Category: Sport

If you haven’t quite clinched a playoff spot in your fantasy football league, you’re likely sweating out your matchup the rest of Sunday (and potentially Monday). If you’ve already clinched a berth, you’re already thinking about Week 15 and how your lineup will look for the first round of the postseason. And if you were fortunate enough to lock up a bye, even better — you’re making anticipatory moves to shore up your roster for Week 16.

Either way, you’re here for a reason: you need some fantasy football waiver wire advice. Let us give you some early pickups to keep in mind as we approach Week 15.

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Jaylen Wright, RB, Dolphins (2% rostered on Yahoo)

It’s never easy watching one of the players who got you there go down. Miami RB De’Von Achane has been one of the best players in fantasy football in 2025 and there’s a good chance his fantasy managers have an eye toward the playoffs. Achane was injured prior to the end of the first half, exiting Week 14 against the Jets due to a rib injury. Thankfully, it seems Achane avoided a serious injury; head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game that he held Achane out on purpose and that he will play in Week 15 if healthy.

Nonethless, it’s moments like these that once again remind us how important backups of elite starting RBs are in fantasy. Jaylen Wright returned from injury in Week 8 but has been purely an insurance policy for Achane, providing little standalone fantasy value. He had eight carries for 31 yards and a score before Achane left Sunday. Wright would go on to finish with 24 carries for 107 yards and the score for 16.7 fantasy points. He also saw three targets.

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If Achane does end up missing time, Wright figures to get one of the more appealing roles for an RB in fantasy under Mike McDaniel. Wright is a must-add in all formats with the potential to be thrust into RB2 status (with RB1 upside).

Ryan Flournoy, WR, Cowboys (1% rostered)

The Cowboys’ playoff hopes are fleeting after a 44-30 loss to the Lions on TNF in Week 14. Forced to throw while playing from behind, Dak Prescott finished with 376 passing yards, 115 of those yards going Flournoy’s way. Top wideout CeeDee Lamb exited the game in the third quarter due to a concussion and his status for Week 15 against the Vikings is unclear. If Lamb can’t clear protocol, Flournoy would see an uptick in snaps/targets on a team we know loves to pass the ball. We also know Flournoy is capable; back in Week 5 with Lamb sidelined, he had six catches on nine targets for 114 yards (plus two carries for 10 yards).

Devin Singletary, RB, Giants (24% rostered)

The Giants had their bye in Week 14 and will look to finish what has been a disappointing season with some positives. The offense hasn’t had much to celebrate this season outside of Jaxson Dart, but the run game didn’t look too bad last week against the Patriots. Singletary outperformed Tyrone Tracy Jr. with 12 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown, plus three catches for 34 yards.

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Singletary shouldn’t be on your wire at this point, given his goal-line role for New York. He’s scored three rushing TDs over the past three games and has a total of 42 carries in that span. The Giants also get a great matchup versus the Commanders in Week 15 and face the Raiders in Week 17 (likely your league’s championship).

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns (39% rostered)

The Browns offense has some juice with rookie QB Shedeur Sanders (8% rostered) under center and we saw what the passing game can be in Week 14 versus the Titans. Down most of the game, Cleveland was forced to throw and nearly pulled off the comeback. Sanders finished with 364 yards and three TDs, one of those scores going to Fannin, who finished with eight catches on 11 targets for 114 yards. His 21.4 fantasy points could land him as the TE1 overall for the week. That’s also back-to-back games with Sanders at QB in which Fannin has a TD. The rookie has upside the rest of the season and is a great add if you need a TE or depth at the position.

De’Von Achane’s rib injury may not be as bad as it initially seemed.

The Dolphins running back left Miami’s 34-10 win over the New York Jets early on Sunday due to a rib injury. The Dolphins initially said he was questionable to return after leaving in the first half, but Achane never made it back into the game.

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Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Achane could have returned in an emergency, but he chose not to use him in the second half. As for next week’s contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers, McDaniel is hopeful.

“I promise you, he’ll be in there if he’s ready,” McDaniel said, via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.

Achane first called for medical assistance after fighting for yardage on a 29-yard gain in the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. He then left for the locker room early with the Dolphins up 24-7 in the first half. He had 105 total yards on eight touches, including a 13-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Achane entered Sunday with 1,034 rushing yards and six touchdowns while picking up a whopping 5.6 yards per carry. With Achane sidelined in the second half, Jaylen Wright took over and finished with 107 yards and a score on 24 carries. The Dolphins (6-7) led the entire way to pick up the 24-point win, which marked their fourth straight victory.

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Tua Tagovailoa went 13-of-21 passing for 127 yards with a touchdown for the Dolphins, and Jaylen Waddle led the way with 50 receiving yards and a score on five catches.

Tyrod Taylor left the game in the first quarter for the Jets (3-10) due to a groin injury. Undrafted rookie Brady Cook made his regular-season debut in relief. He went 14-of-30 passing for 163 yards with two interceptions.

The Dolphins will take on the Steelers next week in Pennsylvania in a contest that is critical for both team’s respective postseason hopes. While it’ll take more than just him, Achane being available next week should provide the Dolphins a significant boost.

The College Football Playoff selection committee decided to move Miami ahead of Notre Dame at the last minute.

After keeping the Hurricanes behind the Fighting Irish for weeks, the people in charge of the 12-team bracket moved the Hurricanes ahead of Notre Dame on Sunday and into the postseason.

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The Fighting Irish fell out of the playoff entirely as Alabama stayed in the field despite losing the SEC title game to Georgia on Saturday. The Crimson Tide are the first three-loss team to make the field as an at-large.

Notre Dame had been ahead of Miami for every iteration of playoff rankings this season despite losing to the Hurricanes in Week 1. The two teams finished with the same 10-2 record and neither played on conference championship weekend. It would have made much more sense for Miami to move ahead of Notre Dame in the penultimate rankings on Tuesday if the committee was going to make this decision. Instead, the committee waited until the final set of rankings to invoke Miami’s win over the Irish.

First-round byes

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First-round games

CFP’s justification for Miami over Notre Dame

Why did the CFP committee move Miami above Notre Dame? Committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that the group didn’t compare Miami and Notre Dame against each other like it did Saturday night and Sunday morning because BYU was in between them in the rankings. Notre Dame was at No. 10 on Tuesday night, BYU was at No. 11 and Miami was at No. 12.

“The first in that was we felt like the way BYU performed in their championship game, a second loss to Texas Tech in a similar fashion was worthy of Miami moving ahead of them in the rankings,” Yurachek, the Arkansas athletic director said on ESPN. “And once we moved Miami ahead of BYU, we had that side-by-side comparison that everybody had been hungry for of Notre Dame and Miami and you look at those two teams on paper and they’re almost equal in their schedule strength, their common opponents, their results against their common opponents but the one metric we had to fall back on, again, was the head-to-head.”

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Yurachek said that the committee waited so long to compare Miami and Notre Dame head-to-head because of where Miami started the rankings. While Notre Dame was in the top 10 of every CFP ranking until Sunday, Miami was at No. 18 in the first set of rankings on Nov. 4.

Miami’s inclusion into the field means the ACC did not get left out of the playoff.

Miami didn’t win the ACC title or even play in the ACC title game. The 10-2 Hurricanes lost out on a five-way tiebreaker for second place in the conference to a five-loss Duke team. The Blue Devils took down Virginia in the ACC championship game on Saturday night but ended up ranked behind five other conference champions in the CFP rankings.

The field is made up of the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large teams. American champion Tulane, Big Ten champion Indiana, Big 12 champion Texas Tech, SEC champion Georgia and Sun Belt champion James Madison got the automatic berths. JMU is the first Sun Belt team to ever make a College Football Playoff.

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The first round features two regular-season rematches. Tulane, which lost 45-10 to Ole Miss in September, will visit the Rebels again. Alabama, which lost to Oklahoma at home in November, will visit the Sooners for the second straight season.

Given the way the committee handled the rankings, Notre Dame has every right to feel aggrieved. Whichever of Miami, Alabama or Notre Dame would have had a legitimate case if it was left out of the playoff. But Notre Dame has to feel especially salty given the way it was treated by the committee in the weeks leading up to the final rankings.

Miami did not play Duke or Virginia during the regular season. Neither did Notre Dame. The only team on either Miami or Notre Dame’s schedule that played on conference championship weekend was Boise State. And the Broncos won the Mountain West title over UNLV on Friday night.

Notre Dame beat Boise State by three touchdowns. In theory, the win over the Broncos was strengthened between Tuesday and Sunday. Instead, the committee decided to change its mind days after both Miami and Notre Dame’s seasons ended.

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1. Indiana (13-0)

2. Ohio State (12-1)

3. Georgia (12-1)

4. Texas Tech (12-1)

5. Oregon (11-1)

6. Ole Miss (11-1)

7. Texas A&M (11-1)

8. Oklahoma (10-2)

9. Alabama (10-3)

10. Miami (10-2)

11. Notre Dame (10-2)

12. BYU (11-2)

13. Texas (9-3)

14. Vanderbilt (10-2)

15. Utah (10-2)

16. USC (9-3)

17. Arizona (9-3)

18. Michigan (9-3)

19. Virginia (10-3)

20. Tulane (11-2)

21. Houston (9-3)

22. Georgia Tech (9-3)

23. Iowa (8-4)

24. James Madison (12-1)

25. North Texas (11-2)

The Cleveland Browns have significant questions this offseason about their quarterback position. Shedeur Sanders is doing all he can to provide an answer.

Sanders spent the first half against one-win Tennessee cruising, looking comfortable as he threw for two touchdowns and outplayed No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward. After a slow start to the second half, Sanders rallied Cleveland to two clutch touchdowns in the final six-plus minutes of the game to close off a 364 passing yards effort.

Alas, Cleveland being Cleveland, the Browns fell apart on a would-be tying 2-point conversion with just over a minute remaining. The result: a 31-29 loss to the Titans, and more data points for the Browns’ future decision-making.

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The scenario Sunday was one of those circle-the-calendar days on NFL Draft weekend. Generally, when you have rookie quarterbacks facing one another, you’re not seeing two top-flight teams at play. Sometimes that’s because a team in position to draft, and then start, a rookie quarterback is, by definition, not a very good team. And sometimes, that’s because a team is the Cleveland Browns.

The Titans struck first, as Ward found receiver Elic Ayomanor for a 16-yard touchdown on Tennessee’s opening drive. Running back Tony Pollard closed out the first quarter with a monster 65-yard run.

The second quarter might just stand as the best 15 minutes of football Sanders will play all season. He began by threading a perfectly thrown pass to an outstretched David Njoku for a touchdown:

Twelve game minutes later, he found Jerry Jeudy on a beauty of a 60-yard touchdown pass, one of the best throws of Sanders’ career:

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There were indications that all was not perfectly well for Sanders — struggles throwing the ball into zone coverage, a panicky desperation scramble that led to an intentional grounding penalty — but on the whole, the half was positive for Cleveland as the Browns carried a 17-14 lead into the half.

The second half began with an ugly duet — six straight combined punts, with neither team able to move the ball, sequence after sequence as ugly as the spitting-snow weather. Sanders broke the streak … but in the worst way possible, with a wounded-duck overthrow that the Titans’ Xavier Woods easily plucked out of the air. Two plays later, Pollard again stomped into the end zone, this time from 32 yards out to retake the lead for Tennessee.

That was enough to knock the Browns to the canvas for good. Ward turned a Cleveland fumble into another touchdown pass, this one a 5-yarder to Chimere Dike to extend Tennessee’s lead to 28-17. Ward finished with 117 yards on 14-of-28 passing, with two touchdowns and one interception.

With five minutes remaining in the game, following another Tennessee field goal, Sanders again had the opportunity to write his own legend. Down 31-17, he guided the Browns downfield and scrambled his way to a chaotic 7-yard touchdown, his first NFL rushing TD of his career.

Sanders then had the opportunity to tie the Titans with his final drive, and did all he could, leading the Browns on a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Needing 2 points to tie the game, the Browns opted to pull Sanders off the field and direct-snap trickeration to Quinshon Judkins, and it went about as well as you’d expect.

Statistically, this was Sanders’ finest game of the season, by far. He threw for 364 yards, passing for three touchdowns and running for another, the first Browns rookie to notch those numbers. He also had several key miscues, including an interception that led directly to a Tennessee touchdown, a fumbled snap on a 2-point conversion, and a tendency to tip his passes by patting the football as he prepared to throw. Still ahead on the Browns’ slate: the Bears, Bills, Steelers and Bengals, a rugged way to close out a season.

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“I’ve been this way,” Sanders said after the game, reflecting on his performance. “This is God showing a lot of people who I am.”

Tennessee, meanwhile, posted its highest point total of the season — granted, a low bar to clear — in doubling its win total of the season to 2. With games against the 49ers, Chiefs, Saints and Jaguars still remaining, getting to four wins on the season could be tough, so Tennessee and Ward will surely appreciate this one.

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith left their 24-17 loss to the Denver Broncos early Sunday afternoon due to apparent hand and shoulder injuries.

Smith was hit hard on a third down early in the second half of the contest at Allegiant Stadium, and came up favoring his right hand after throwing an incomplete pass. Smith was looked at by the team’s medical staff during the Broncos’ next drive, but he returned to the game the next time out.

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That didn’t last. Smith led the Raiders into scoring position and hit Brock Bowers inside the 10-yard line on the final play of the third quarter, though he took a big hit and landed hard on his right shoulder as he got rid of the ball. Smith hopped back up quickly and made it to the sideline, but he did not come back out to start the fourth quarter.

Backup Kenny Pickett took his place as Smith went to the locker room. Pickett threw a short 2-yard completion on third down, and then missed Bowers in the end zone on fourth down.

The Raiders initially said that Smith was questionable to return with a right hand injury. When he went out the second time, the team said it was a right shoulder injury. Specifics of either injury are not yet known.

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Smith went 8-of-13 passing for 71 yards with a touchdown before he went down with the injury. He led the Raiders on a 10-play, 70-yard drive capped with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Bowers on Vegas’ first possession of the afternoon. But the Broncos, who also scored on their opening drive of the day, then ran a punt back 48 yards for a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Smith entered Sunday with 2,532 yards and 15 touchdowns to 14 interceptions this year. Pickett, traded to the Raiders earlier this fall after backup Aidan O’Connell was injured in the preseason, is in the final year of his rookie contract. He finished 8-of-11 passing for 96 yards with a score. He found Shedrick Jackson for a 25-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Ashton Jeanty had 30 yards on 10 carries, and Bowers had 46 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

Bo Nix went 31-of-38 passing for 212 yards in the win for the Broncos, who now sit at 11-2 on the season. The win was their 10th in a row. RJ Harvey added 75 rushing yards and a score on 17 carries, and Courtland Sutton had 62 yards on six catches.

The Raiders (2-11) have already been eliminated from postseason contention. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2002 season, and has been to the playoffs only once since relocating to Las Vegas.

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The Raiders will take on the Philadelphia Eagles next week.

Anyone who had the Denver Broncos as a 7.5-point favorite at BetMGM on Sunday wasn’t sweating it most of the day. The Broncos were clearly better than the Las Vegas Raiders and comfortably covering most of the day.

Then it became a near lock on what should have been the last play of the game. With less than 10 seconds remaining the Raiders got tackled in the field of play with no timeouts left. Broncos bettors were finally ready to officially cash the ticket.

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Then came one of the most bizarre, baffling bad beats of this or any other NFL season.

The Raiders trailed 24-14, meaning the Broncos were covering the spread by 2.5 points. Tyler Lockett caught a 26-yard pass to the Broncos’ 33-yard line. No big deal because Lockett was tackled in bounds. But then, inexplicably, Broncos safety Brandon Jones wouldn’t let Lockett get up after the tackle. Instead of the clock running out, a flag was thrown. It was a delay of game on the Broncos and most importantly it stopped the clock with five seconds left.

And still, Broncos bettors shouldn’t have been that worried. The Raiders had little reason to kick a field goal, and a Hail Mary is a low-percentage play. But then, the Raiders decided to kick a field goal, on the very, very low chance that the kick would be good and there would be a second left for an onside kick and then a Hail Mary.

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The Raiders made the field goal as time expired. The only people happy with that were those who have Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson on their fantasy teams, those who had Raiders +7.5 bets and those who wagered on over 40.5 points in the game. The Raiders lost 24-17 and covered the spread, somehow, by a half of a point. The game also went over the total, somehow, by half a point.

The Broncos took a 21-7 lead in the third quarter. Las Vegas saw quarterback Geno Smith leave the game with an injury after the third quarter. There was seemingly no way for the Raiders to cover the spread. Until they did on the final play.

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson is a brilliant play caller. He might have been a little too smart for his own good on the key play of the Green Bay Packers’ win over Chicago on Sunday.

On a fourth-and-1 in the final minute, the Bears didn’t run it or sneak it for the first down. Williams faked a handoff and rolled left. He lofted a pass to the end zone for tight end Cole Kmet, but Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon was there for the interception that sealed a 28-21 win.

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It wasn’t a great pass by Williams, who had a rough first half and got hot afterward, but it didn’t seem like an ideal play call. Perhaps Williams could have tried running for the first down or threw it shorter. The Bears had two timeouts left, so a run on fourth down would have left them with enough time. But he threw to the end zone and Nixon had played it perfectly.

The Bears went for broke. And they went broke. The Packers take over first place of the NFC North.

Green Bay now has a 70% chance of winning its division, according to The Athletic’s playoffs simulator with Chicago dropping to 24%.

Bears start slow, Packers take the lead

The Bears dug themselves a hole because Williams and the passing game were late showing up.

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Williams had 11 yards passing in the first half, before the final 33 seconds in a hurry-up drill. He didn’t have a completion until the final two minutes of the first quarter, when he finally connected on a 2-yard pass. That was his only completion of the first quarter.

The Packers’ offense didn’t have a great start either, but eventually Jordan Love made a couple of nice touchdown passes. His first one went to Christian Watson to give the Packers a 7-0 lead. Then, late in the first half, Bo Melton got behind the defense on a post route and Love hit him for a 45-yard touchdown. The Packers led 14-3 going into halftime off of those two big plays and a tremendous effort by their defense.

Another big play from Love to Watson, when Watson caught a short pass and pulled away from the defense for a 41-yard touchdown, had the Packers ahead 21-11 in the third quarter. But the Bears have been great at late rallies this season, and Williams started to heat up.

Bears rally behind Caleb Williams

Williams and the Bears tied the game with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter when he hit Colston Loveland for a 1-yard touchdown. Williams had a dreadful first half but had rallied. That was his second touchdown pass of the second half.

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The Packers answered. They drove downfield and Josh Jacobs plunged in for a 2-yard touchdown with 3:32 left. They led 28-21.

The Bears had been playing from behind most of the game so another deficit, even a late one against a good defense, didn’t deter them. Chicago drove downfield and had a fourth down-and-1 with 27 seconds left. That’s when Johnson’s decision came back to haunt the Bears. Nixon’s interception finished the Packers win, a huge one in the NFC North race.

Had Williams found Kmet wide open in the end zone, Johnson’s aggressive call would have been praised. Now all of Chicago will wonder what might have happened had the Bears just played it a little safer and gotten a first down.

We’re approaching the fantasy football playoffs in Week 15, meaning every decision goes under a microscope. You’ll want to know which running back you can trust the most going into the postseason — and there are still plenty of question marks in some key backfield committees.

We’re going to break down some of those splits from Week 14 and how to approach roster decisions moving forward.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

It was the second week with Bucky Irving back in the lineup and it’s still his backfield. But not so fast! Rachaad White went from five touches last week to 12 this week against the Saints. It feels like the hot-hand approach is still there to some degree with Irving getting up to speed (though he looked great again this week). Irving finished with 81 total yards on 17 touches and a pair of catches, one of those a touchdown.

Like White, Sean Tucker went from being an afterthought to back in the game plan in Week 14 with seven touches (two last week). He had 29 yards and scored on a goal-line carry. This was also a negative script for the Bucs to have 39 carries to 30 passing attempts, trailing at multiple points in the second half. With the passing game shaky under Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay is clearly fine leaning into the run. For this week, it made all three backs viable in fantasy.

Now, how do we handle this moving forward?

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Irving remains an RB2 and quality start throughout the fantasy playoffs with matchups versus the Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins remaining. White and Tucker should still be rostered in deeper formats in case anything happens to Irving. Tucker could vulture touchdowns in the red zone, but it’s tough to trust him (and White) as anything more than risky FLEX options.

Seattle Seahawks

We haven’t talked about the Seahawks in a while, so we’re going to talk about the Seahawks. Kenneth Walker III is almost done completing perhaps one of the most frustrating fantasy seasons ever. We only really got a glimmer of hope in Week 11 when Walker had 19 touches for over 100 total yards and a TD. He hasn’t had a game with under 10 touches all season, yet, here we are, staring down another dud with 3.3 fantasy points in Week 14.

In Walker’s defense, this script was awful for backs. The score was tied 6-6 before Seattle ran away in the second half with two quick scores to go up 20-6. Atlanta turned the ball over a few times and the Seahawks didn’t need to ride Walker (and Zach Charbonnet) much in the second half. Walker still led Seattle RBs in touches with 11 but Charb had nine and looked like the better back on Sunday. We’ve seen this happen before.

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If you have better options than Walker at RB, you may need to go that route in the fantasy playoffs. Otherwise, Walker is really only a TD-dependent FLEX at this point.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins won their fourth straight game and are on the fringes of the AFC playoff picture. This is relevant for fantasy since it should mean we continue to see heavy volume for De’Von Achane, so long as he’s healthy. The Dolphins’ lead back exited in the second quarter due to a rib injury and didn’t return. After the game, head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters Achane avoided a fracture and would have come back in had the game been competitive.

Achane finished with seven carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, plus a 13-yard catch, so he was still able to get 17 fantasy points for managers despite missing most of the game. In Achane’s stead, Jaylen Wright had 24 carries for 107 yards and a TD. It appears Achane avoided a serious injury, so unless something changes, he will continue to be one of the best plays for the fantasy postseason. However, Achane managers should add Wright this week just in case. Other managers should also consider Wright as a decent stash.

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Pittsburgh Steelers

In another perplexing game script, you’d think the Steelers would have more than 34 rushing yards in a game they won 27-22 in December. Not the case on Sunday in Baltimore. Pittsburgh’s run game was almost non-existent with Jaylen Warren taking eight carries for just 13 yards and Kenneth Gainwell finishing with four carries for 15 yards (and one TD). Warren also added three catches for 49 yards and a TD of his own while Gainwell caught six of seven targets. Clearly, the Ravens were fine stopping the run and letting Aaron Rodgers beat them (which he sort of did).

The Steelers funneled a lot of the passing game through their two backs, mostly due to the lack of quality receiving options behind DK Metcalf. Warren has at least two catches in all but one game all season. He’s also scored in three straight matchups. But the issue is, this is an easy blueprint for beating this offense.

The Steelers have the Lions and Browns on the road in Weeks 16 and 17. Those aren’t the best matchups on the ground for Warren and Gainwell. At least against the Lions, the offense should be pushed and forced to throw, so the PPR bump will help. Warren has a safe floor the rest of the way. Gainwell should still be on rosters and isn’t a bad FLEX.

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Tennessee Titans

It was Week 2 when RB Tony Pollard last had 20+ carries for the Titans. It also feels like we had written off Pollard weeks ago, so of course, he was going to go off in such a monumental spot for fantasy.

The veteran back popped in a big way on Sunday for 25 carries, 161 yards and two scores against what has been as a stout Browns defense. Cleveland entered Week 14 allowing the 10th-fewest rushing yards per game this season. Pollard didn’t care and likely hurt a lot of managers who had cast him aside, finishing with 28.1 fantasy points — the RB2 overall as the afternoon window progresses.

This was the week where most of us thought Tyjae Spears might take over the backfield. That’s the beauty (and pain) of fantasy — you never truly know what the coaches are going to do week-to-week.

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Spears finished with 10 touches for 47 yards — he actually led all Tennessee players in receiving yards in the game with 28. It was all Pollard on offense. It was almost like the Titans saw a path to victory and Pollard’s silhouette showed up in the sky like the Batman signal; just give Pollard the ball. So, he’s back in the RB2/3 conversation and isn’t a bad FLEX. But the lack of a passing-game role hurts and who knows if Tennessee will continue to give him big volume on the ground. Spears should still be rostered but don’t expect him to be reliable in the fantasy postseason. The Titans don’t have an easy schedule (@ SF, vs. KC, vs. NO) the next three weeks.

Los Angeles Rams

The Cardinals never had a chance in this one. The Rams were already coming off a rare loss to the Panthers in Week 13. Los Angeles came out and used Arizona has a punching bag. With the Rams up 24-10 by halftime, this was the perfect spot for L.A. to lean on the run game. Both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum ate and this backfield is looking more and more like a split where both players are viable.

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Williams had 15 touches while Corum finished with 13. But Corum ripped off a long of 48 yards, had 128 yards and scored twice. Williams was no slouch with 97 total yards and a score. Both backs got there but Corum nearly finished with 28 fantasy points and is looking like a top-five back this week.

The question is, is this sustainable?

The easy answer is no. The Rams aren’t going to tear up the Lions or Seahawks like this the next two weeks. Both games should push L.A. on offense, however. That could mean more from Matthew Stafford and the passing game. But Corum has made enough plays this season to warrant considering him in Week 15 as a risky PPR FLEX. Williams should maintain his volume and is still a strong RB2/3, just temper expectations in these upcoming matchups.

For a moment Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens thought that they’d secured a fourth-quarter lead against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But a play that was initially ruled a touchdown catch by Isaiah Likely from Lamar Jackson was overturned on replay review. And the Ravens didn’t score again in a 27-22 loss to the Steelers that put 7-6 Pittsburgh in first place in the AFC North ahead of 6-7 Baltimore.

The Ravens, understandably, were not pleased with the turn of events after briefly believing they’d taken control of the game. Head coach John Harbaugh was incensed on the sideline. Jackson thought it was a touchdown and spoke candidly about his thoughts on the play after the game.

“Like I said, I thought it was a touchdown, man,” Jackson told reporters postgame. “But the refs made the call they wanted. They believed that was right. So just gotta go with it. Gotta stay locked in.

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“If you was on the field with us, I believe you would’ve thought it was a touchdown too. I can’t do the refs’ job. So, it is what it is.”

DeAndre Hopkins tweets, then deletes criticism of refs

Ravens receiver DeAndre Hopkins, meanwhile, briefly took to social media postgame to let his thoughts be known.

“@NFL @NFLOfficiating 13 years in the this league, how many steps do you need in the end zone for a TD?” Hopkins wrote.

Hopkins didn’t keep his post up for long. It was deleted shortly after he posted it. Tagging a league that doles out fines for criticizing officials seems like a direct route to having one’s paycheck docked, so maybe Hopkins thought better of his criticism after he hit publish.

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But here’s what it looked like for posterity.

Ravens running back Derrick Henry, meanwhile, took a less direct route in insinuating his displeasure with officials with comments that may just escape the NFL’s wrath.

“It’s tough when the game’s in the refs’ hands,” Henry told reporters in the postgame locker room.

Should Likely have been awarded a touchdown?

Here’s the play in question. With Baltimore facing third-and-goal while trailing 27-22, Jackson found Likely in the middle of the end zone with a pass.

Likely initially caught the ball, then put two feet down before Joey Porter Jr. knocked it out of his hands. Analyst Tony Romo was confident that it was a score, calling it “definitely a touchdown” on the first replay of the play on the CBS broadcast.

Officials on the field put two hands up in real time, signaling a go-ahead score. But they concluded upon replay review that it was not a touchdown and overturned the call on the field. CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore — much to Romo’s repeated dismay — explained on the broadcast why officials got the replay call correct.

“Even though we’re in the end zone, fellas, remember, in order for this to be a completed catch, he must complete all three elements of the catch,” Steratore said. “Likely has possession. We saw two feet down, great look here. Possession, two feet.

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“But he has to have time to make a football move … It’s that element right there that they are ruling he did not finish the third element.”

NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth further explained the ruling in a pool report to reporter Jeff Zrebiec.

“The receiver controlled the ball in the air, had his right foot down, then his left foot down,” Butterworth said. “The control is the first aspect of the catch. The second aspect is two feet or a body part in bounds, which he did have.

“Then the third step is an act common to the game, and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out. Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.”

Football fans and Ravens fans in particular may not like it. But this how a play like this is correctly called in the NFL. Officials may not always get this right, but they did this time. Likely didn’t complete the process of the catch by tucking the ball, turning up field or completing a third step. This applies even in the end zone.

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Had he tucked the ball or completed his third step before Porter punched it out, the touchdown would have stood. But he didn’t, and the score was negated, and the Ravens lost the game.