Colts 35 - Jaguars 31
Fantasy Supermen: Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, David Garrard, Maurice Jones-Drew
Fantasy Performers: Joseph Addai, Austin Collie, Mike Sims-Walker
Fantasy Hen: Pierre Garcon

In a game that likely solidified his quest for a fourth MVP award, Peyton Manning threw for 4 TDs and 308 yards to keep the Colts undefeated. Some thought that Manning would sit for at least some of the game, but he played every snap and will likely do so for the remainder of the season. Reggie Wayne had 132 yards and 1 TD while Dallas Clark had 95 yards and 2 TDs. Joseph Addai had 59 rushing yards and he is a candidate to be rested over the next couple of weeks. He has been banged up all season and the Colts want some of their younger running backs to get more work in before the playoffs.

David Garrard threw for 3 TDs and Maurice Jones-Drew had 140 total yards, yet the Jaguars still fell to the Colts. It was Garrard’s fourth quarter interception that effectively ended the game for Jacksonville. That play overshadows the fact that Garrard threw 3 TDs for just the fourth time in his 8-year career. MJD also scored 2 TDs and his hyphenated teammate, Mike Sims-Walker had 64 receiving yards and a score. MSW has gone from not even being drafted in most fantasy leagues to becoming a legitimate WR2 for the playoffs.

Cowboys 24 – Saints 17
Fantasy Supermen: Tony Romo, Marion Barber, Miles Austin
Fantasy Performers: Marques Colston, Pierre Thomas, Felix Jones
Fantasy Hens: Roy Williams, Drew Brees, Devery Henderson

The Dallas Cowboys ended their December misfortunes…at least for one week. Tony Romo (312 yards, 1 TD) had his fourth consecutive game without a turnover as the Cowboys upset the undefeated Saints. Marion Barber had 62 rushing yards and scored 2 TDs, his first scores since November 1. Miles Austin, who finished with 139 receiving yards, scored on a 49-yard pass to give the Cowboys a lead that they would not relinquish. Jason Witten had 5 grabs for 44 yards, which made this his tenth game of the season with between 31 and 53 receiving yards. Roy Williams is proving to be the ultimate boom-or-bust player as he had just 14 receiving yards. Williams has all the talent in the world but it has not translated to consistent success on the field. He has six games this season with fewer than 20 receiving yards and six games with at least 60 receiving yards.

Not only did the Saints blow their perfect season but Drew Brees may have lost his shot at the MVP award. Brees (298 yards, 1 TD) had just one interception but also lost two fumbles, which is just as detrimental, fantasy-wise. Pierre Thomas had 20 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards while Reggie Bush (46 total yards) left the game in the second quarter with a leg injury. Marques Colston led the Saints with 86 receiving yards while Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson had 43 and 22 receiving yards, respectively.

Patriots 17 – Bills 10
Fantasy Superman: None
Fantasy Performers: Laurence Maroney, Randy Moss, Fred Jackson, Lee Evans
Fantasy Hens: Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Terrell Owens

Those of you who expected Randy Moss to bounce back after last week’s disaster had to be happy with his 70 receiving yards and touchdown. Moss’s stats may have come at the expense of Wes Welker, who was targeted 11 times but only came down with 4 receptions for 40 yards. Tom Brady (115 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) had his second straight sub-200-yard passing day, and this was his lowest yardage total in a game since shredding his knee in Week 1 of 2008. Laurence Maroney continues to be the feature back for New England as he carried the ball 23 times for 81 yards and 1 TD. That gives him 9 touchdowns on the season--all of which have come over the last nine games.

Fred Jackson continues to be Perry Fewell’s guy, as the running back received twice as many touches as Marshawn Lynch and responded with 112 total yards. Lynch had just 25 rushing yards on the day. Terrell Owens caught every pass thrown to him--too bad it only amounted to 2 passes for 20 yards. Lee Evans (35 receiving yards) finally got back into the end zone. Next week’s game is in a dome so you should expect better production out of the Bills passing game than in this game, where the temperature was 28 degrees at kickoff.

Cardinals 31 – Lions 24
Fantasy Supermen: Beanie Wells, Maurice Morris
Fantasy Performers: Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, Tim Hightower
Fantasy Hen: Calvin Johnson

This game was a lot closer than expected as the Lions scored 24 points in the second half to tie it up before Anquan Boldin (72 yards, 1 TD) scored the game-winning touchdown. Larry Fitzgerald hurt his knee last Monday night, but he suited up and caught his eleventh touchdown of the season. Kurt Warner shook off last week’s poor game--somewhat--by throwing for 233 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Beanie Wells had his first 100-yard rushing game of the year and also scored a touchdown. After losing fumbles in each of the last two weeks, Tim Hightower got just 6 carries (for 4 yards) but he did score a rushing touchdown and had 6 receptions for 34 yards.

If it weren’t for Jerome Harrison’s big day, Maurice Morris might be the hottest waiver wire pickup come Monday morning. Morris had 126 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards, and a touchdown and he will be the starter for the remainder of the season with Kevin Smith out. Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper split snaps at QB and neither threw a TD or reached 100 passing yards. Calvin Johnson had 35 receiving yards and it seems as though any Lions QB not named Stafford struggles to get the ball to him on a consistent basis. That’s something to keep in mind if Stafford misses any more games.

Titans 27 – Dolphins 24
Fantasy Supermen: Vince Young, Justin Gage
Fantasy Performers: Ricky Williams, Brian Hartline, Chad Henne, Chris Johnson
Fantasy Hen: Kenny Britt

Vince Young showed that he’s more than just a scrambler as he threw for 236 yards and 3 TDs. Chris Johnson showed that he could be the best all-around back in the NFL as he went over 100 rushing yards for the ninth straight game and added 55 receiving yards. If you could point to any faults in this game for Johnson they would be that he lost a fumble and did not score a touchdown. Justin Gage caught 2 TD passes which are his first scores since Week 1. Young spread the ball around to everyone as six players had between 32 and 55 receiving yards.

Like most young QBs, Chad Henne struggles much more on the road than at home. Henne threw 3 picks despite throwing for a career high 349 yards. Brian Hartline led the Dolphins with 96 yards while Davone Bess had 4 grabs for 58 yards. Bess is the better play, especially in PPR leagues. But since it is fantasy playoff time, neither is someone you want to be starting if you have hopes of winning. Ricky Williams rushed for 80 yards and scored his thirteenth touchdown of the year. He also lost a fumble, which is something the Dolphins coaches have to be worried about as he has fumbled four times over the last two games (losing two).

Browns 41 – Chiefs 34
Fantasy Supermen: Jerome Harrison, Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles, Chris Chambers
Fantasy Performer: Josh Cribbs
Fantasy Hens: Brady Quinn, Mohamed Massaquoi

With 286 rushing yards (and 3 TDs), Jerome Harrison is now third all-time in rushing yards in a single game. With all due respect, the name “Jerome Harrison” and the phrase “third all-time” don’t seem to belong in the same sentence; but that’s the case after the Chiefs showed they still have some major kinks to work out in their new 3-4 defense. Harrison’s day overshadowed Josh Cribbs, who had 305 return yards and 2 TDs on kick returns. Even if your league doesn’t award points for return yards, it should still award points for special teams scores. Even so, Cribbs is a risky play since there’s no guarantee that he will even get a kick to return in any given game. No other Browns are worth mentioning.

Matt Cassel had his best game as a Chief as he threw for 331 yards and 2 TDs without turning the ball over. However, Cassel is too inconsistent to count on at this time of the fantasy season, especially with tough road games at Cincinnati and at Denver coming up. Jamaal Charles is proving to be one of the real steals of the fantasy draft as he had 170 total yards (154 rushing) and 1 TD. Even with Dwayne Bowe (4 catches for 56 yards) returning from suspension, Chris Chambers led the team in receiving with 114 yards and 1 TD.

Texans 16 – Rams 13
Fantasy Superman: Andre Johnson
Fantasy Performers: Steven Jackson, Matt Schaub, Kevin Walter
Fantasy Hen: Donnie Avery

Matt Schaub (367 yards, 1 TD) may not get the recognition of Brees or Manning, but he’s right up there with them in terms of fantasy production. Andre Johnson is in a league of his own as he had 196 receiving yards and leads the NFL in that category. Kevin Walter scored just his second touchdown of what has been a disappointing season for him. Last year he had nearly 900 receiving yards and 8 TDs and this year he sits at 560 receiving yards and now 2 scores. Ryan Moats got the bulk of carries this week for Houston, but your guess is as good as mine as to who will get the most touches in next week’s game. Moats had 46 rushing yards, Arian Foster had 20 total yards, and Chris Brown had 6 total yards.

Once again, Steven Jackson led the Rams in rushing (82 yards) and receiving (41 yards) and he has a chance at reaching 2,000 total yards for the season. Keith Null got his second, and likely last, start of the season and threw for 173 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. Donnie Avery had 32 receiving yards but no one besides Jackson should be anywhere near your starting lineup at this point.

Falcons 10 – Jets 7
Fantasy Superman: Braylon Edwards
Fantasy Performers: Matt Ryan, Jerious Norwood, Jason Snelling, Tony Gonzalez
Fantasy Hens: Roddy White, Mark Sanchez

One Falcon return went well: Matt Ryan (152 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs); another return did not: Michael Turner (1 carry for 7 yards). Ryan returned from a toe injury to help his team end their two-game losing streak while Turner re-injured his ankle on his only carry. With the Falcons out of the playoff hunt, look for Turner to be shut down for the remainder of the season. His replacement, Jason Snelling, had 59 rushing yards and will be a 20-touch RB for the rest of the season. Roddy White (4 catches for 33 yards) was held in check by CB Darrelle Revis while Tony Gonzalez caught his sixth touchdown of the season.

Jets fans are probably thinking that Mark Sanchez should have stayed sidelined if all he was going to do was throw 3 INTs (and 1 TD). His 20 INTs on the season put him two behind the 22 that Brett Favre threw last year for the Jets. Thomas Jones rushed for 52 yards and Shonn Greene added 30 yards on the ground. Braylon Edwards finally decided to catch the ball as he had 105 receiving yards and a score. This was Edwards’ first 100-yard game of the season and his most in a game since October 2008.

Raiders 20 – Broncos 19
Fantasy Superman: Michael Bush
Fantasy Performers: Darren McFadden, Kyle Orton, Knowshon Moreno, Brandon Marshall
Fantasy Hen: Eddie Royal

With Bruce Gradkowski injured and Charlie Frye knocked out of the game, JaMarcus Russell came into the game in the fourth quarter to throw the game-winning touchdown for the Raiders. But the real reason the Raiders pulled the upset was their domination on the ground. Michael Bush rushed for 133 yards and 1 TD, and Darren McFadden chipped in with 74 yards against the league’s #3 defense in total yards allowed. Chaz Schilens had the game-winning score, but none of Oakland’s receivers is worth owning unless you’re in a keeper league.

With the rushing game shut down, the Broncos offense fell on the arm of Kyle Orton (278 yards, 1 TD), who came up short in his effort to move his team closer to a playoff berth. Brandon Marshall was held in check, at least when compared to last week’s 21-catch game. He had 7 receptions for 73 yards and 1 TD against the Raiders. Knowshon Moreno missed the relief of Correll Buckhalter as Moreno rushed for just 42 yards on 19 carries, though he did have 3 catches for 39 yards.

Chargers 27 – Bengals 24
Fantasy Supermen: Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Vincent Jackson
Fantasy Performers: LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates
Fantasy Hen: None

Philip Rivers aired it out over the grieving Bengals to give the Chargers their seventeenth straight December win. Rivers had his first 300-yard passing, 3 TD game of the season, and he hooked up with Vincent Jackson (5 catches for 108 yards) for two of the scores. The other TD went to Antonio Gates, who has now scored 4 TDs over his last 4 games. LaDainian Tomlinson topped 100 total yards for the first time this season as he had 59 rushing yards and a season high 58 receiving yards. All four of these players are must-starts for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs.

Playing with heavy hearts, the Bengals put up a valiant effort but came up a little short in their effort to clinch the AFC North. Carson Palmer broke out of his slump by throwing for 314 yards, which was his first 300-yard game this season. Palmer also threw 2 TDs and 1 INT. Chad Ochocinco had 79 receiving yards, 26 rushing yards, 1 TD and passed the 1,000 yard mark for the seventh time in eight seasons. Cedric Benson rushed for 53 yards but only received 15 carries due to Cincinnati being down for much of the second half. Look for him to get back on track next week as the Bengals take on the Chiefs, who gave up 351 rushing yards to the Browns on Sunday.

Buccaneers 24 – Seahawks 7
Fantasy Superman: John Carlson
Fantasy Performers: Josh Freeman, Derrick Ward, Cadillac Williams, Kellen Winslow
Fantasy Hens: Matt Hasselbeck, Antonio Bryant

After throwing 8 picks over the last two weeks, Josh Freeman bounced back and threw for 205 yards and 2 TDs to upset the Seahawks. He was helped by his running backs as Derrick Ward had 73 total yards and 1 TD, and Cadillac Williams had 88 total yards and 1 TD. Ward received more carries than Williams for just the second time this season and, with Caddy’s success in this game, don’t look for that trend to change any time soon. Kellen Winslow led the Bucs with 93 receiving yards while Antonio Bryant added 35 receiving yards.

Earlier this week, Jim Mora called his team “soft” and the Seahawks certainly lived up to their billing by falling to the one-win Bucs at home. Matt Hasselbeck threw 4 INTs and lost a fumble in what could have been one of his last games in a Seahawks uniform. Julius Jones had 65 rushing yards and Justin Forsett had 55 rushing yards. You can expect those two to split touches over the next two games. T.J. Houshmandzadeh had 73 receiving yards on 7 receptions while John Carlson had 86 receiving yards and 1 TD. Both likely saw an increase in targets with Nate Burleson out and, since Burleson has a high ankle sprain, all signs point to him missing at least one more game. Houshmandzadeh has been a major disappointment this season but you should feel comfortable with him as a WR3 as long as Burleson is out.

Ravens 31 – Bears 7
Fantasy Supermen: Joe Flacco, Todd Heap
Fantasy Performers: Derrick Mason, Ray Rice
Fantasy Hens: Jay Cutler, Matt Forte

When both teams’ backup QBs get into the game, you know it’s a blowout. Joe Flacco threw 4 TDs along with 234 yards, and the Ravens have now outscored their last two opponents by a combined 69-10. Ray Rice had a “quiet” game with 87 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards. Derrick Mason had 6 grabs for 87 yards and 1 TD, and Todd Heap scored 2 TDs, which is how many he has scored in the first 13 games. Heap seems to perform best when the Ravens face teams that don’t blitz that often so don’t expect the same production next week against the blitz-heavy Steelers. In that game, Heap will likely be called upon to help block while the receivers run all the passing routes.

Jay Cutler is now up to 25 INTs on the year after throwing 3 more against the Ravens. The good news is that only 5 of those were at home, which is where the Bears will play next week. Matt Forte had 69 rushing yards but 0 receiving yards. He also lost a fumble and, like Cutler, Forte can’t wait for the 2009 season to end. Earl Bennett’s 50 receiving yards led the Bears while Devin Hester missed his second game with a hamstring injury.

Eagles 27 - 49ers 13
Fantasy Supermen: Donovan McNabb, DeSean Jackson
Fantasy Performers: LeSean McCoy, Leonard Weaver, Brent Celek, Frank Gore
Fantasy Hens: Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Alex Smith

If it weren’t for Chris Johnson, DeSean Jackson would be talked about as being the most explosive player in the NFL. Jackson had 140 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. He has 5 TDs over his last 4 games. Donovan McNabb threw for 306 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INT. McNabb also rushed for a score as did LeSean McCoy (56 total yards). Leonard Weaver had 70 total yards but, with Brian Westbrook expected back next week, Weaver’s touches will likely be reduced the most. Brent Celek caught 4 balls for 73 yards and has an outside chance of becoming only the second Eagle tight end to gain at least 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

Despite all his talent, Alex Smith is still struggling with the same problem he had in his first 4 years: turnovers. Smith threw 3 more INTs versus the Eagles and now has 12 INTs in just 9 games this season. His favorite targets, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, had a tough time getting open against Philly’s aggressive defense. Davis had 43 receiving yards and Crabtree had just 26 receiving yards. Frank Gore rushed for 107 yards and has two easy matchups over the final two weeks with games against Detroit and St. Louis.

Steelers 37 – Packers 36
Fantasy Supermen: Ben Roethlisberger, Rashard Mendenhall, Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Mike Wallace
Fantasy Performers: Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Jermichael Finley, Ryan Grant, Donald Driver, Santonio Holmes
Fantasy Hens: None

How does 503 yards and 3 TDs sound? It sounds pretty good if you had Ben Roethlisberger in your lineup as the Steelers QB had the tenth most passing yards in a game in NFL history. Part of the reason he threw for so much was because Rashard Mendenhall (38 yards, 1 TD) struggled running the ball. But Mendenhall did have 73 receiving yards as he was one of five Steelers who had at least 70 receiving yards. Santonio Holmes had 77 receiving yards and Mike Wallace scored 2 TDs along with his 79 yards. Hines Ward and Heath Miller each went over 100 yards but, unfortunately, neither player was able to get into the endzone.

Aaron Rodgers wasn’t too shabby either in the shadow of Big Ben as he threw for 383 yards and 3 TDs while rushing for a score as well. Rodgers actually had more fantasy points than Roethlisberger when you factor in his points gained on the ground. Ryan Grant struggled with gaining yards on the ground but he did score a rushing touchdown, his eighth of the year. Greg Jennings is having a down year but is still creeping close to 1,000 receiving yards for the season after going for 118 yards and 1 TD against Pittsburgh. Donald Driver added 76 yards and Jermichael Finley had 74 yards and 1 TD. Finley is someone you want to hold on to in a keeper league. He now has over 200 yards and 3 TDs through his last three games.

Panthers 26 – Vikings 7
Fantasy Supermen: Matt Moore, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, Adrian Peterson
Fantasy Performer: Sidney Rice
Fantasy Hens: Brett Favre, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, Visanthe Shiancoe

Matt Moore may have put the final nail in the coffin of Jake Delhomme as Moore lit up the Vikings and handed them their third loss of the season. Moore threw for 299 yards and 3 TDs and did not turn the ball over, which is something Delhomme did 21 times in 11 games. DeAngelo Williams (13 yards) hurt his ankle in the first quarter, which led to Jonathan Stewart getting the bulk of the touches. Stewart (109 rushing yards, 14 receiving yards, 2 TDs) became the first 100-yard rusher against the Vikings since Week 10 of the 2007 season. Steve Smith had his best game of the year with 9 catches for 157 yards and 1 TD. Smith is averaging 106 yards per game in the three games Moore has started, so Smith’s owners are undoubtedly hoping that Coach Fox keeps Delhomme on the bench for the final two games.

For the second time in three weeks, the Vikings laid a dud on Sunday night. The offensive line couldn’t open lanes for Adrian Peterson (35 rushing yards, 73 receiving yards, 1 TD) and couldn’t give Brett Favre (224 yards, 1 INT) time to go downfield. The return of Percy Harvin didn’t help the offense much as he had a single reception for 10 yards. Sidney Rice had 4 grabs for 69 yards and Visanthe Shiancoe had 24 yards on 3 catches. The Vikings will have to play their starters for the remainder of the season as one loss, combined with two Eagles wins, will drop Minnesota to the #3 seed in the NFC.