Falcons kicker among fantasy playoff heroes in Week 14

Unlikely heroes tend to emerge around this time of the fantasy season. Maybe it’s that player you took a flier on. Maybe it’s the streamer you plugged in because you had a stud out due to injury. Or maybe it’s that player who’s been in your lineup all season, but you never really expect much from them.

Like a kicker.

Whoever it is, they emerge and explode in unexpected ways, and in Week 14, we had a quite a few unlikely heroes (and some unexpected “villains”) who helped carry teams into the second round of the fantasy playoffs (or sunk them completely). Here’s a couple of those surprising players:

For those of you who don’t know who Younghoe Koo is, he is currently the Falcons kicker. He reached viral fame for doing stuff like this:

But he was never expected to be one of the top kickers in fantasy. I mean, his Thanksgiving performance alone (missing a 42-yard field goal and an extra point) pretty much relegated him to streamer status in fantasy. Well, that — and his current 47% rostership — will probably change after what he did in a crucial Week 14:

Ryan Tannehill has been playing crisp, efficient football for the Titans, but expecting him to deliver a potentially week-winning performance in the fantasy playoffs is asking a lot — yet, that’s exactly what he did in Week 14 against the Raiders:

With T.Y. Hilton out, Zach Pascal was expected to assume WR1 duties for the Colts. Yet, in such a low-volume passing game, not many fantasy managers seemed to expect much from Pascal, hence his 35% rostership this week. Well, Pascal did more than just help (9 targets, 5 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD, 2-PT), especially for this manager:

But of course, as mentioned before, where there are heroes, there must be villains. In this case, villains mean star fantasy players who just couldn’t make it happen in a must-win week.

In the case of Odell Beckham Jr., not making it happen has been a season-long trend:

It’s hard to complain about Patrick Mahomes, but in a must-win week, it’s tough to stay logical:

Philip Rivers has been going through a mediocre stretch in both fantasy and reality. So it’s understandable why you would bench him for a seemingly better option in Week 14 ... right? (Go check Rivers’ stat-line vs. the Jaguars — ouch).

Who saved/sunk your fantasy season in Week 14? Let us know in the comments and hit us up @YahooFantasy !