The Falcons suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Commanders this weekend, which effectively made this season division or bust regarding to any sort of playoff chase (Washington now sits 2.0 games ahead for the final Wildcard spot, with the tiebreaker in hand as well). This was the game that Atlanta had to have, but which they let slip through their fingers.

The Falcons were poor on offense, scoring just 13 total points as it’s continued to be difficult to trust anybody in Arthur Smith’s fantasy unfriendly offense. The playoff push is on in fantasy leagues, and hopefully you’re not overly reliant on any Falcons for it.

There is a lot of great content available here at The Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This article will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than pure statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 12’s defeat against the Washington Commanders

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2022 History:

Past Studs: Cordarrelle Patterson (3), Marcus Mariota (2), Tyler Allgeier (2) Drake London (2), Kyle Pitts (1), Younghoe Koo (1)

Past Duds: Kyle Pitts (4), Younghoe Koo (2), Drake London (2) Falcons D/ST (1), Marcus Mariota (1), Cordarrelle Patterson (1)

Fantasy Stud - Olamide Zaccheaus

Stat Line - 5 catches, 91 receiving yards: 9.1 standard league points; 14.1 PPR points

Just like we all expected, Zaccheaus stepped up as the team’s primary receiver and as Mariota’s favorite pass catching target in the absence of Kyle Pitts, and he scored the most PPR fantasy points among Falcons as a result.

The rest of the Falcons just were not impressive at all, with on-field conditions not helping matters at all. Zaccheaus ended up leading both teams in targets and had a game-high five receptions. He did most of his damage when it mattered most, on the team’s crucial final drive, securing a 45-yard catch and run to put Atlanta in position to win the game.

Zaccehaus is not rostered in many fantasy leagues and he is not the player you want to rely on when it comes to your playoff push. His performance does warrant a speculative add if you have the bench space, but at the very least wait for another similar performance before trusting him as anything more than an end of bench piece.

Dud

Drake London: 2 catches, 29 receiving yards: 2.9 standard league points; 4.9 PPR points

Many were expecting London to be the primary beneficiary of Pitts’ absence, but he was looked at just four times and he hauled in only two catches. His 29 yards were second on the team, which shows how tepid Atlanta’s passing attack remained.

London has still not gone over 40 receiving yards since Week 3, after beginning the season with marks of 74 yards, 86 yards and a touchdown and then 53 yards and a touchdown, in the first three contests. He has devolved into a fully touchdown or bust dependent player in fantasy who will hinder your starting lineup if he does not find the end zone.

Unless the Falcons pull the plug on the Mariota project, London should be kept on your bench, unless you are truly desperate.