Each Tuesday morning, we football nerds look at the upcoming NFL slate, and either get psyched (mostly great games!) or shrug our shoulders (mostly garbage games!)
Last Tuesday, most of us thought Sunday would be garbage day.
Turns out we were way wrong.
Eight of yesterday's games were decided by one score, three of which went into overtime, and two of which were up in the air until the last minute.
We football nerds walked away happy, but who were the on-field NFL Week 12 winners and losers?
NFL Week 12 Winners & Losers
Here’s who crushed Sunday, and here’s who got crushed.
WINNERS: Backup Quarterbacks
Dig this:
- Giants QB Jameis Winston: 32.3 fantasy points, QB1
- Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett: 18.7 fantasy points, QB8
- Falcons QB Kirk Cousins: 15.5 fantasy points, QB14
- Texans QB Davis Mills: 14.5 fantasy points, QB15
- Jets QB Tyrod Taylor: 13.8 fantasy points, QB17
- Browns QB Shedeur Sanders: 11.3 fantasy points, QB18
I know, it’s not fantasy league-winning stuff, but these six fill-ins all had more fantasy points than a pair of MVP QBs in Buffalo’s Josh Allen (10.3, QB20) and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (7.2, QB23).
Small victories, amirite?
LOSER: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
Looks like the Vikes second-year rookie — I know "second-year rookie" doesn’t make sense, but it does — will be firmly planted in the loser column until further notice.
After another stinker of a performance (2.5 fantasy points, QB27), the Michigan product has made it official that the Minnesota braintrust — yes, even supposed quarterback whisperer/head coach Kevin McConnell — blew it by choosing to draft McCarthy, anoint him the starter, and let ex-Vike Sam Darnold (17.7 fantasy points, Week 12’s QB11) toodle over to Seattle.
McCarthy is so lousy that he made poor Justin Jefferson in this 2025’s WR25, behind the likes of New Orleans’ Chris Olave, Chicago’s Rome Odunze, and the Chargers’ Quentin Johnston. If you can make Justin Jefferson mediocre, you deserve a permanent place in Loserville.
WINNER: Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt
For an NFL running back, 30-years-old is the equivalent of 94-years-old for a regular human being. So we were all kind of blown away that yesterday, taking over RB1 duties from banged up starter Isiah Pacheco, Hunt balled out — especially for a dude who’s a whisker away from his centennial birthday — racking up 104 yards and a tuddie on the ground, with 3 catches and 28 receiving yards thrown in for good measure.
With Hunt finishing the week as RB6 (17.0 points), one has to wonder if Pacheco should be given back the lead spot, as he’s averaging just 6.2 fantasy points to Hunt’s 9.2. I know, Kareem’s almost 100-years-old, but if he can get you those 3 extra fantasy points, ta-da.
LOSER: Raiders QB Geno Smith
No way, no how will Geno Smith watch the game film from Vegas’ 24-10 loss to Cleveland, a final score that doesn’t reflect Smith’s beating. It'd be like you watching a video of that time in fourth grade when you read a book report in front of the class with your fly open.
The 12-year man was sacked an absurd 10 times, the third-most in NFL history. Raiders fans might want to look away on this one, but the Browns compiled 16 fantasy points (DST4). And for you IDP players out there, DT Myles Garrett (3 sacks) blew up the box score with 36.8 fantasy points (DT1…duh), the NFL’s second-highest total of the season. The highest? Garrett’s 45.5 in Week 8.
Dude’s worth the money.
WINNERS: Giants WR Wan’dale Robinson
Since Jints’ QB Jaxson Dart and RB Cam Skattebo went down with season-ending injuries, few, if any, figured we’d see a G-Man in the winner portion of our program, myself included.
Welp, we were all wrong, as the fourth-year man out of Kentucky put together the game of his career — both fantasy- and reality-wise — posting an absurd 156 yards a TD. And had Seahawks WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba not existed, Robinson and his 21.6 fantasy points would have taken home the week’s WR1 trophy.
And did I mention that his QB, Jameis Winston was this week’s QB1? I did? Well, I’m doing it again.
Jameis Winston was this week’s QB1. Sure, the Giants lost to the Lions 34-27 in a game they probably should’ve taken. But still.
LOSER: Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin
Your heart has to break for Chris Godwin. He’s an injury-waiting-to-happen who’s played just ten games over the last two seasons, and the eye test tells us that he’s not the same coveted-by-fantasy-managers entity he was in 2019, when he racked up 1,333 yards and 9 touchdowns — with nary a fumble to be seen — and finished the year as fantasy’s WR2.
Last night, in his first game since October 5, facing the Rams’ admittedly frightening defense, Godwin caught 2 of his 4 targets for nine yards and 0.9 fantasy points (WR77).
His fellow Bucs WR, rookie Emeka Egbuka, is Tampa’s clear alpha dog, although the numbers from last night tell us that Tampa had an alpha-free evening, with the team compiling a piddly 193 total yards. We’ll see if Godwin can get his groove back in Week 13, when the Bucs host a Cardinals team that ranks that allows over 30 fantasy points per game to opposing receivers.
WINNER: Bears QB Caleb Williams
The Bears sophomore’s passing numbers in Chicago’s 31-28 win over Pittsburgh weren’t sexy — 19-of-35 passing for 239 yards — but he threw 3 TDs, took just 1 sack, tossed 0 picks, and ran for 21 yards.
Thanks to all the ancillary digits, Williams overcame his inaccurate afternoon (54.2% passing) to finish the week as fantasy’s QB6, the third time in his last four outings he’s cracked the top-ten.
And his Bears are 8-3, which merits a big WTF from football fans all across the land.
LOSER: Bengals WR Room
Tee Higgins was out with a concussion. Ja’Marr Chase was suspended for a bad use of his saliva. Which meant Cincinnati’s WR3, WR4, and WR16 had all the chances in the world to make names for themselves.
Which is exactly what they didn’t do.
WRs Andrei Iosivals, Mitchell Tinsley, and Charlie Jones combined for 6 catches on 14 targets and a grand total of 90 yards. This was a terrible look in FantasyLand, where, if they were one person, would have finished the game with 14.5 fantasy points.
Moving forward, Ja’Marr Chase had damn well better keep his spit to himself.
WINNERS: Packers RB Emanuel Wilson
Did Josh Jacobs just lose his gig?
Jacobs (knee) missed yesterday’s 23-6 Packers dub over Minnesota, but the Packers didn’t miss him, as his backup, Fort Valley State University’s own Emmanuel Wilson, did a number on the Vikings, putting together a 107-rushing-yard, 2-rushing TD, 24.5-fantasy-point masterpiece that had Green Bay fans being all like, “Josh who?”
It also had fantasy managers who snatched Wilson off of the waiver wire (like me) all like, “I freaking love Fort Valley State University!”
LOSER: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Then there were fantasy managers who were relying on Taylor to get them back into the playoff race (like me), and watched him poop the bed to the tune of 6.5 fantasy points.
All of which got me to thinking, remember how Taylor was very much in the MVP conversation? Welp, after Rams QB Matthew Stafford continued his sublime play, dropping 3 TDs on the Tampa Bay Bucs, that conversation might be over.
Regardless of whether your Week 10 PrizePicks picks were good (Caleb), bad (J.J.), or ugly (J.T.), you had a ton of fun making your selections, and will continue to do so as the NFL season progresses.
And if you enjoyed our NFL Week 10 winners and losers, stick with Playbook all season for advice, predictions, takes, winners, and losers.
