Booms & Busts in Week 15: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Davante Adams and Mike Evans deliver fantastic playoff performances

During the Lamar Jackson era, the Ravens excelled at beating NFC teams. They’ve only lost twice to the other conference with the No. 8 seed under center – the idea being that these NFC opponents don’t see Jackson regularly and have no idea how to defend him on game day.

That narrative certainly played a role on Sunday when Baltimore visited the Giants and did whatever they wanted. Jackson had his best fantasy game of the year in Week 15, when he threw for five touchdowns and had 65 rushing yards in a glorious 36.10 afternoon. The Ravens won 35:14 and even covered their huge lead of 16 points.

The ball rarely hit the ground Sunday — Jackson completed 21 of 25 passes for 290 yards and was not intercepted. Rashod Bateman (3-80-2) caught two touchdowns and Mark Andrews (2-24-1) had the first of the day. The other scores went to non-playable fantasy options – Justice Hill and Devontez Walker.

That’s sometimes the fantasy conflict with Baltimore’s passing game – it’s a splintered target tree and the volume is often non-existent. Zay Flowers (5-63-0) is usually open but lacks the ability to be a target eater. It’s also not uncommon for Jackson to land significantly fewer than 30 attempts. Baltimore has the fifth-lowest pass rate in the league. The idea is to tear the opponent apart in the running game and then rip their heart out in the passing game with the occasional chunk play.

But with Jackson throwing five touchdowns all outside the 10-yard line, Derrick Henry was the odd man out on Sunday. He didn’t score a touchdown for the third straight game and had a season-low 67 yards rushing. This is considered a fluke result, and Henry will certainly be needed more in the next two weeks against credible opponents Pittsburgh and Houston. But for Henry to reach his fantasy projection, you always need that touchdown deodorant. He wasn’t targeted Sunday and has just 13 catches this year.

Jackson also needs a game to prove himself next week against Pittsburgh. He’s just 2-5 against the Steelers and struggled in a loss to them a month ago (66.1 rating, just one touchdown). But those are the worries of tomorrow. There’s a good chance Jackson led them to a playoff win here.

Veteran WRs go

While Jackson was one of the quarterback stars in his prime (only Josh Allen surpassed Jackson on Sunday), two back-nine receivers took control of the wideout board. Davante Adams shined with a 9-198-2 clinic against Jacksonville, and Mike Evans made two end zone visits against the Chargers.

The Jets aren’t going anywhere this year, but Adams has stepped up his game since the bye. He has scored in three straight games, posting a brisk 23-373-4 record over that span. The Rams defense is a comfortable draw in Week 16. Maybe Aaron Rodgers has some streaming value before this disappointing season ends.

Evans needed a strong finish to surpass 1,000 yards for the 11th straight year, but Sunday’s clutch play yielded 159 yards, an excellent positive step. In my eyes, he’s already earned a Hall of Fame ticket. Tampa Bay was one of the best carnival teams in the league in 2024, and Dallas could have a battle for points in next week’s Sunday night game. Evans is the rare fantasy pick who has never landed on the disappointment list – and he has time to make sure this season ends on a positive note.

Josh Allen delivers again

Sometimes I think there are three keys to winning fantasy football this year: drafting well, working the waiver wire, and avoiding Josh Allen. Buffalo’s MVP-in-waiting had another ridiculous day as he beat the Lions for four touchdowns (two by air, two by land) with 362 passing yards and 69 rushing yards and once again moved his way to the top of the QB board catapulted. That’s 93.16 fantasy points combined over the last two weeks.

Allen’s top is dreamy, but so is his bottom. He had two QB1 finishes in September and has been particularly consistent since Week 6: QB5, QB6, QB14, QB7, QB7, QB7, QB3, QB1 (a record-breaking performance), QB1 (with three games to go). Only boredom can stop Allen as he faces the Patriots and Jets in the next two weeks.

It always feels like Allen is constantly at his best later in the season, and that should carry over into the NFL playoffs when the games mean the most.

The rest of the Bills passing game was a mixed bag

While Buffalo’s offense is always run through Allen, pass-catching planning is a delicate matter. Consider Amari Cooper, who somehow scored 14 goals last week (and had a 6-95-0 record) but wasn’t targeted in the win against the Lions. We learned to cast our imaginations on the consistent Khalil Shakir (6-39-1), and the tight ends were useful (Dalton Kincaid had a solid 4-53-0 line), but how could we ever see that Ty Johnson catches? five passes for 114 yards? Keon Coleman came loose for a 64-yard reception but was only targeted twice.

Star running backs are neglected

Allen winning the 2024 MVP essentially means Saquon Barkley can focus on the Offensive Player of the Year award. Barkley had the rare fantasy guy on Sunday, averaging less than four yards a pop and not scoring a touchdown against Pittsburgh. Barkley’s touchdowns are always a bit sparse as the Eagles always hand out the short touchdowns to Jalen Hurts (he had another on Sunday). Barkley’s 13 points came from a 28.5-yard average, and he didn’t make a single dash from the one-yard line (Hurts has 11).

Henry and Barkley weren’t the only veteran defenders to stumble on Sunday. Joe Mixon was held to 23 yards on 12 carries against Miami. He also didn’t score a touchdown, although a 5-33-0 receiving line helped a little. Mixon has miraculously overcome Houston’s poor offensive line most of the year, but there were no lanes available on Sunday. His playoff schedule isn’t fun, with Kansas City and Baltimore having to wait the next two weeks.

note: I will continue to add Week 15 analysis throughout the night.