Fantasy Football Week 14: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

The fantasy postseason weeks of 14 through 16 (or 17) tend to be the worst. They just aren't always fair. Your season to this point doesn't matter a bit. This is a "what you have done for me lately?" (read: right now) deal here.

Bleacher Report breaks down the 10 biggest takeaways from Sunday, dealing with the cruel reality, the injury added to insults and—not to leave them out—the celebrations of good fortune. 

There Are No Sure Things

Sometimes it isn't a matter of how you draft. Your fantasy season might have ended even if you drafted the right players.

Peyton Manning showed this in the most untimely of ways this week. Manning failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time as a Denver Bronco and in 52 games played, according to The Denver Post's Mike Klis. Peyton played like Eli.

Drew Brees, having a mediocre season by his recent standards, suffered through a rare stinker at home, throwing for a season-low 235 yards with just one touchdown and an interception. It was a painfully fitting finish for his disappointed fantasy owners. Brees knows the frustration, telling Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune:

"

A performance like that is embarrassing. We've got to get stuff fixed. We can't sit back and say it will take care of itself, because it's not ... I think we obviously still have a lot of maturing to do. …

Every season you're going to face adversity at times…maybe we just need to be more professional. When I say we, I mean the entire team. A performance like that is embarrassing.

The only thing I can say is we all need to be mentally tougher. There are ebbs and flows in games, all the time. There are times when we start off a game like we did today. You've just got to take a deep breath and say, 'Hey, we're OK.' I felt like things got out of hand pretty quick. We have to handle those ebbs and flows better. We did not do that today.

"

And their fantasy owners are left dealing with a season-ending loss, perhaps. It is all right, though; you went with your best in fantasy, Manning and Brees. Fate just didn't let things go your way. 

Cards Need New Starting RB

Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington has dealt with a chronic foot injury, and what was thought to be a hip pointer is actually a sports hernia that will end his season, head coach Bruce Arians told Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official website Sunday.

At least you didn't have to suffer with him in your fantasy lineup.

You might have had to suffer with plodder Stepfan Taylor, though, who was held to 19 yards on six carries. Or perhaps you went with Marion Grice and his whopping three carries for six yards. Those two were two of the three most-added players in CBSSports.com leagues this week.

You certainly missed out on Kerwynn Williams' 19 rushes for 100 yards. He was owned in less than 1 percent of CBSSports.com leagues.

Now, he might be the most popular player off waiver wires this week. The problem is the Cardinals have a short week and a tough, red-hot St. Louis Rams team next up on the schedule.

Still, the undersized Williams (5'8", 198 lbs) has to be considered the best of the free-agent fantasy pickups among the starting candidates for the Cardinals this week.

Newton Comes Through in Clutch

Finally, we get to some good Week 14 news. The Carolina Panthers might be short on playoff hopes and receiving threats, but they still have Cam Newton, and he gives them a chance. Fantasy owners were thankful to have Newton in their lineups Sunday at the New Orleans Saints.

Not only did Newton outplay Brees, but he was the highest-scorer in CBSSports.com leagues. He racked up three touchdown passes, one rushing score and 83 yards rushing. It was a vintage Newton performance we hoped we would get all season. Your faith paid off in fantasy.

Newton just might have a huge finish in him for fantasy owners, particularly with his health allowing him to get the offense going with his running ability, as tight end Greg Olsen told the Charlotte Observer's Joseph Person on Sunday:

"

When he's in control like that, he's as good as there is. I think it gets him going. He gets into the game, gets the offense rolling. You feed off that. Momentum is a powerful factor in the NFL.

"

Newton has it now. A Week 15 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be another big one for him, his Panthers and his fantasy owners.

Questionable Players Truly Are

We learned a bit about players who are questionable with injuries that keep them from full practice during crunch time. If they cannot practice, you cannot trust them in fantasy lineups.

New York Giants running back Rashad Jennings (ankle) was active but almost completely ineffective. Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas (ankle) was active, but he did not see the field, as The Denver Post's Troy Renck tweeted mid-game.

So, being on the right side of a game-time decision can be more curse than blessing. With the fantasy stakes so high, you should not start those trying to play at something less than 100 percent. Other than teams in must-win situations, there is little reason for teams to push their ailing players in December.

Two Rookies Have Giant Promise

The Giants' season is long lost, but the future isn't. Receiving phenom Odell Beckham Jr. and running back Andre Williams have shown flashes this season. Sunday was more like lightning bolts.

Beckham rocked it with 11 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, something that's become close to the norm for one of the emerging fantasy superstars at wide receiver. Williams, picking up the slack for the ailing Jennings, rushed 24 times for a career-high 131 yards and a 50-yard touchdown.

Next up on the schedule in Week 15 is a home matchup against the reeling Washington Redskins, a team Williams broke out against with 66 yards and his first career rushing TD back in Week 4. The Giants might be better of just handing the rock and the future of the position to Williams going forward.

We already know Beckham is a must-start fantasy wideout. We didn't need this fantasy performance to prove that, but his owners will certainly take the clutch effort.

Percy Harvin's Value Comes…and Goes

As much as you can sit and laugh at the New York Jets' misfortune and mess of a season, you probably wanted to stop doing that with regard to Harvin in fantasy. But nope.

Harvin, just now becoming a game-changer, even amid the quarterback woes the Jets have, suffered an ankle injury Sunday that might sideline him for the rest of the season, according to ESPN.com's Rich Cimini. Those six receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown went mostly for naught.

Harvin was active in just 19 percent of CBSSports.com leagues. As much as you might want to get him off waivers, he could be worthless all over again by Monday afternoon.

49ers Are a Complete Mess

The Oakland Raiders lost last week 52-0. The San Francisco 49ers were supposed to get healthy here. They merely showed how much of a mess they are, Raiders-style.

Colin Kaepernick certainly is long past being trusted in fantasy. Vernon Davis is as well. We need to clump Frank Gore, Carlos Hyde, Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin and the once-vaunted San Francisco defense/special teams in that pile of junk too.

It all starts with the quarterback, though. Kaep just doesn't make the 49ers offense threatening. He "threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage, was sacked on San Francisco's last and wasn't much better in between," as the Associated Press' Josh Dubow so eloquently wrote (per The Sacramento Bee).

Next up for the 49ers' fantasy options is a trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks and their 12th Man. Good night. Ignore all of your 49ers in crunch time.

C.J. Anderson Proves to Be Matchup Proof

Forget Ronnie Hillman (foot) or Montee Ball (groin) standing in the way of the Broncos' Anderson at this point. Even a tough Buffalo Bills run defense (top eight in the NFL) couldn't slow him down in fantasy. Nothing can stop him now. 

Anderson was held to 58 yards on 21 carries, but he did the important thing: score. His three touchdowns carried the Broncos and Anderson's fantasy owners. He told Klis after the game:

"

It was a push, plug and grind kind of game. You're not going to break every run. You're not going to get 160 every game. My production today was about getting in that box. You need be a different style of back every week.

"

You won't find a fantasy owner daring to sit Anderson at the San Diego Chargers next Sunday, regardless of the status of Hillman and/or Ball.

"Hoyer-able" QB Situation for Gordon

Brian Hoyer's struggles hadn't truly impacted Josh Gordon through his first two games back, but they reached rock bottom Sunday. Hoyer was more than pitiful for his few fantasy owners. He was awful for the masses of Gordon owners too.

Hoyer threw two interceptions and finished with a paltry one fantasy point in standard scoring, while Gordon caught just two of his passes for 15 yards—a single fantasy point there too. And, worse, yours truly tweeted for someone to sit the Giants' Beckham for Gordon. Ouch.

As much as you have to hate the results Sunday, now the Browns might have to turn to untested rookie Johnny Manziel to be the starting quarterback, as The Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot wrote. There is no telling how that might impact Gordon going forward.

There will be a fallout from Manziel's apparent mouthing "I would have hit him" after Hoyer missed Gordon on a deep ball, Cabot reported. Ouch.

Murray Takes Over for Raiders

OK, we admit, we took a lot of negative angles from the takeaways above. Here is a positive one: The Raiders finally have their feature back.

Latavius Murray returned from his concussion to rush 23 times for 76 yards, adding another two receptions for nine yards. The totals were modest at best, but the important number was the 25 total touches against a still-tough 49ers defense (at least against the run).

Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew are no longer in Murray's way to help fantasy owners down the stretch. The best news perhaps is the Kansas City Chiefs—next week's Raiders opponent—came into Sunday's action having allowed the most rushing yards to backs in the past five weeks, per FFToday.com.

Oh, and those Chiefs just happen to be the ones who helped Murray break out with that 112-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 12. Murray is a must-have, must-start option in all leagues in crunch time now.

Eric Mack, one of the giants among fantasy writers, is the Fantasy Football Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, where you can ask him endless questions about your team, rip him for his content and even challenge him to a head-to-head fantasy game.