Every decision is amplified in fantasy football championship week. The anxiousness starts earlier than usual. The early start to the week is one of Week 17’s most important storylines. A slumping offense and a rematch of a shootout from earlier this season are the other storylines that caught my eye for this week.

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Fantasy Football Storylines

Navigating Injuries Will Be Tricky in Week 17, With Games Starting on Wednesday

The Netflix doubleheader on Christmas will throw a wrench into navigating players with injuries. Unfortunately, there will be a lack of meaningful practices for the teams playing on Sunday before gamers are forced to weigh the pros and cons of starting a lesser player on Wednesday or Thursday night instead of waiting for more info on an injured player.

Jalen Hurts is the first player to come to mind since he left Sunday’s game with a concussion. Players have returned the following week from concussions, while others have missed multiple weeks. Fortunately, most gamers don’t have Hurts with Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson, and Russell Wilson and C.J. Stroud aren’t enticing streamers.

Yet, Geno Smith would be a potential option against Chicago’s collapsing defense on Thursday Night Football. Unless there’s concrete evidence Hurts will miss Week 17’s contest, gamers are probably better off bypassing Smith as a streamer to see if they’ll have Philadelphia’s dual-threat quarterback for their fantasy matchup.

The decisions aren’t as straightforward for gamers with James Conner and Kenneth Walker. Ideally, more info about players with murky injury statuses will be available before Wednesday. Don’t worry. I’ll be around for a bonus Discord AMA session this week to help navigate a unique championship week. In addition to my standard 3:00 p.m. ET Discord AMA on Friday, I’ll be in and out of the Shepardson-AMA channel on Christmas Eve, answering your questions.

Can the Rams Shake Out of Their Offensive Funk?

The Rams have rattled off four straight victories and eight in their previous 10, but the offense has posted 12 and 19 points since smashing the Bills for 44. Matthew Stafford has passed for fewer than 200 yards in three of his last four games.

Puka Nacua has overcome Stafford’s’ lackluster output. In Stafford’s three games under 200 passing yards, Nacua had five receptions for 56 receiving yards and a touchdown, seven, 97 and zero and eight, 56 and zero. Gamers can confidently fire up Nacua.

No one else in Los Angeles’s passing attack has overcome Stafford’s recent yardage drought, including Cooper Kupp. In Stafford’s three stinkers, Kupp had 17, zero and 24 scoreless yards on three, zero and three receptions.

The Cardinals aren’t necessarily a get-right matchup for Stafford or Kupp. In Arizona’s previous eight games, they’ve allowed only Geno Smith to exceed 250 passing yards, held four quarterbacks under 225 passing yards and allowed multiple passing touchdowns just twice.

It’s not outrageous to consider benching Kupp. However, he’s not an auto-bench, either. The Rams are 5.5-point favorites at home, and the game’s total is 49.0 points, leaving Los Angeles with a fantasy-friendly implied total of 27.25 points. Kupp has touchdown potential and has demonstrated fantasy usefulness as recently as barbecuing the Bills for five receptions, 92 receiving yards and a touchdown in Week 14.

The game’s spread and LA’s implied total are excellent for Kyren Williams‘ fantasy outlook in Week 17. He’s rolling, too. Williams has had at least 97 scrimmage yards in four straight games and cleared 70 in 13 straight. In LA’s last two games, Williams has rumbled for 108 rushing yards and 122 with a touchdown, sprinkling in two and one reception for four and seven receiving yards. League winner gets thrown around too often, but Williams can win leagues next week against a defense that was just trounced for 152 rushing yards and two touchdowns by Chuba Hubbard in an overtime loss.

Will the Vikings and Packers Repeat Their Week 4 Fireworks?

Jordan Love returned in Week 4 from a two-game absence with a knee injury to have an up-and-down game in a shootout against the Vikings. The NFC North foes combined for 60 points in Minnesota’s 31-29 victory. Sam Darnold torched Green Bay’s defense for 275 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 15 rushing yards with one interception. Justin Jefferson had six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown, and Jordan Addison had three for 72 and one. All three are quality fantasy options in the rematch, and Jefferson is on a heater since snapping his six-game touchdown drought.

Aaron Jones had 22 rush attempts for 93 scoreless rushing yards and four receptions for 46 scoreless receiving yards in his first matchup against his former employer. Green Bay has stiffened up their run defense lately, but Jones is a workhorse with rushing and receiving chops. The veteran running back has exceeded 80 scrimmage yards in three straight games and eight of 10. Jones has also cleaned up his fumbling issue, going three straight without putting the ball on the ground. Moreover, he’s scored a touchdown in four of his past five games. Jones is unquestionably an RB1 in championship week.

Circling back to Love, he completed 32 of 54 pass attempts for 389 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions against the Vikings in Week 4 after a two-week absence with a knee injury. The Packers want to lean heavily on Josh Jacobs in the running game. Yet, Green Bay’s passing attack has a much easier path to success than their running attack.

Per Pro Football Reference, the Vikings have allowed the fourth-most passing yards per game (248.7) and the second-fewest rushing yards per game (87.1). However, according to the data suite at Fantasy Points, since Week 13, the Vikings have permitted 121.0 rushing yards per game, 4.52 yards per carry and two rushing touchdowns and 278.5 passing yards per game, 7.10 yards per attempt and five passing touchdowns. So, gamers shouldn’t be too concerned about Jacobs’ outlook. He’s an elite RB1. Still, Love is a top-10 quarterback.

The passing options might be narrowed this week after Christian Watson hurt his knee on Monday night. If Watson is out, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs are more intriguing WR3s/flexes. Tucker Kraft is also a nifty option after Luke Musgrave didn’t put a meaningful dent in Kraft’s playing time on Monday night.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.