Setting aside that my NFFC team is more or less toast - I'll probably still win my individual league in the three-week playoff, but long-shot dreams of the $100K grand prize are dead - Week 15 was strangely calm. Even Heather noted there was no yelling and screaming or, on the rare occasion something good happened, celebrating. Part of it is the season nearing its end, and I've come to accept it for what it is - a mediocre/poor ATS showing, some decent teams that were bounced from the playoffs, no huge amounts of money won - but  I'm also finally watching the game in a decent setup from our new place in Lisbon as opposed to Berlin, Budapest, our other Lisbon apartment which didn't suit us, or a hotel room in the Algarve where I was last week.

(View of the 25 de Abril Bridge from our bedroom window. Above entryway to an apartment building a few blocks away.)

• What a sequence of failure between the Cowboys and Bucs in the end game. Dirk Koetter punted down three on 4th-and-5 from the Cowboys' 40 with 7:00 minutes left. Two plays later the Cowboys had the ball at the Bucs 34. Of all the teams you don't give the ball back to in the end game when you have a chance to make a first down! Koetter was actually lucky the Cowboys got such big chunks rather than slow, grind-it-out first downs that chewed up the entire clock.

The Cowboys eventually made it to the Bucs 15 with 2:58 left, but on 4th-and-1, they kicked the field goal to go up six! Not only does this put the Bucs in the position of playing for the win rather than the tie, but the Cowboys are the best suited team in the league to gain one yard and more or less seal the game.

The Bucs offense failed on its two final drives, but Jameis Winston overthrew a wide open Mike Evans on what could have been a game-winning TD

• Every time the Bucs handed the ball to Doug Martin, it felt like a wasted play. There are two directions in which to go when the run is failing: (1) force it in service of something called "establishing the run"; or (2) abandon it and do what's working until the defense brings in six DBs and makes running much easier. For whatever reason, NFL coaches seem to believe (1) like it's carved into Moses' tablets.

• Dak Prescott put the Giants game behind him with a reasonably efficient (7.8 YPA) dink and dunk performance where he completed 32 of 36 attempts and ran for a score. The Cowboys still need to show they can attack deep though if they're going to win the Super Bowl.

• Ezekiel Elliott always gets his, and this game against a stout Tampa D was especially big - 188 YFS and a score.

• The Cowboys should not be targeting Jason Witten more than 3-4 times per game. While he caught all 10 of his targets, it was for 51 yards, and he lost a fumble.

• Jameis Winston threw three interceptions, none of which were his fault. The first was on a end-of-half Hail Mary, the second due to getting hit while he threw a pass and the third on fourth down to end the game. I wrote about how the interception stat is often misleading, and this was a case in point.

• I didn't watch much of the Bills-Browns, but it looks like RGIII had a credible game, and by credible I mean didn't play like a college backup. Griffin managed 7.0 YPA, no turnovers and rushed for 48 yards and a score. He did take five sacks which is a long-standing problem for him, but it was a major improvement over the Cincinnati game.

• I had downgraded McCoy a bit due to the presence of Mike Gillislee at the goal line, and Gillislee did vulture one TD, but what a monster game otherwise - 8.1 YPC, 169 YFS, two scores. Instead I used Sammy Watkins in a few places.

• The Browns are one of the worst teams in the league vs. the TE, and Charles Clay predictably caught all seven of his targets for 72 yards and a score. Sometimes it's better to use the best players, other times to target the weakest competition.

• It would be funny if - after all the controversy about where Ty Montgomery should qualify - he started 2017 as Green Bay's No. 1 tailback. It's still a long shot, but he made a good case Sunday. Of course, Christine Michael also gashed the Bears for a long TD.

• Jordy Nelson is a top-five WR this year, despite coming off an ACL tear at age 31.

•  Matt Barkley made some mistakes, but he deserves a shot to start next year. The Bears went from doormats that weren't even full three-point home favorites over the 49ers a few weeks ago to a team that's came back from three scores down against the Packers and has a puncher's chance against any non-elite team.

•  Jordan Howard will be drafted in the second round next year.

• Lev Bell had a disappointing 131 YFS and five catches. That's what it's come to for the elite backs this year - anything short of a monster game is below par.

• Ben Roethlisberger had a decent game, but he so rarely puts up big numbers on the road.

•  Tyler Eifert was a no-show, while Brandon LaFell has more or less been Cincy's No. 1 outside receiver since A.J. Green went down.

• Rex Burkhead always seems to be more efficient than Jeremy Hill.

• DeMarco Murray had another nice game - five catches, 141 YFS, but Derrick Henry vultured both of his TDs.

• Jeremy Maclin is finally back, relegating Tyreek Hill back to bit-player status. Hill did have a 68-yard TD run, but that was his only touch of the game. (He had three targets, but caught none of them.)

• After a few big games, Travis Kelce was quiet, and Spencer Ware's efficiency has plummeted of late. The Chiefs seem to do this every year - amass a good record on big plays and special teams, but look incapable of doing damage in the playoffs.

• The Titans decision to go for two with 3:12 left in what would have been a tie game was odd. Normally, if the game is down to the wire, you can roll the dice as it's 50/50, either way, i.e., in overtime or on that play. But with time left, you're giving the other team incentive to play aggressively and beat you if you make it (rather than conservatively for overtime) and letting them know they should run clock if you miss it, rather than playing to kick a game-winning FG. Essentially, you're allowing them to optimize their strategy in a way that they could not in a tie game. I'm not sure whether that makes it a bad choice, but it seems to be the difference between doing it early and doing it with no time left. Maybe someone else has run the numbers and can tell me if I'm missing something obvious. Either way, they should have called a better play.

I do think there's some ancillary benefit to boldness - even if slightly (but not glaringly) wrong on the math - as it sends the right message to the team. Players are always encouraged to be tough and courageous, and it's good when the man urging them on isn't an abject coward like so many of the league's head coaches.

• Ryan Succop hit a 53-yarder to win the game after Andy Reid "iced" him on a miss. After the game, Succop admitted the kick was out of his range in those conditions, but on the second try, he scrapped technique and just blasted it.

• I started Adrian Peterson in the NFFC playoffs over Mark Ingram at the last minute, but I don't regret it. It cost me 8.9 points, but considering the four-point favorite Vikings lost by 28, and the 2.5-point underdog Saints scored 48 points, it seems like a small price to pay for the error. Peterson seemed healthy enough, and the Vikings were committed to getting him the ball, but they possessed it only 13 plays in the first half, and Peterson's lost fumble contributed to the problem. By the start of the second-half, it was no longer a Peterson game-flow, and that was that. Frustratingly, I had Jerick McKinnon (nine catches) on my bench.

• Apparently the Vikings were incorrect to believe they were a contender to the point where dealing a first-rounder for Sam Bradford made sense in the wake of the Teddy Bridgewater injury. That's called throwing good money at bad. I was also incorrect about the Vikings earlier this year.

• Andrew Luck played a good game against a Minnesota defense that shuts down almost everyone, but none of his receivers had more than 50 yards.

• Frank Gore had 115 YFS, but Robert Turbin vultured both touchdowns.

• Kyle Rudolph has become a dependable, though unspectacular tight end. Stefon Diggs and the rest of the outside receivers all but disappeared for the Vikings.

• Quarterbacks even peripherally in the MVP discussion should avoid scheduling the Giants.

• The Giants-Lions was one of the more unwatchable games of the day. Both teams were dink-and-dunking nearly every play, no one was willing to take a chance and there were injury stoppages piled on top of endless commercial breaks interrupting any semblance of game flow.

• Eli Manning is a below-average NFL quarterback. I'd seriously consider taking Matt Barkley ahead of him in real life for 2017. Manning not only misses open receivers, but he throws behind them or at them rather than leading them into easy yards after the catch. The great Odell Beckham bailed him out one such throw with an amazing one handed catch and reach for the pylon.

• Rashad Jennings got 18 useless carries and the much more dynamic Paul Perkins 11 productive ones. Make the switch already - you can't give away downs and go deep into the playoffs.

• For all of Ben McAdoo's cowardice and terrible play calling - of course praised by brain dead Joe Buck and Troy Aikman - he called one good series up four midway through the fourth quarter when Manning hit Odell Beckham for a 25-yard gain and Sterling Shepard for 23, setting up the Giants' final TD to go up 11. Even though the defense is good, you never want to give the opposing offense shot after shot at them down only one score.

• The Giants lost Janoris Jenkins - arguably a top-five cornerback this year - to a midsection injury, and they're concerned it could be organ-related. First-round rookie Eli Apple has played well, but losing Jenkins would be a significant blow against teams unlike Detroit that can actually attack down the field.

• I've misread the Terrence West/Kenneth Dixon timeshare for most of the last six weeks.

• Ryan Mathews has produced in spots this year, but most of the time it was impossible to see coming.

• Justin Tucker is the greatest kicker of all time, and it's not close.

• Gus Bradley's firing was like a woman giving birth at 11 months.

• When your starter's play is barbaric, there's nothing wrong with trying a Savage backup. Actually, it's mind-boggling Bill O'Brien didn't turn to Tom Savage six games ago. Another coach overdue to be fired, O'Brien also kicked a 39-yard field goal with nearly a minute left in the first half on 4th-and-a-half-yard to go.

• Blake Bortles is every bit as bad as Brock Osweiler, and I do not write those words lightly. Both have presided over nearly unprecedented first-round receiving busts (Allen Robinson and DeAndre Hopkins, respectively.) With Savage taking over, Hopkins finished with 17 targets, eight catches and 87 yards. Robinson (8-2-15-0) had no such luck.

• Devonta Freeman predictably torched the 49ers for 155 YFS and three TDs. Not much else of significance happened in this game.

• The NFL can be frustrating. I had the Cardinals -2.5, they were down seven, midway through the fourth quarter with the Saints driving. On third-down, the Cardinals blitzed, got to Drew Brees for a deep sack, knocking New Orleans out of field-goal range. But during the sack, one defender drove Brees into the other oncoming one, and their helmets grazed as Brees went down. Personal foul, roughing the passer, 15-yard penalty, automatic first down. The Saints scored a TD on that drive instead of punting, and it was game over. The Cardinals were the wrong side anyway, but at least let the game play out.

• One reason I sat Ingram for Peterson was Sean Payton's maddening touch-distribution among his backs. Accordingly, even though Ingram is clearly the team's best back, Tim Hightower scored both rushing touchdowns, and Travaris Cadet had five catches including a TD as well.

• Drew Brees usually isn't good on the road, and the Cardinals had the league's top defense, but 389 and four pays the bills. Of course, Brees' owners were probably bounced from the playoffs last week. Similarly Brandin Cooks had a monster game a couple weeks too late for many people.

• David Johnson kept his 100-plus YFS streak going with a meager 107, but he scored twice and caught five passes.

• Carson Palmer had a decent game, and it would have been better but for some drops. The most egregious was on the team's penultimate drive when J.J. Nelson dropped a would be long TD after he was well behind the defense.

• The Patriots win a lot of games where they don't necessarily look like the better team but just make some key plays.

• Never start your QB in Denver even if it's Tom Brady.

• The Broncos miss C.J. Anderson. Justin Forsett and Devontae Booker are bad.

• Derek Carr is decent, but it's preposterous he's in the MVP discussion along with quarterbacks like Matt Ryan and Brady who are having great seasons. I'm not sure why the Raiders spent such an early pick on Amari Cooper last year if they're so uncommitted to using him.

• Of course the Chargers fumbled at their own 14 in the fourth quarter up three. It's just who they are as an organization.