Week 12 Reactions: Cooking Donuts

Matchups aren't everything in the NFL, but they sure do help make fantasy decisions. Is one of your running backs facing the team that's allowed the most rushing yards per game this season or maybe your quarterback will be throwing against the defense that's allowed the highest YPA? Specifically in daily fantasy football, sites will indicate in the player selection section how well an opposing defense does against that position, making it even easier to grab guys with good matchups.

Unfortunately, because sports are played by humans and not robots, even the best-looking matchups on paper don't always pan out.

The Saints came into Sunday as 7.5-point favorites over the Rams, who had given up an average of 20.4 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks and 41.0 (55.9 in PPR) to wide receivers (for the purpose of this exercise, I'll be using RotoWire's NFL Defense vs. Pos page). They were basically middle of the pack, but the Saints were at home, where Drew Brees thrives, so it was a completely reasonable strategy to use a few Saints in fantasy lineups.

The Saints ended up blasting the Rams 49-21, with quarterback Drew Brees throwing for 310 yards and four touchdowns, including a monster game from wideout Michael Thomas, who caught nine of 10 targets for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Brees also threw TDs to running back Mark Ingram and wide receiver Brandon Coleman, while wide receiver Willie Snead threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to running back Tim Hightower. Additionally, Mark Ingram rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown. Like I said, the Saints blasted the Rams and everyone had fun.

Well, except fantasy owners of Brandin Cooks. Brees threw 36 passes Sunday and not a single one went in the direction of Cooks, who not only leads the team in targets this season but also receiving yards and touchdowns. However, a deeper look into the targets trend shows that Cooks has led the team in targets just once since doing so in Weeks 1 and 2, as Thomas (twice), Snead (twice) and Hightower (once) have led the team in targets over the past five weeks. Cooks' donut Sunday certainly couldn't have been expected, but it's clear that Brees is very comfortable using his other weapons, which means using Cooks as a mini-Saints stack with Brees doesn't look like the best way to go.

Cooks' matchup wasn't a great one, but the same couldn't be said for Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi, who faced a 49ers run defense that had been by far the worst in the NFL this season. While Ajayi's streak of rushing for at least 100 yards ended in Week 10 at San Diego, he still had this incredible matchup to potentially reach the ridiculous levels he got to in Weeks 6 and 7, going over 200 yards in each game. He looked well on his way, rushing for a two-yard touchdown in the second quarter to cap off an 11-play, 91-yard drive. However, the huge performance never materialized, as Ajayi ended up with 18 carries for 45 yards while adding one catch on two targets for 11 receiving yards; not exactly the expected output for a player facing the team that allowed the most fantasy points to running backs this season.

The process was right in selecting Ajayi, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. The same can be said about Todd Gurley facing the Saints, who are in the top-five for most fantasy points allowed to running backs. Gurley has had a rough season, but the Saints have given up plenty of fantasy points. Unfortunately, Gurley mustered only 50 rushing yards on 13 carries while adding 39 receiving yards on four receptions. Meanwhile, the Chargers have struggled to keep running backs in check, but Lamar Miller only got 57 yards on his 19 carries. And while the Texans were a bit better, but not great, they held Melvin Gordon in check, as he racked up 70 yards on 17 carries.

They were the right plays but the wrong outcomes.

Going back to the Dolphins, even their receivers didn't turn in the games many expected despite quarterback Ryan Tannehill throwing for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Instead of DeVante Parker or Jarvis Landry being the impact players in the passing game, Kenny Stills, Dion Sims and Leonte Carroo caught the touchdown passes, while Parker and Landry combined to catch seven of 13 targets for 111 yards; a solid stat line for one player, but not your top two receivers together.

The situation wasn't quite as bad for the Raiders, as quarterback Derek Carr threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns, including 110 yards to Michael Crabtree, but no. 1 wideout Amari Cooper caught just four of seven targets for 22 yards. And while there were plenty of Cooper fantasy owners left frustrated, they could at least be joined by those who appropriately went with Julio Jones, who caught just four of seven targets for 35 yards. The Cardinals' defense has been solid against the pass this season, but no one in a season-long league was going to bench Jones based on matchup. The Falcons were coming off a bye and Jones had 15, five, 11 and 16 targets in his previous four games, respectively. There were few solid reasons to think he'd put up a dud, but there he was at the end of the day with single-digit fantasy points, even in PPR leagues.

OK, enough of the negative feelings, let's talk about the guys who paid off Sunday.

Despite lining up against Richard Sherman, wideout Mike Evans showed why he's one of the best receivers in the NFL, catching eight of 11 targets for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the Bucs' surprising 14-6 win over the Seahawks. Evans has been targeted at least 11 times in all but two games this season, and he continues to have more than double the targets as the next highest guy on the team (Adam Humphries). If there is a wide receiver who could be matchup-proof, Evans surely put his name in the hat with Sunday's performance, becoming the fourth player in NFL history with 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons, joining John Jefferson, A.J. Green and Randy Moss, which is pretty good company to be in.

Speaking of the record book, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick added his name thanks to a monster performance against the Dolphins. Not only did Kaepernick complete 29 of 46 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, he also rushed 10 times for 113 yards, the third-highest rushing total in Week 12, trailing only Ingram's 146 and Le'Veon Bell's 120 on Thanksgiving. Kaepernick became the fifth player in league history to rush for 100 yards and throw three touchdown passes in a game, a feat only accomplished by Randall Cunningham, Michael Vick, Marcus Mariota and Cam Newton. He also joined Newton and Donovan McNabb as the only players to rush for at least 100 yards and throw 40 passes, as discovered by Yahoo's Scott Pianowski. Interestingly, of the five times it's happened (Newton has done it twice), only once has the QB been on a winning side (Newton won and did it in a 37-37 tie).

Kaepernick wasn't the only quarterback who effectively used his ability to run for yards Sunday, as Jaguars QB Blake Bortles rushed for a career-high 81 yards, while the Seahawks' Russell Wilson finished with just one fewer yard, an impressive feat after coming into the game with 79 rushing yards for the season. Unfortunately for the three signal callers, all ended their games on the losing end, much like Brandin Cooks' fantasy owners.