Expect a big week for the big stars
FANTASY BILLBOARD
The clock struck midnight on Joe Flacco, ending his Cinderella season, and turning him back into a pumpkin against the Texans on Wild Card weekend. I don’t think anyone in the Metropolitan area was surprised. Flacco was a pumpkin patch of futility with the Jets from 2020 to 22, managing to stay healthy for just nine starts in three years. Then something magical happened in Cleveland. Old Pumpkin Joe carved up secondaries in the last five weeks of the 2023 season, leading the Browns to the playoffs while averaging an astonishing
323 passing yards per game with 13 TD passes. But faster than you can say “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo,” Pumpkin Joe squashed the hopes of Cleveland fans when he threw two pick-six interceptions in a smashing 45-14 loss. The Browns should have known better. Their orange helmets already look like pumpkins.
On to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
GIDDY UP!
Josh Allen, QB — Buffalo is a team on a mission, and finally gets to roam at a home playoff game against Kansas City. In Allen’s last four games vs. the Chiefs, he averaged over 300 yards passing, 60 yards rushing and three TDs.
Lamar Jackson, QB — Jackson is no Joe Flacco. Lamar has 11 TD passes in his last four games, with 1,060 yards. The Texans have faced lesser QBs of late besides Flacco (Zach Wilson, Will Levis, Ryan Tannehill, Gardner Minshew) and will be shellshocked by the multi-talented Jackson.
Christian McCaffrey, RB — This ranking comes with a caution. CMC missed his last game, albeit a meaningless one, with a calf strain. That can be a tricky injury. Keep an eye on the practice reports, but if healthy McCaffrey should be the best RB of the weekend.
Aaron Jones, RB — With four games of 111 or more yards, Jones looks like the perfect counterpunch to McCaffrey in the 49ers-Packers game. The 49ers can be run on, and if the Pack pulls off an upset, Jones will be a huge part of it.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR — There’s no better set-it-and-forget-it WR than the Sun God. The Deity of Sol gets 10 targets per game and has over 600 yards (and four TDs) in his last five outings.
Chris Godwin, WR — The Lions gave up copious yards to Puka Nacua (181), Justin Jefferson (192) and CeeDee Lamb (227) in their last three games. The wise guys prefer the Bucs’ Mike Evans to follow suit, but my money’s on Godwin. He has twelve more receptions and almost twice as many yards as Evans since Week 14.
Travis Kelce, TE — Taylor Swift is no Buffalo gal, but her beau Kelce is a Buffalo hunter. He’s always good for 90-plus yards and a TD against them, and the injuries to the Bills’ defense guarantees more Tay-Tay close-ups for Swifties to gush over on Sunday night.
WHOA DOWN!
Jared Goff, QB — The Lions have a penchant for running the ball into the end zone. Goff has seven one-TD pass games as evidence.
The Bucs have held opposing QBs to one or no TDs 10 times on the season. Seems like a stalemate.
C.J. Stroud, QB — As phenomenal as Stroud has been, he’s padded his stats against some very inferior defenses (Broncos, Titans, Colts, Jaguars) leading up to his solid play in Cleveland last week. The Jets completely shut him down in Week 14 (91 passing yards, no TDs). I think the Ravens will do the same.
Rachaad White, RB — My season-long motto has been to avoid starting RBs against the Lions, who give up 3.5 yards per carry and just eight rushing TDs on the season. Detroit has yet to surrender a passing TD to an RB as well, limiting White’s upside.
Gus Edwards, RB — Gus is good for 60 yards and a TD regardless of who he’s facing. That won’t win you any games this weekend.
Odell Beckham Jr., WR — I’m tired of hearing how good the Ravens’ receiving corps is with OBJ. The man catches two balls per game and hasn’t been Fantasy-relevant since Eli Manning was throwing to him in Giants blue.
Romeo Doubs, WR — The Jekyll-Hyde season continues for Doubs. He was Dr. Jekyll when he had six catches for 151 yards and a TD in Dallas in the Wild Card round and Mr. Hyde with a 0/0/0 stat line the week prior against Chicago. He’ll play the Mr. Hyde side this time around because I think it’s teammate Jayden Reed’s turn to play the good Dr. Jekyll.
Dawson Knox, TE — Knox got his huge contract (four years, $52 million) before the season because the Bills never thought super-rookie TE Dalton Kincaid would fall into their laps in Round 1 of the 2023 draft. Knox has become an afterthought in Buffalo, and an expensive one at that.
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Defending champion Novak Djokovic challenged a heckler to “say that to my face” during the fourth set of a testy second-round win Wednesday over Alexei Popyrin at the Australian Open.
Before the start of the fifth game of the fourth set, Djokovic walked back behind the baseline and engaged with a spectator, gesturing to him to come down and “say that to my face.”
That match had been going for almost three hours by then, and Djokovic had dropped the second set and had to save set points in the third.
After the outburst, he won three straight games to take the match away from the Aussie player en route to a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) 6-3 victory.
After clinching the match on a Popyrin error, he turned around to the crowd again and yelled, pumping his fist to celebrate.
Djokovic has been dealing with a sore wrist and said after his opening match — a four-hour, fourset win over 18-year-old qualifier Dino Prizmic — that he hasn’t been feeling well.
He credited Popyrin with bringing out a gameplan to unsettle him.
“I haven’t been playing my best, but still trying to find form,” the 36-year-old Djokovic said. “Particularly in the early rounds, you play players that have nothing to lose. They come out on center court to play their best tennis.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to build this as the tournament progresses.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost the final here last year to Djokovic, also had a tough time against an Aussie on an adjacent court in the night session.
Tsitsipas had match points in the fourth set and then had to save four set points to force a tiebreaker, which he clinched in a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff avoided the early Day 4 upsets in the women’s draw to advance to the third round, along with 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur lost 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes to Andreeva in Wednesday’s opening match on Rod Laver Arena and then 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki also lost to a young Russian on the No. 3 show court.
Two other 16-year-old players lost their center court matches to highly-ranked players: No. 10 Beatriz Haddad Maia accounted for Alina Korneeva 6-1, 6-2 and Sabalenka overpowered Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 to open the night session.
Gauff extended her winning streak to nine matches at Grand Slams with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over fellow American Caroline Dolehide.
Dolehide served for the opening set at 6-5 before U.S. Open champion Gauff took control in the tiebreaker.
GIANNIS OUT
The Bucks may have to manage without Giannis Antetokounmpo for a bit.
Milwaukee’s superstar sat out Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers because of a bruised right shoulder, an injury that forced him to the bench for just the second time this season.
Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 31.2 points and 11.4 rebounds this season, took part in the team’s morning shootaround. He was not on the official injury report until 5:30 p.m. — two hours before tipoff against the Cavs, who have won five straight.
Bucks coach Adrian Griffin said Antetokounmpo’s injury isn’t serious but will require some rest. When he sat out on Nov. 15, Antetokounmpo’s teammates stepped up and beat Toronto 128-112.
A seven-time All-Star, Antetokounmpo also was on the injury report Sunday before a game against Sacramento, but played and scored 27 points in Milwaukee’s 143-142 overtime victory, which ended with Damian Lillard hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The 29-year-old Antetokounmpo had played in 29 consecutive games, his longest streak since playing 31 straight in the 2020-21 season.
Griffin has the luxury of being able to lean on Lillard, who is averaging 25.2 points in his first season with the Bucks, as well as a postseason-tested Milwaukee team.
While Antetokounmpo is out, the Bucks are expected to have back forward Jae Crowder, who has been out since Nov. 11 with a torn adductor muscle. Crowder will likely be on a minutes restriction as he eases his way back.
California will not ban tackle football for children under 12 after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly promised he would not sign the bill if it were to reach his desk, blocking a proposal that had become a proxy for parental rights in a presidential election year.
“I will not sign legislation that bans youth tackle football,” Newsom said in a statement late Tuesday. “I am deeply concerned about the health and safety of our young athletes, but an outright ban is not the answer.”
It’s rare for Newsom, a father of four now in his second term, to publicly weigh in on legislation before it reaches his desk. But his decision to quash the proposed ban on youth tackle football before it even got a vote in the Legislature could save him from questions on the campaign trail this year as he acts as a surrogate for President Joe Biden’s reelection.
Beyond 2024, Newsom’s decision could help his own national political ambitions as he would need the support of voters across the country where football carries significant cultural and social importance.
The proposal, which would have gradually banned tackle football for children under 12 by 2029, cleared a legislative committee last week and was poised for a vote in the state Assembly before the end of the month.