Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

The end of the fantasy football regular season is upon us. You're basically already in the playoffs and looking forward, or your playoffs start this week because if you don't win, you aren't advancing. Either way, good luck this week and make sure to check back before the first games start on Sunday to get the most up-to-date rankings.

So far this week, we really like Tyrod Taylor and Carson Palmer as a QB2, over a guy like Kirk Cousins, who has a touch matchup against the Cardinals. Frank Gore is a guy to plug in as an RB2, meanwhile Matt Forte's inconsistency has caused him to fall in our rankings, though he's probably a better option than most still. At wideout, we've been impressed with the performance of Devante Parker lately, and recommend you keep him in your lineup if there's room. On the other side, it's probably time to move on from Deandre Hopkins, that is, if you like winning.

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.

199 Yards Kicked

Justin Tucker kicked 3-50+ yard field goals in the first half of Sunday's game - two of them coming inside the final two minutes of the half. For the game, he kicked 4 FG's totaling 199 yards - a completely meaningless and thus fitting stat. Just the kind of stat that is followed by a slow-clap worthy dad joke to begin a press conference. Or perhaps a play where an entire team is held, and then gives up a safety in order to secure victory. The Ravens aren't pretty to watch, but damn it's interesting.

3 Plays in a Row

The Chiefs had a sequence of three plays in a row where they scored points in Sunday night's game in Denver. A safety, followed by a return of the ensuing free kick and then the extra point locked up 9 points in just 16 seconds for the Chiefs. It's not unheard of to have several plays score points a row in a game, however, the same team doing it on more than two plays in a row is not something I remember seeing. This game also had another fun stat I appreciated. Emmanuel Sanders had 99 yards (and a TD) on a drive that started from the Denver 12. Yay, penalties! Also, my dynasty team thanks you, Sanders.

7 Fourth Quarter Comebacks

The first place, 7-4 Detroit Lions have won all of their games after being down in the fourth quarter. It's not often a result of a pretty Matt Stafford performance, but he has figured out how to just win games this year. The Lions essentially have a 2-game lead over the Vikings, by virtue of the tiebreaker, and there are only 5 games left in the regular season. Meanwhile, the collapse continues in Minneapolis, where it'll be a cold, cold winter if they miss the playoffs after starting the season 5-0.

34.14 Fantasy Points

Colin Kaepernick lead all fantasy players in Week 12 with 34.14 points, and is the 3rd best QB over last 4 weeks, averaging 25.18 points per week. The Niners have not, of course, won a single game with Kaep at the helm, but it shouldn't stop you from winning fantasy games! He's owned in only 24% of leagues (it was 18% going into yesterday's game). His superpower this year is garbage time, so as long as the 49ers stay awful, he will have plenty of room to run in the 4th quarter, and opponents will be lulled into sleeping after three quarters of nothing going on. I dunno, I just see a guy with a really high fantasy floor who has outperformed most other QBs when it comes to fantasy production.

6% Owned in Yahoo Leagues

I swear this isn't turning into a waiver wire article - I'm just borrowing a few stats. Taylor Gabriel is owned in only 6% of Yahoo leagues (3% before the game yesterday). He's quietly been the second best WR in all of fantasy over the last 4 weeks, nearly a full point per week ahead of Mike Evans and trailing only Antonio Brown, who just scored another touchdown on his way out of Indianapolis. I'm not saying that this kind of production can keep up, but over the last 4 games, the Falcons have found a guy who knows how to find the end zone. The Falcons have won every game where he has at least 2 catches and are 1-4 when he doesn't. Now if that's not misleadingly insignificant, I don't know what is. Or is it? I've had too much turkey this weekend, and it's going to my head.

The fantasy playoffs are nearly upon us, and the fantasy gods have granted us one week of no byes before they start (next week, the Titans and Browns are off). If you haven't clinched yet, then your playoffs basically start now, so take our advice on who to pick up on the waiver wire and then use our rankings to set your lineups later this week. This is Thanksgiving week, so make sure you check all your lineups on Wednesday night before heading off to the bar, the first game starts at 11:30am CST! The Vikings, Lions, Redskins, Cowboys, Steelers and Colts all play on turkey day.

This week, aside from keeping up with injuries, keep an eye on LeSean McCoy's status, he may be a sit if you're bold enough. Latavius Murray is worthy of a sit if you have other options - he's been splitting way too many carries for my comfort. Finally, look to get DeVante Parker and Mike Wallace in the lineup against bad defenses. Good Luck!

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters.

12 Missed Extra Points

Kickers across the league set a record yesterday, missing 12 extra point attempts in just one day. A few of them were blocked, but most of them were flat out missed. Lead by Mike Nugent and Robbie Gould who each missed two, 8 other kickers joined the fun. Even Adam Vinatieri got in on the action, finally breaking his streak, ending with 44 consecutive made field goals. Want some perspective? In 2014, the last year of the short extra points, there were 8 misses on the whole season. I suspect most defenses (and kickers) weren't even trying back then.

6 Missed Field Goals

Yes, more perspective, yes, more kickers. Across the league in week 11, kickers made 37 of 43 field goals attempted (86%), compared to the 47 of 59 (79%) on extra points. Leading the way is a guy who didn't miss a single kick all day, playing outside in the cold of Kansas City in late November. Roberto Aguayo has been sketchy most of the season but delivered 4 field goals when his team really needed it. Tampa's win on the road against the Chiefs is their best since week 1 in Atlanta. On the other side, maybe this will make Andy Reid do something to get his offense going - he can't rely on his defense to win every game.

88.40 Fantasy Points

We're finally getting good national games on a regular basis. Sunday night's Redskins - Packers game may not have been as close as the good ones last week, but it had plenty of fireworks. The game contained three of the top 5 fantasy players of the week - Rob Kelley, Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins, who combined for 88.40 points. If not for a Jared Cook fumble which instantly ruined the Packers comeback chances, there may have been even more points from Rodgers. Instead, we got a look at the backup QB.

1 Pick Six, 1 Return TD

Both the Lions and Vikings D/ST had a pair of touchdowns on Sunday afternoon. Both teams had a pick-six and a kickoff or punt returned, though the Vikings went for 100 or more yards on each of theirs. The Lions got the job done with shorter fields ahead of them. Holding on to first place, they will host the Vikings for the first Thanksgiving game coming up on Thursday. With first place at stake, I expect Matt Stafford and the Lions to do their best to shake the fact that they have trailed during the 4th quarter in every single game this season.

14 Fantasy Points

The high water mark for kickers in Week 11 so far is just 14 points, by the aforementioned Robert Aguayo. Only 4 kickers have reached double digits in fantasy points this week, though Janikowski plays tonight and always has a chance to score big points. Why did I make you read a third stat about kickers, you may be asking yourself. Well, I always try to match up a team's success to that of a fantasy position. This week, 7 of the top 8 kickers come from winning teams - three of them in games decided by less than a touchdown.