Fantasy Football Week 15: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

The waiting is the hardest part. The final buzzer of Monday night's New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears game cannot come soon enough.

Most of fantasy Week 15 is in the books, and a select few of you fantasy owners can begin your Super Bowl preparations. Bleacher Report helps you get your championship lineups in order with its 10 biggest takeaways from this weekend's action.

Bengals' Hill Emerges as Fantasy Star

When the Cincinnati Bengals declared Jeremy Hill their starter and feature back over Giovani Bernard this week, you had to know it would be good for Hill's fantasy owners. You could not have expected this.

Hill was the NFL's lone 100-yard rusher through the Sunday afternoon games, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Bernard picked up the scraps with 79 yards rushing and three receptions for 24 yards.

Some scraps. The Bengals offensive line is clearly rolling, along with the rookie Hill.

Andy Dalton praised both to reporters postgame, per the Bengals' official website:

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Hats off to the guys up front. Those guys were challenged and they responded well. Jeremy did a great job running the ball. We need to keep that going. ... We had a big emphasis on the run. I felt like we were getting some good looks, and when we got those looks we made the big plays. My hats off to them. They are a big part of the reason we won today.

"

A matchup against the Denver Broncos' No. 2-ranked run defense is next up on the schedule. You cannot sit Hill, though. The Bengals will stay stubborn with the power-running game, which suits the big back Hill. Bernard, on the other hand, might have to score his fantasy points as a pass-receiver in that one.

Giants' Beckham Proves Unstoppable

This is not news: Odell Beckham Jr. is an irresistible force. The fantasy news comes in the heights he has taken his instant stardom to. He is off the charts, if not atop them.

Beckham was not only the only receiver to have more than one touchdown reception this week through the Sunday afternoon results, but he had three (10, 35 and six yards).

Per Michael Eisen of the Giants' official website, Beckham's 12 receptions tied the highest total ever by a Giants wide receiver (one less than the team record set by running back Tiki Barber 15 years ago), and Beckham's 972 receiving yards are a Giants rookie record, despite missing the first four games of the season to a hamstring injury and having two games still to play.

Via Eisen, head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters:

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The young man is having outstanding success. When we are getting the ball to him, he's doing very well with it. He's a very good football player. He has the ability to go the distance, I think, any time he gets it - whether as a punt returner or as an offensive player. He can run the football; he can throw the football, so we've tried to create a lot of situations. He does have the talent to exploit the defense in a lot of different ways.

"

He also has the talent to lead a fantasy team to a Super Bowl title. The matchup against the Rams' top-10 pass defense isn't tough enough for anyone to sit Beckham in Week 16.

Bills Are Fantasy QB Dragon Slayers

First Peyton Manning, then Aaron Rodgers: You have to pity Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders next Sunday. The Buffalo Bills defense has shut down two of the game's all-time great downfield passers in back-to-back weeks.

Carr and the Raiders are next up. Ouch. Start the Bills defense in your fantasy playoffs.

Defensive captain Kyle Williams told Chris Brown of the team's official website the Bills defense is dauntless, if not yet vaunted in fantasy circles:

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We talked about it all week, and I think we talked about it Monday or Tuesday—we're not going to get caught up in the hoopla of who we're playing, or the gauntlet of quarterbacks. We've played great quarterbacks. We've played well against great quarterbacks. The only expectation we had was to play well and win that football game. We were able to do that.

"

The good news for fantasy owners next week: No one will be counting on Carr in their starting lineup of their championship game, unlike they did with Manning and Rodgers the past two weeks.

Johnny (Be Horrible)

Well, we found out about Johnny Manziel. Johnny Football is horrible. Fantasy owners, look away from the wreckage.

Cincinnati limited Manziel to 80 yards passing, 13 yards rushing, two interceptions and zero fantasy points in standard CBSSports.com leagues. He was bad for himself and Josh Gordon owners. Gordon had another fantasy bust performance with three catches for 48 yards.

Manziel took the blame for his awful performance, via Nancy Armour of USA Today:

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I'm not using the rookie excuse. Yeah, I'm a rookie, but that's out the window. I needed to play better. I felt coming into today that I was absolutely prepared. Being out there, I never felt overwhelmed or that it was too much for me. You need to play better than the other team, and today I didn't do that.

"

Manziel will get another crack at things as a starter next week, much to Gordon's fantasy owners' dismay.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

"The bad thing is the result," head coach Mike Pettine said. "The worse thing would be not to learn from it. We have to come out and push through it, and hopefully he'll be better next week."

Fantasy owners learned Manziel cannot be trusted, even as he relates to Gordon's fantasy value for Week 16.

Chiefs' Davis Picks Up the Slack

Knile Davis has had a mostly quiet second half of the season as Jamaal Charles has stayed healthy and done the bulk of the work for the Kansas City Chiefs, but a matchup against the Oakland Raiders this week afforded Davis some garbage time.

Davis took advantage, rushing for a touchdown and taking a pass for a 70-yard touchdown. Davis is a game-breaker the Chiefs will consider using even if Charles is active for Week 16 at Pittsburgh.

Charles told The Kansas City Star's Randy Covitz he needs some added rest this time of year for his body:

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I told coach to give me time for my ankle to chill out, because it was under a lot of pressure. I could have played, but I needed to rest it. I was upset. ... I wanted to play in the game, but these injury issues have been killing this year. It's part of the game, but I have to find a way to get over it. ... I feel good. I just think I need to get off it and ice it and heal it and get it back right, because it is still tender.

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Davis is a sleeping fantasy giant, working behind Charles, who praised the patience and selfless nature of his backup to The Star:

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I'm happy for Knile. Every week he comes to practice, and he doesn't say a word. He comes to the game, and sometimes he doesn't get any reps, and I'll be like, "Man, let him loose." But he comes in when I'm down and makes plays for me. He makes a long run when the team needs it and scores touchdowns when I'm out. We need people like that to step up. I'm happy his hard work pays off.

"

Davis is too good for the Chiefs to keep quiet now. Available in almost 75 percent of ESPN.com leagues, he is a solid fantasy sleeper for next week's potential shootout with the Steelers.

Patriots Back in RB Committee

We thought we had the New England Patriots figured out. LeGarrette Blount was going to be the power back and primary goal-line guy.

Not so fast.

Blount did pick up a goal-line touchdown, but he also had to watch Shane Vereen take one in on third down and Jonas Gray pick up 11 carries for 62 yards between the 20s. Now we have a three-headed monster for the Pats' running back situation in fantasy crunch time.

Gray came on the second half, emerging from the Bill Belichick doghouse.

"That guy came in running like he was possessed," Patriots wide receiver Brandon LaFell said, per Chris Mason for The Miami Herald. "The guy had a big game, and he's been on the bench for a few weeks, but when he got his chance [Sunday], man, he came out and showed up."

We wouldn't be psyched about starting any of the Pats backs at the New York Jets next week. Sure, it might be a blowout, but predicting which of Blount, Vereen or Gray will get the points will be like playing running back roulette in your fantasy championship.

Jones' Loss Is Hester's, Douglas' Gain

Julio Jones (hip) couldn't go for the Atlanta Falcons and fantasy owners Sunday, but Matt Ryan and company didn't miss a beat—at least fantasy-wise. Ryan threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, while both Devin Hester (5 REC, 85 YDS, 1 TD) and Harry Douglas (10 REC, 131 YDS) were able to fill Jones' big shoes as Roddy White's (7 REC, 58 YDS, 1 TD) receiving mate.

USA TODAY Sports

The Falcons are headed for a shootout next Sunday at New Orleans, which should make Douglas and Hester intriguing sleepers—regardless of whether Jones is able to practice and play.

Douglas would be a must-start option for crunch time if Jones is out. He might be anyway, since Jones won't be counted on to be 100 percent.

RG3 Re-Enters Fantasy Radar

We thought we could write off Robert Griffin III for fantasy this season. Probably not. Colt McCoy gave way to RG3 in the first quarter Sunday, and Griffin was able to pass for 236 yards and a touchdown, in addition to rushing for 46 yards.

Now, the Washington Redskins' head coach, Jay Gruden, is back trying to decide a starter for Week 16, via ESPN.com's John Keim:

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[Griffin] is obviously in the mix. He came out here and competed, which I liked. Made some good throws and made some great plays with his legs, but from a consistent standpoint, the production on third downs and the lack of production in the second half [offensively] was concerning. I'll have to check the film to give him a total grade.

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Fantasy owners of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon might have to hope McCoy is fine to start Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jackson (3 REC, 15 YDS) and Garcon (4 REC, 36 YDS) have not had great numbers with RG3 and didn't Sunday.

Stay tuned to this always developing story.

49ers Run Out of Running Backs

We figured veteran Frank Gore would eventually get banged up to the point to allow rookie Carlos Hyde a chance to take over as the 49ers' feature back. We didn't think Hyde (six carries for 55 yards) would have the same bad luck right after.

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

After a concussion forced Gore from Sunday's game in Seattle, Hyde was bent back on a carry and did not return. Hyde told ESPN.com's Paul Gutierrez his back injury is more severe than the ankle.

The injuries forced the 49ers to rely on journeyman Alfonso Smith and fullback Bruce Miller, neither of whom did any damage against the Seahawks defensive front.

The 49ers' running back situation will be one to watch this week. Their starter, if Gore does not clear the NFL's concussion protocol in time, will be a nice sleeper for running back-needy fantasy owners in Week 16.

Offenses Disappoint in Clutch

With all the notions of offenses ruling the NFL nowadays, we sure got a bit of a defensive Sunday in fantasy leagues. As we wrote above, there was just one 100-yard rusher heading into the nightcap. There was also just one quarterback (Eli Manning because of Beckham) who had more than two touchdown passes. Only four quarterbacks cracked the 300-yard plateau.

Let's consider this a bit of a week out of the ordinary. The matchups for Week 16 look far more promising for fantasy points, save for that Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals game.

To make sure you give your maximum effort in setting your fantasy lineups in this crucial fantasy Super Bowl week for so many of you, check back Tuesday morning for B/R's Insider Notebook, Wednesday morning for the Week 16 Big Board, Thursday morning for the Week 16 Predictions and Saturday morning for the Ultimate Guide to Sunday's Action—all from yours truly.

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.