You probably had Miami at Washington circled on your Week 13 calendar. On paper, it looked like a mismatch. On the field, that's how it played out.
It was just a matter of how the points would be distributed, and how the primary players would be used.
Miami entered the week as the No. 3 offense in DVOA. The Commanders defense was ranked 31st by the same metrics. You didn't need deep NFL knowledge to predict how this game would likely go. Miami had a 31-7 lead at halftime, negating any drama, and coasted to a 45-15 win.
The Miami passing pieces essentially competed for about half a game. Tyreek Hill sped to four catches and 152 yards in the first half, with two snappy touchdowns. He was targeted just twice after the break, but now has 1,481 receiving yards through 12 games this season. This puts him on pace to become the NFL's first 2,000-yard receiver. Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa had a perfect passer rating and 215 yards at halftime. He only threw nine passes (for 65 yards) after intermission. Jaylen Waddle posted a 4-49-0 line in the opening two periods, then had one catch afterwards. No reason to overextend your irreplaceable players.
Raheem Mostert had an okay fantasy day, 12 touches, a touchdown, 51 total yards. That sort of result generally doesn't win it for you, or lose it for you. But the Dolphins did an interesting thing with their other primary back, De'Von Achane.
Achane, who's missed time with a couple of injuries this year, only had five touches and 10 total yards in the first half. He's one of the few players the Commanders were able to stop over that time. But Miami kept Achane in the plan in the second half, even with the game out of hand. Achane scooped up a four-yard touchdown run early in the third period, then took control of a fourth-quarter drive, when the Dolphins were essentially draining the clock.
If you're an Achane manager, this was your moment. Achene carried the ball six straight times on the final Miami drive, and eight times in all. The final tote was a two-yard scoring plunge on fourth down, just inside the two-minute warning. Tagovailoa had been removed earlier in the quarter; Mike White was handling the snaps. Achane's plunge turned a 38-15 Miami lead into the 45-15 final score.
When the smoke cleared, Tagovailoa, Hill and Achane were all top 5 for the week at their respective fantasy positions. The when doesn't matter in fantasy football — garbage time points count just as much. Some might even suggest garbage-time scoring is twice as sweet, since it comes outside of the framework of a game's outcome, often as a pleasant surprise.
I'll admit I struggled with my Achane rank (and advice) this week. He obviously didn't play last week, and he was limited to two touches in Week 11 before hurting his knee. Like a lot of the Miami skill players, he's a little undersized — 5-foot-9, 188 pounds. I suspected the Dolphins might ease him back into the mix, something that was true for about a half, I suppose. It wasn't the case in the second half.
Some stuff is hard to know. In Week 13, De'Von Achane was The Closer.
As for the Miami passing game, perhaps it could have put up monstrous numbers had the Washington offense done a better job fighting back. The Commanders were held to 11 first downs and 245 yards of offense. Brian Robinson (7-53-0) had a couple of moments in the first half, but eventually left with a hamstring injury. Sam Howell (127 yards, 5.5 YPA, 50.5 rating) did not play well.
With the Commanders unable to sustain offense, the Washington receivers were mostly washouts. We liked Curtis Samuel as a sleeper play and 4-65-0 on five targets is useful, if not exactly needle-moving. Howell continues to lack chemistry with his two top receivers, Terry McLaurin (no catches, three targets) and Jahan Dotson (2-23-0, five targets). It's frustrating to see the Washington offense be so pass-heavy without weekly winners coming from the wideout room.
Say this for Howell's competitiveness, he did scramble for 21 yards and a couple of scores. He leaves it all on the field. The slumping Commanders now take their bye week to regroup, before finishing the year with the Rams, Jets, 49ers and Cowboys (sorry Dallas, it's the week after the Fantasy season ends). Let's take advantage of the Commanders where we can.
Note: This story will continue to be updated with more fantasy takeaways from Week 13.