MISTLE-JOE
Pucker up for gift from Flacco
NOT ALL Christmas presents are the latest new tech gadget, or sparkling piece of jewelry, or sports cars with a big red bow. Sometimes you get socks. And that’s OK, because maybe you need some socks.
Perhaps your old socks have a hole in them, created when Carson Wentz was lost for the season. Maybe they just stink, like the fantasy production of Derek Carr. It could be you don’t have a matching pair, like a platoon between Marcus Mariota and Jimmy Garoppolo — who don’t match with this week’s matchups.
You don’ t get excited when you get new socks, but inside you still are happier with them than the old dysfunctional ones. That is what Joe Flacco is this week to those fantasy teams that have survived the QB chaos and advanced to the title round: the unexciting but practical Christmas gift.
There is no way you made it this far with Flacco as your regular QB. He has been a fantasy grinch for much of the season. He failed to reach double-digit fantasy points in five of the first six games — unheard of for a fantasy QB. That is worse than the gift of socks, that is week-old fruitcake bad.
Yet, the past three weeks, he has tried his best to get off the naughty list. He has six total touchdowns (f ive passing, one rushing) and has averaged 19. 1 fantasy points.
But t here is another pa c kage taped to the Flacco gift: the Indianapolis defense. The Colts have allowed the thirdmost passing yards per game. They have yielded the most plays of 20 or more yards in the league with 61 (next worst is 53 by the Jets). They have allowed 11 pass plays of 40 or more yards, tied for fourth most in the league.
This is great news as well for Mike Wallace, who has a knack for big plays. His fantasy numbers have grown in lockstep with Flacco’s — four of his seven double-digit games have come in the past five games. And how about this for one last stocking stuffer: The Colts are the only team in the league to allow at least one passing touchdown by a QB in every game this season.
Flacco’s rise comes at a time when many owners have had to nurse their way through triage at the QB position. Maybe they lost Aaron Rodgers early. Maybe they lost him again this past week. Perhaps they have survived Carr’s faceplant, or Wentz’s injury, or the loss of Deshaun Watson, or the mediocre season of Matt Ryan, or Drew Brees’ decline in production.
Don’t go door-buster crazy shopping for Flacco, but if you need a last-minute gift, we would rather have him under the tree than Tyrod Taylor, Jameis Winston, Garoppolo or Carr.
Sure, Flacco has been a grinch for much of the season. But he is about to be the grinch who saved Christmas.