Week 16 Booms & Busts: Amari Cooper's historic game another example of December fantasy football surprises

If fantasy football is your true passion, the game is a 12-month assignment.

You watch every snap of the NFL playoffs. You carefully observe every free-agent move like a pre-op surgeon. You grind tape for the NFL Draft, even rewatch the mediocre Kevin Costner movie. You keep your ear to the ground for minicamp and summer camp news. You scout the preseason games, in case one of your players actually plays for 15 seconds.

You mock draft, and you best-ball draft. You learn the backups, and the backups of the backups.

You do everything to look for that key, that secret, that winning ingredient for playoff glory.

And then it winds up being Joe Flacco, journeyman off the couch.

Joe Flacco, the fourth Cleveland quarterback of the year (the fifth if you count summer camper Joshua Dobbs). Joe Flacco, a man who seemed retired for good, a man who went 1-8 in nine mediocre starts for the Jets over the last three years.

Roll the Sunday tape, Flacco throwing dimes to Amari Cooper and David Njoku. It's a beautiful thing.

To be fair, Flacco's glorious one-month run is more valuable to many fantasy leaguers as a conduit, as a way to unlock Cooper and Njoku. And what an amazing unlocking it's been. Cooper went ballistic at Houston on Sunday (11-265-2), setting a team record and posting the best wide receiver game of the Yahoo fantasy season. It's just the eighth time anyone has cracked 40 points this year; Cooper rang up 46 in default Yahoo scoring as the Browns handled Houston easily.

Flacco percolated to the top of his position for Week 16, too, chucking for 368 yards and three scores. He did throw two picks, which is par for the course. He's had a turnover in all four of his starts. But he has the arm and the experience to push the ball downfield (and the confidence to throw some 50-50 balls), and it's turned Cooper back into a star. We've come a long way from Deshaun Watson, P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

Cooper's been a standout before; he's been to four Pro Bowls. The Njoku emergence is more surprising, given that his sleeper case felt dated before the year. Njoku finished as the TE8 back in 2018, his second season, but he's been more unfulfilled promise than anything since. When we reached Halloween, Njoku was sitting on 28 catches and one piddly touchdown for the year.

Flacco and Njoku didn't click in their first game, but they've been copasetic ever since. Njoku posted a 6-44-1 line Sunday, and now has 22 catches, 239 yards and four touchdowns over his last three games. He was the TE2 in each of the past two weeks, and he currently sits there with four games left to go. Keep laughing if you keep starting The Joker.

Flacco isn't an automatic start for Week 17, when the Browns play the Jets; that's the first plus defense they've drawn during this stretch. No Cooper or Njoku manager is going to back off, but Flacco supporters have a discussion on their hands, especially in deeper leagues and in Superflex formats. Is Flacco too hot to sit? Does it matter to you that the Jets were carved up by Jacoby Brissett in the second half Sunday, briefly blowing a big lead?

Is there such a thing as a Joe Flacco revenge game?

We'll worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow. Today, let's eat, drink, be merry. Let's watch those Cleveland highlights on a loop. Let's appreciate what we just saw, and try to remember that the future remains unwritten.

Flacco, of course, isn't the only backup quarterback playing these days. They're all over the league. Some of them were great this weekend, some of them were average, some of them were bad. Appreciate when the ball bounces your way, because fantasy wins in the playoffs don't come easy.

The backups provide

Trevor Siemian had two jobs for the Jets — get the ball to Breece Hall, and get the ball to Garrett Wilson. Mission accomplished. Although Siemian managed a paltry 4.4 YPA, the usage propelled Hall to fantasy greatness (32 touches, 191 yards, two touchdowns) and Wilson to PPR relevance (9-76-0). A ridiculous 31 of New York's 45 targets were to their two playmakers, and amen to that. That's where the ball should go. New York's next test comes Thursday, against the Cleveland defense.

The Jets escaped with a 30-28 win over Washington, narrowly avoiding a classic loss. Jacoby Brissett relieved a horrible Sam Howell and steered the Commanders to three straight touchdown drives. Unfortunately, the name receivers didn't do much for Washington, but if you needed Chris Rodriguez Jr. for an emergency back, he did punch in two touchdowns and collect 65 total yards. I suspect Brissett probably starts next week, but it's against San Francisco — good luck with that.

Was it a week of criticism that sparked George Pickens on Saturday (4-195-2), or the play of Mason Rudolph? You decide. The Bengals presented a favorable matchup; next week it's at Seattle, an even better matchup. Tee Higgins produced on the other side (5-140-1), stepping up as expected with Ja'Marr Chase out. Cincinnati has mistakes from Saturday to iron out, but at least Jake Browning gives this offense a puncher's chance against everyone.

Week 16 quick hitters

The Packers were life and death to beat the two-win Panthers, but most of their angles came home. Aaron Jones didn't get in the end zone but 135 yards is a passable day, and all three of their quasi-sleepers in the pass-receiving room were productive (Romeo Doubs posted 4-79-1, Tucker Kraft was a solid 4-60-0, and one of the two Dontayvion Wicks receptions was a touchdown). With the Packers defense struggling, next week's date at Minnesota could become a pinball game.

Speaking of which, here's hoping Minnesota catches a break with the injury report. Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson were both hurt in the loss to the Lions. Nick Mullens had a very Mullens kind of game — some juicy highs (411 yards, 11.4 YPA) and some close-your-eyes moments (four sacks, four picks). Ty Chandler did nothing other than punch in a short touchdown, but Justin Jefferson (6-141-1) was back in business. K.J. Osborn (5-95-1) makes sense as a pickup if Addison misses time.

Detroit clinched the NFC North and the majority of the offense came in for fantasy — Jahmyr Gibbs (100 total yards, two scores) and David Montgomery (69 total yards, one score) took the stress out early, and Amon-Ra St. Brown did his usual thing (12-106-1). Sam LaPorta had a rare quiet game (3-18-0), but it was fun to see Jameson Williams get six targets and five catches, even if they went for just 43 yards. Detroit and Dallas clash next week, and it's a Detroit-Minnesota rematch after that. Indoor football, always welcome around the holidays.

Baker Mayfield could have had a bigger day (283 yards, two touchdowns) had the Jaguars fought back sooner. The Buccaneers cruised to an easy 30-12 win, and Mayfield threw a modest 35 passes. The Buccaneers did what they always do — steered touches to Rachaad White (77 total yards, touchdown), watched Mike Evans spike a few times (7-86-2) and gave Chris Godwin a bushel of targets (11) but no touchdowns (a 6-78-0 line is still playable). Looking like the best of a bad NFC South, Tampa looks to take down New Orleans next week.

Trevor Lawrence was erratic for the Jags and eventually left with a shoulder injury. At least his one touchdown went to Calvin Ridley, and Ridley caught a second score from C.J. Beathard. Touchdown deodorant saved Travis Etienne Jr. for most of the first two months, but he has just two touchdowns in his last seven starts.

Miami did just enough to edge Dallas, 22-20, but it wasn't a signature fantasy day for the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa had 293 yards but just one touchdown, and Tyreek Hill (9-99-0) was active but didn't score. Jaylen Waddle had one 50-yard catch on four targets, then left with a shin injury. De'Von Achane has been in a fantasy funk, only giving us one strong game since returning from injury. The Cowboys held Achane to 31 yards on eight forgettable touches; he's been a fantasy conundrum for two months. A short touchdown catch bailed out Raheem Mostert, who logged an 11-46-0 day on the ground.

Dallas is still trying to figure out an identity, too. Dak Prescott finished with 253 yards and two touchdowns, which isn't enough in the fantasy playoffs. Most of the production went to the unstoppable CeeDee Lamb (6-118-1), who absorbed a deserving 10 targets. Otherwise, it was the Dallas story we're used to: Jake Ferguson was good-not-great (4-45-0), and Tony Pollard was a road to nowhere (12-38-0 rushing, one catch for five yards). Dallas needs a second pitch in this offense, after Lamb, if it wants to go deep in the playoffs.