In my Week 13 radio show on 1500 ESPN, I devoted a segment to handcuffs—who they were for each team and why you should own them. Sure enough, Week 1 of the fantasy playoffs showed exactly why they were important.

 

First, Reggie Bush was declared active in the Great Philly Snowstorm of 2013, then tweaked his calf in warm-ups and didn’t play. Joique Bell then went out and led the team in rushing AND receiving, combining for 127 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson tweaked an ankle a few miles south in the Great Baltimore Blizzard of 2013, adding it to an already sore groin and giving way to Toby Gerhart, who plowed his way to 89 yards and a score on 15 carries. Both Bell and Gerhart could be fantasy semifinal starters, leaving Bush and Peterson owners out in the cold.

 

If ever there was a game I DIDN’T have a good read on, it was today’s Dolphins/Steelers matchup. I expect Ben Roethlisberger to struggle against Miami’s impressive secondary, the Dolphins to run the ball just OK, and Miami’s receivers to do most of the damage through the air with only a few yards from Charles Clay and not much else. Instead, Roethlisberger became just the third quarterback to throw multiple touchdowns this season and the second to top two, spreading his scores around to Jerricho Cotchery, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. This would’ve been impressive anyway, but the fact that Miami had allowed just one WR touchdown ALL SEASON coming into the contest made it all the more impressive. The game also included Lamar Miller leaving with a concussion, allowing Daniel Thomas – yes, the guy who was potentially out for the year a few weeks ago – to run for 105 yards and a score on 16 carries. Oh yeah, and Clay turned his team-high 10 targets into seven grabs for 98 yards and two scores.

 

I also completely discounted Andrew Luck this week after a month of struggles from the second-year signal caller. Indy still lost, but Luck took his show on the road to the tune of 326 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. What’s more, the little damage done by the Colts from the backfield came from the recently formally benched Trent Richardson, whose five catches and 68 receiving yards were both second on the team, while Donald Brown quietly combined for 29 yards.

For the thousandth time, the Raiders proved that you don’t trust a mediocre defense in what appears to be a good matchup. This is actually the second time Oakland’s pulled the rug out from defense streamers, as you’ll recall they actually seemed to be a decent play before the Nick Foles seven-touchdown coming out party in Week 9.

 

Atlanta’s defense is atrocious, but it looks like if you hung on to anyone in their passing game (sans Julio Jones) this long, it looks like they could be, you know, OK plays against the hapless Washington Redskins next week. At San Fran the following week is a bit dicey, but hey, you just gotta get to the dance and you never know what can happen.

 

Anquan Boldin had a surprisingly good day against the Seahawks on Sunday, but I’m not sure what to think of him for next week. The Niners play Tampa Bay, and No. 2 receivers have torched them. But Boldin and Crabtree both got eight targets this week. I imagine when totally healthy it’s Crabtree who’s the No. 1, but will the Bucs see it that way? Regardless, it’s tough to get away from Boldin these days with 94+ yards in three straight and 3 TDs in his last four games.

 

With games against the Falcons and Cowboys the next two weeks, the Redskins looked like fantasy playoff gold. But with the playoffs no longer an option for them and the team looking hapless in all respects, can you really trust any of them? Morris and Garcon both will have start-worthy rankings next week, but well lower than they should be. And even then, it won’t be easy to trust either guy, let alone RGIII.

 

Speaking of the NFC East, the New York Giants, as they are wont to do, failed to take advantage of a good matchup. Hakeem Nicks put up good numbers thanks mostly to a 51-yard bomb at the end of the first half that he happened to haul down in traffic. The Chargers, meanwhile, got big days from all except for the tight ends. Antonio Gates was OK, but somehow Ladarius Green was kept without a catch on just one target. He’d been gaining momentum the last few weeks, but fell off the radar as quickly as he landed on it.

 

Per usual, the Broncos produced all sorts of fantasy goodness this week. Probably the most important development, though, was Montee Ball once again producing in the same game as Knowshon Moreno. With games at Houston and Oakland on the docket the next two weeks, but backs could be used in fantasy playoff lineups going forward.

 

And while we’re on the subject of Oakland, all Marcel Reece does is produce. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if Rashad Jennings gets cleared next week. Presumably he’d just take back over as the feature back with Reece sliding back to full back. But I’ve got to think that eventually Reece will impress enough that he’ll start getting regular work regardless of who’s healthy. Hopefully it’s next season, though. Either that or Jennings sits again and everyone will know to simply start Reece.

 

I hope that the first week of the fantasy playoffs was kind to you. Good luck the rest of the way!