National

Fantasy Football Week 14 Wrap: Purdy makes it look pretty in domination of Brady, Bucs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers

"Mr. Irrelevant" badly outplayed the GOAT in a matchup with the biggest age gap between starting quarterbacks in NFL history. Brock Purdy became the first QB to beat Tom Brady during his first career start, posting the highest Passer Rating across the league in Week 14 while quieting the haters in an eye-opening performance.

It's just one game, but Purdy already has as many deep-TD passes outside the numbers as Jimmy Garoppolo has over the last three seasons. Given his running ability, Purdy immediately has more fantasy upside than Jimmy G as well. Kyle Shanahan has also been calling a more aggressive pass rate for Purdy, who made multiplehighlight-worthy plays and had Levi's Stadium chanting his name at one point Sunday.

That said, Purdy did take a couple of huge shots and is dealing with an oblique injury, so his status needs to be monitored with SF scheduled to play for the division Thursday night.

That wasn't the only injury for the 49ers on Sunday, as Deebo Samuel was carted off with what appears to be a high-ankle sprain that likely ends his fantasy season. Samuel's absence would boost the values of George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey. Aiyuk cooked a defender Sunday and looks like a top-15 fantasy wideout down the stretch with Samuel out. McCaffrey was nearly the No. 1 fantasy back this week despite not playing a snap after 14:09 was left in the third quarter of a blowout (35-0 at the time). CMC is going to be an absolute fantasy monster and should be treated as the No. 1 PPR back with the emergence of Purdy and Samuel sidelined.

Mike Evans had an early 68-yard touchdown catch nullified by a holding penalty and somehow hasn't scored in nine straight games … Tom Brady purchased the most tickets (100) for any road game during his career for his homecoming Sunday but got just 4.6 YPA and recorded fewer fantasy points than Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills

Poor weather and strong defense contributed to a low-scoring game, although Josh Allen remained a top-10 QB despite throwing for just one TD and fewer than 150 yards. Devin Singletary and James Cook are tough fantasy starts while splitting work with each other and running behind a QB who now has double-digit carries in two of the past three games … Michael Carter saw six targets but lost a fumble and ceded most of the ground work to Zonovan Knight ... Mike White is being checked for internal injuries after taking multiple hard hits. For what it's worth, White's completion percentage over expectation (-1.3) was far better than Joe Flacco's (-34.6) and Allen's (-9.6) under the same conditions Sunday. Hopefully, his injuries aren't serious.

Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals won rather easily despite losing both Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd immediately to injuries in a game with Hayden Hurst already inactive. Joe Burrow finally beat the Browns for the first time in his career and tossed the dime of the week:

Ja'Marr Chase has an argument to be ranked as the No. 1 fantasy WR any week Higgins is out … More targets would've been nice given the injuries, but Joe Mixon looked good during his return, and Samaje Perine's TD run came during a two-minute situation in which he's typically been on the field all season … The Bengals continued to be one of the league's stiffest run defenses with DJ Reader on the field, while Donovan Peoples-Jones continued to be the superior fantasy player to Amari Cooper when Cleveland plays on the road … Deshaun Watson was better during his second game back, but he's yet to turn in a top-12 QB performance in fantasy.

Houston Texans @ Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys had averaged 37 points since Dak Prescott returned from injury but barely won as the biggest favorites (-17.5 points) of the season Sunday. Prescott struggled mightily, including missing a wide-open Michael Gallup for a would-be huge gain early … Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott were both top-10 RBs, but CeeDee Lamb saw a season-low target share; the Texans haven't allowed a WR1 in fantasy since Michael Pittman in Week 1 (h/t LordReebs) ... Dameon Pierce had a strong run after losing a fumble, while Chris Moore took advantage of Houston's WR injuries with an 11-10-124 line that could've also included a late touchdown but curiously (to be kind) wasn't challenged. The Texans were stuffed at the goal line on back-to-back plays and then allowed a game-winning, 98-yard touchdown drive afterward.

What a league.

Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions

Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins combined for 755 yards with a 5:0 TD:INT ratio, both finishing as top-five fantasy quarterbacks this week. Goff now sports a 20:3 TD:INT ratio at home, which has officially become the Coors Field of the NFL … After recording a season-low 14 receiving yards during the first meeting with Detroit, Justin Jefferson racked up a career-high 223 on Sunday. He might've been robbed of a fourth-quarter TD in which he was questionably ruled out of bounds as well … The Lions are suddenly adding a possible future star at WR on offense to go along with their surging defense and aggressive head coach. No NFC team would be happy to face Detroit in the playoffs … D'Andre Swift was sadly limited to 10 touches yet again and lost a TD run to Justin Jackson (just for shiggles) as well … TJ Hockenson committed a crucial drop during his revenge game, while Dalvin Cook saw just one carry after halftime, was held to 1.5 YPC and lost a fumble before possibly trying to throw a pass into the end zone … Minnesota is 10-3 with a negative point-differential.

Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants

Jalen Hurts was fantastic again and became the first QB in NFL history with 10 rushing TDs in back-to-back seasonsMiles Sanders led the league in rushing yards (144) this week in a huge fantasy performance. He's on pace to run for 15 touchdowns this season after totaling zero last year … Meanwhile, Saquon Barkley's neck injury greatly affected his usageDaniel Jones' legs once again helped him put up top-12 QB numbers despite facing an Eagles defense that entered allowing the fewest fantasy points to the position and him sitting out the end of a blowout … DeVonta Smith pulled down a nice touchdown on a fourth-and-seven play.

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Tyler Huntley and Kenny Pickett were both forced out with concussions, resulting in an aggressive Mitch Trubisky getting 9.2 YPA but tossing three picks in Pittsburgh's loss … JK Dobbins didn't exactly look healthy at times Sunday but got 8.0 YPC and finished as a top-10 RB during his return anyway. The health of Baltimore's entire backfield (including QB) needs to be monitored … George Pickens saw just three targets but made one of them count.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans

Derrick Henry was nearly a top-five RB this week, but he also lost two fumbles and was shut down in the second half of Tennessee's upset loss. Still, Henry eased concerns following the first game of his career without breaking a tackle, getting 7.1 YPC in a performance that would've been far bigger if not for game script (Jacksonville also returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown that was nullified by a shaky penalty during the team's first divisional road win since 2017) … Chig Okonkwo was a popular sleeper this week and came through while finishing as a top-three TE, but Evan Engram countered with one of the biggest fantasy performances from the position all season … The Titans were missing key players on defense, but few players impressed more across the league Sunday than Trevor Lawrence. He was fantasy's No. 1 QB this week while playing through a sprained toe that cost him a lot of practice time, and he's recorded a 10:0 TD:INT ratio over the last five games. And he gets Calvin Ridley next season! … What a touchdown catch by Zay Jones.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver Broncos

Patrick Mahomes threw three interceptions for just the third time in his career but added 350+ passing yards and three scores as well, including a crazy no-look toss to Jerick McKinnon. Sunday marked the highest-scoring fantasy game of the 31-year-old McKinnon's career ... Marlon Mackrecorded a long TD catch after Mike Boone was carted off, while Patrick Surtain recorded an incredible pick ... Russell Wilsonthrew a pick-six but had arguably his best fantasy game of the season before being forced to leave after suffering a scary concussion (that included blood from his mouth and a huge knot on his head) … Jerry Jeudy was fortunate not to be ejected for bumping an official and then proceeded to catch three touchdowns and finish as the top fantasy wideout this week. Jeudy also drew a long pass interference flag in the fourth quarter and caught his third score from backup QB Brett Rypien. Jeudy's fantasy managers won't be rooting for a quick return from Courtland Sutton.

Carolina Panthers @ Seattle Seahawks

Geno Smith threw three touchdowns, but the Panthers won their first road game in 13 months despite Sam Darnold getting 5.0 YPA and D'Onta Foreman getting 3.5 YPC. No one on the Panthers saw even five targets, although Terrace Marshall had the catch of the day … Seattle's backfield is a complete stay-away unless Kenneth Walker returns, especially in Week 15 against San Francisco … Remarkably, the Panthers control their own destiny in the NFC South.

Miami Dolphins @ Los Angeles Chargers

Justin Herbert completed a career-high 39 passes and has now thrown for the most yards over a QB's first three seasons in NFL history. He benefitted from the return of Mike Williams, who looked healthy Sunday night. It marked the first time Williams and Keenan Allenfinished a game together all seasonJeff Wilson left injured, and Raheem Mostert struggled against a Chargers defense that entered allowing the most YPC in football, but Miami's biggest concern has to be Tua Tagovailoa, who struggled mightily with accuracy for the second straight week.

Tagovailoa started 3-for-17 for 25 yards and finished getting 5.2 YPA — his previous season-low in a game was 7.5. Tua's -24.6 CPOE was in the first percentile (IE, historically bad) despite facing a Chargers secondary missing Derwin James. Tua is certain to bounce back coming off a couple of shaky performances, but it will be a tough task this week traveling to Buffalo on Saturday … Tyreek Hill caught a 60-yard touchdown and returned a fumble for another score while playing through an ankle injury … The Dolphins are allowing the third-fewest points per game at home this season but easily the most on the road.