It’s getting to be do or die time in both the NFL playoff chase and in the fantasy football chase. Unfortunately for the Falcons, their playoff hopes likely were squashed with a pretty embarrassing home loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I hope your playoff hopes are more alive than Atlanta’s.

The Falcons’ offense woke up a bit in the second half, which was a good thing if you’re relying on any Birds in your lineup. It’s yet another week of the Atlanta offense putting up less than 20 points, however — that’s four times in five games.

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 13’s defeat against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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), Olamide Zaccheaus (1)

Past Duds: Kyle Pitts (4), Drake London (3), Younghoe Koo (2), Falcons D/ST (1), Marcus Mariota (1), Cordarrelle Patterson (1)

Fantasy Stud - Drake London

Stat Line: 6 catches, 95 receiving yards: 9.5 standard league points; 15.5 PPR points

Well, that’s exactly what we were hoping for from London, and his role in the offense, after Kyle Pitts went down with injury. Following a troubling Week 12 where he did not do much, the top 10 pick from the 2022 NFL Draft commanded 12 targets, hauled in six catches and accounted for 95 receiving yards, all of which were game highs.

The targets in particular were very promising. Marcus Mariota threw the ball 24 times and half of those were to London alone. He is the true alpha of this passing attack and was treated as such. The 95 yards is also the highest mark the USC alum has achieved all season.

It will be difficult to gauge London’s value moving forward and after the bye week. There is plenty of speculation that Desmond Ridder may take over starting quarterback duties, which may be a great scenario for London, but at the very least we can be confident that his value won’t tank if Mariota remains the starter (as has been the case for most of the season).

Dud

Marcus Mariota: 167 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 interception, 3 carries, 17 rushing yards: 10.38 standard league/PPR points

That was a very underwhelming performance for the former Heisman Trophy Winner. Mariota missed plenty of his pass catchers in this one, and his floor was lower than usual on account of his 17 rushing yards, which was his lowest mark since Week 4.

The former Oregon Duck checks in as the QB24 as of the conclusion of the Sunday games. He has not put up a QB1 performance (defined as being a top 12 scorer at his position) since Week 8, as his underwhelming season has continued. Not even his second passing touchdown to MyCole Pruitt in as many weeks could propel him to a decent stat line.

The interception Mariota threw to seal the game may have been the last pass in his stint as Falcons quarterback. I would not expect to see him under center on the other end of the bye week.