The finality always stings.
August is for optimism. Hope and reckless speculation run wild. Through the fall, football returns to our weekly routine. Games alternate between the main event of our weekend and the background soundtrack of other activities.
Then, it just stops. The music first stops in college football, where rivalry weekend caps the regular season, followed by playoff fever on conference championship weekend. Then, the stillness of the annual Army-Navy matchup. The expanded playoffs have proven to be a double-edged sword, giving more meaningful postseason games while also rendering the Bowl season irrelevant.
In concert with the end of the college season, the fantasy football playoffs arrive. The finality is brutal. An entire season of meticulous roster management comes down to one game. Survive and advance. The loser is left to look for other activities from the hobby that dominated free time.
The NFL playoffs bring their own finality. With the league expanding to 14 teams, nearly half of the teams stay alive. But for those who do not, the end is bitter. In Week 15, it was also cold.
There is a clear tiering through the NFL. In an honest moment, players on the Titans, Browns, Jets, Raiders, Saints, or Giants would admit their playoff dreams ended when the weather was still warm.
There is a second group. Teams with aspirations that struggled with some early-season losses or injuries, but trained through the offseason with legitimate championship dreams. Week 15 stopped hope dead in its tracks.
Kansas City and Cincinnati were officially eliminated—two teams with franchise quarterbacks and recent Super Bowl appearances. Joe Burrow missed most of the season before pushing to return and give the Bengals one final shot. Mentions of a knee issue for Patrick Mahomes II started in Week 14, and it spiked to a full-blown event with an official ACL tear.
In Detroit, Dallas, and Indianapolis, the Doomsday clock moved closer to midnight.
The Colts were 8-2 and have lost four straight, and close with three playoff teams. In their moment of desperation, they turned to Philip Rivers in one of the biggest surprises in years. Rivers performed admirably considering the situation. It did not matter.
The Lions started 4-1 before a primetime loss to the Chiefs kicked off a 4-5 stretch. They have alternated wins and losses over the last ten weeks, losing key NFC games to the Eagles, Packers, and Rams. For the Lions, there is one too many good teams in the NFC. 2025 is shaping up to have the highest barrier to entry for any wildcard record since 2014, when the 10-6 Eagles missed the field. There have been multiple years where a .500 record has allowed a team through. The Lions could get to 11-6 and still miss out.
The Cowboys dug a hole too big at 3-5-1. A three-game winning streak pushed them back into the mix, but two straight losses have let the air out.
Wading through the finality of disappointment still brings optimism. The playoffs are coming. A champion will be crowned. But for today, the story rests on teams who ran out of time to find the answers.
And now, The Roundup.
Blind Resume
| Player | Rushing Yards | Receiving Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 104 | 8 | 1 |
| B | 101 | 17 | 0 |
| C | 56 | 38 | 0 |
| D | 96 | 0 | 1 |
| E | 70 | 27 | 2 |
League winners are the buzziest trend word in fantasy football. Everyone wants them. But what makes a league winner? How do you define it? Do you know these potential league winners?
Stats Of The Week
Matthew Stafford, LA Rams - 368 Passing Yards, 2 Passing Touchdowns
Stafford passed Jared Goff, moving into fourth place on the Rams' career passing yardage list with 18,422. He is 5,336 yards from franchise leader Jim Everett, with Roman Gabriel and Roman Gabriel between. He is averaging 266 yards per game, giving him a chance of shaving off another 800 yards in 2025 and putting the top franchise mark in play for 2026. His 132 touchdowns with the Rams are third, 22 away from Gabriel's top mark.
Stafford is closing in on career highs in passing touchdowns and could move into the Top 6 in both career yards and touchdown passes to close 2025.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville - 330 Passing Yards, 5 Passing Touchdowns, 51 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing Touchdown
Lawrence became the ninth player in NFL history with five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. He is the only player to hit those marks and add 50 rushing yards. Roman Gabriel was the only other player to have more than 15 rushing yards in a 5-1 game.
Lawrence passed David Garrard to move into third place on the Jaguars' career passing touchdown list, with 92.
If you read my article, you may have realized. Still, it is bizarre how often a player like Roman Gabriel ends up making two completely unrelated appearances in one article. I would also be surprised if another article in the football space mentioned Roman Gabriel, Archie Manning, Kevin Johnson, and Dawson Knox.
Travis Kelce, Kansas City - 1,071 Receptions
Kelce moved past Reggie Wayne and into the Top 10 in career receptions. He needs five more catches to tie ninth-place Anquan Boldin and seven more for eighth-place Terrell Owens.
On a somber note, we may have seen Patrick Mahomes II and Kelce connect for the final time. Mahomes is done for 2025 with a torn ACL, and Kelce's future is uncertain, with retirement a consideration.
Trey McBride, Arizona - 12 Receptions, 134 Receiving Yards, 2 Touchdowns
McBride set a new career high in receiving yards, tied a career high in receptions, and had his second career multiple-score game. He became the seventh tight end with 12+ catches, 130+ yards, and 2+ touchdowns.
He crossed the 100 reception and 1,000-yard thresholds for the second consecutive season. He joined Kelce and Dallas Clark as the only tight ends in NFL history to top 100 catches, 1,000 yards, and 10 touchdowns. With 105 receptions, he needs 11 to tie Zach Ertz for the most by a tight end, while 10 would give him the Cardinals franchise mark, held by DeAndre Hopkins. There is a chance he could catch Kelce's single-season yardage mark of 1,416, needing to average 115 per game to get the necessary 345.
Kyle Pitts Sr., Atlanta - 11 Receptions, 166 Receiving Yards, 3 Touchdowns
Pitts joined Kellen Winslow Sr. as the only tight ends with 11+ receptions, 160+ yards, and 3+ touchdowns. Twenty players have hit these marks in NFL history, with Ja'Marr Chase doing it last in Week 10 of 2024. Pitts has 338 yards over his last three weeks. He is 1 of 23 tight ends to have 330+ yards over three weeks. George Kittle was the last, late in 2023. Pitts hit the mark previously in his 2021 rookie season. Pitts established a new career high with 73 receptions and tied his career high with four touchdowns.
Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland - 66 Receptions
Fannin tied Kevin Johnson's Browns rookie record for receptions. He has the seventh-most receptions by a rookie tight end in NFL history. Getting to 89 would be a key number for him; it would tie him with Ozzie Newsome and Kellen Winslow II for the most by a Browns tight end. It would also push him past Sam LaPorta's 86 for the second-most catches by a rookie tight end. He would need to average 7.66 catches per game. He is at 7.5 over his last two games. His 667 yards are the seventh most by a Browns rookie and the most by a rookie tight end. It's the 13th most by a Browns tight end with any experience level.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle - 7 Receptions, 113 Receiving Yards
Smith-Njigba posted his 9th 100-yard receiving game in 2025. Michael Irvin, Cooper Kupp, and Calvin Johnson share the record of 11 games of 100+ yards. Smith-Njigba crossed the 1,500-yard threshold, recording the 59th season above that mark in NFL history. His 1,541 yards are the 43rd most.
Smith-Njigba needs four catches to tie his own team record of 100, and his next touchdown would give him 10. He would become the 29th player to record 100+ catches, 1,500+ yards, and 10+ touchdowns.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans - 1,484 Passing Yards, 6 Passing Touchdowns
Shough broke the Saints' rookie passing record, topping Spencer Rattler's 1,317 set in 2024. His sixth touchdown pass tied Archie Manning for the most by a Saints rookie. Shough engineered the Saints' second consecutive upset over a division-leading NFC South team.
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis - 1,443 Rushing Yards
James Cook, Buffalo - 1,415 Rushing Yards
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis - 16 Rushing Touchdowns
Josh Jacobs, Green Bay - 13 Rushing Touchdowns
Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit - 13 Rushing Touchdowns
Coming out of Taylor's 244-yard performance against the Falcons in Week 10, Taylor held a 219-yard lead for the rushing crown. Cook has steadily chipped away, totaling 495 rushing yards to Taylor's 304 over that period. Now the difference is just 28 yards. The Colts have not won since that 244-yard game, losing four straight. They close with three projected playoff teams: San Francisco, Jacksonville, and Houston. Buffalo is 4-1 since that week and closes with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and the New York Jets.
Taylor has just one rushing touchdown since that monster Atlanta game. Gibbs has five since that game, while Jacobs has three, pulling both within striking distance of the touchdown lead.
Josh Allen, Buffalo - 12 Rushing Touchdowns
James Cook, Buffalo - 10 Rushing Touchdowns
Allen and Cook posted the 11th instance of teammates topping double-digit rushing touchdowns in NFL history. They joined Gibbs and David Montgomery as the second time teammates have hit the mark in consecutive seasons.
Detroit still has a chance to extend history. Montgomery needs two rushing touchdowns for the first time teammates have hit the mark in three straight seasons.