mason, St. Louis Rams

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

Feel free to look the other way, Zac Stacy owners.

Tre Mason made the most of his 14 carries in a blowout win over the Oakland Raiders and finished with 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also got involved in the passing game, much to fantasy owners’ delight, and tallied 47 receiving yards and a touchdown catch.

This isn’t the first time Mason thrived against the AFC West. He finished with 113 rushing yards against the Denver Broncos in an upset win for the St. Louis Rams against what was then the league’s best rush defense in terms of yards allowed per game.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Mason discussed his tendency to grind out difficult yards after that performance, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com:

"

That’s just the way football is. Sometimes you have got to grind them out. It might not be a big play every play, but you’ve got to grind them out sometimes. That extra 1 or 2 [yards] means a lot when you’re on the goal line, so if you’re on the goal line, it can be the difference between a score and a first down. 

"

There was no grinding on Sunday when he torched Oakland for an 89-yard touchdown run. ESPN Stats & Info placed that run in historical perspective for the Rams:

Fantasy owners will certainly be pleased if runs like that become a habit moving forward for the Rams' top running back option.

WR DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

Bob Levey/Getty Images

If Fitzpatrick is going to throw for six touchdowns, he is bound to find the same receiver for some impressive statistics along the way.  

Unfortunately for Andre Johnson owners (who will still enjoy Johnson’s 53 receiving yards and one touchdown), that receiver on Sunday was DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins finished with an astounding 238 receiving yards and two touchdowns and likely turned some fantasy matchups around with an incredible day.

Rembert Browne of Grantland summarized what plenty of fantasy owners who were stuck playing against Hopkins were thinking as the Texans clash with the Titans unfolded:

It was actually Hopkins’ fourth game on the season with more than 100 receiving yards, and his performance put him over the 1,000-yard mark on the campaign. He may only be in his second season in the NFL, but he has passed up Johnson as Houston’s top option in the passing game. 

There is no reason to expect anything differently moving forward after Hopkins’ incredible performance against the Titans Sunday.

TE Coby Fleener, Indianapolis Colts

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Luck spread the wealth Sunday for the Indianapolis Colts when he hit three different pass-catchers for touchdowns, but tight end Coby Fleener dominated for fantasy owners in the tight end position.

Fleener ended up with 127 receiving yards and two touchdown catches, which was critical on a day when tight end superstar Jimmy Graham had zero catches. Tight end can be a frustrating position in fantasy football, as Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders noted, so Fleener's production this late in the season should not be overlooked:

It was the second time in three games that Fleener topped 100 receiving yards following Dwayne Allen's injury, and he is becoming a consistent target in the Colts' pass-happy offense. He is approaching must-start status every week in fantasy football, especially with Luck throwing him the ball.

Expect more showings like we saw Sunday from Fleener moving forward if Allen continues to miss time.