As the regular season reaches its home stretch and fantasy playoff sports were locked in in Week 13, it proved to a be pivotal week in results, and that’s including the Red Zone chances that arose.

Red Zone Passing Attempts

Carson Wentz , QB PHI – After struggling for a few weeks, granted he was missing some key targets, he returned in a big way in Week 13 with his best passing day inside the 20 on the year. The 13 attempts topped his previous season-high of 11 and produced three touchdowns inside the 20 with them being spread between the backfield and wideouts, including one just returning after a few week absence. Wentz, and the Eagles, still have the NFC East title in their grasp with how poorly the Cowboys have played of late and if Wentz can continue these types of games, which he can given his MVP-caliber play in his career, Philadelphia could sneak it’s way to the fourth-seed in the NFC playoffs.

Gardner Minshew, QB JAC – We got the news that the mustached one would take back over the starting QB role in Jacksonville last week and he immediately made it pay off with eight attempts inside the 20 and six of those inside the five not including his rush attempt as well. He did only turn that into one touchdown, but those eight trips were nearly as many as Nick Foles managed in the previous two weeks combined, hence the reason Foles was swapped out under center. Minshew has been solid enough to hold the role the rest of the way and the wide receivers have had better weeks with him under center as well.

Andy Dalton , QB CIN – Welcome back Mr. Dalton! After being told, on his birthday, that he was losing his starting gig to rookie Ryan Finley, he returned and helped the Bengals to their first win of the season while attempting five passes in the Red Zone in the process. That total nearly equaled what Finley could muster in his three-week tryout and at this point it’s clear that it’s not Dalton that’s the problem with the Bengals but rather the entirety of their roster. The Bengals may not win another game this year, but with Dalton back, Tyler Boyd and Auden Tate have again become viable wideout options for the last few weeks.

David Blough, QB DET – Even in the face of the jokes involving his last name, the Lions’ third-string quarterback acquitted himself well on Thanksgiving for his first NFL start. Blough had four Red Zone attempts with one going for a score as the Lions hung with the Bears. There is a tough test awaiting him on Sunday in Minnesota but Matthew Stafford has already been ruled out so it’s Blough’s job to try and replicate a similar performance and allow fantasy owners to play Golladay in their opening playoff match-ups on Sunday.

Red Zone Rushing Attempts

Benny Snell, RB PIT – Snell was in the Red Zone report last week, and then went out and had an equally impressive showing in Week 13 and was once again the only back to register a Red Zone carry for the Steelers. Last week, I said he was the first Steelers’ back to break four Red Zone carries in a game, well now he’s done it twice in two weeks as he had five carries inside the 20 against the Browns and produced a score on one. Even though Jaylen Samuels out-snapped Snell, Snell was clearly the more used back in key spots including closing in on the endzone.

Rashaad Penny , RB SEA – Penny was the hot hand in Week 12, but then in Week 13, he become a legit piece to the Seahawks running attack as he pretty well split carries with Chris Carson . Both Penny and Carson had four Red Zone carries against Minnesota on Monday night and both had scores on those, but Penny also caught a pass for a score that ultimately became the game-sealing score. Penny has now compiled over 100 yards from scrimmage in two straight weeks and as the Seahawks look to keep their first-place standing in the NFC West intact, look for Penny to get more looks inside the 20 the rest of the way.

Peyton Barber , RB TB – After playing second fiddle to Ronald Jones , in terms of carries, every week but twice this season, Barber reemerged in Week 13 for the most carries and also got all of the Red Zone work. He turned those four carries inside the 20 into two scores on the day as well. Head Coach Bruce Arians has already stated that Jones is still the lead back in Tampa, but it should be noted that on the year, Barber has more carries in the Red Zone than Jones and since the team’s bye week in Week 7, Barber has outpaced him 10-6 in that department.

Red Zone Receiving Targets

Dede Westbrook , WR JAC – As mentioned above, with Minshew back, the wideouts had a better day. That really showed for Westbrook who had four Red Zone targets on Sunday, which just about equaled his season total coming into the game. Westbrook caught three of those targets and one of them for a score. Over the last two weeks, Westbrook has been targeted the most in the last two games for Jacksonville and caught the most passes in that span as well and has twice as many Red Zone targets as anyone else on the team in that time. He is a sneaky play in the fantasy playoffs going forward.

DeVante Parker , WR MIA – Parker has emerged as a fantasy football weapon in the last few weeks since he and Ryan Fitzpatrick really got on the same page. Overall, he’s seen 10 or more targets in general each of the last four games but this week is the only one he’s had more than one Red Zone target. He caught one of those for a score on Sunday and now gets a great match-up in Week 14 facing the Jets weak pass defense. For those needing high-upside players, Parker is just that guy going into the fantasy playoffs.

Alshon Jeffery , WR PHI – Jeffery returned from missing the last few weeks, and what a better return than against Miami in a pseudo-warm-up game. He saw three targets in the Red Zone and caught one of them for a 10-yard score. Those three targets as well were the second-highest game total for the year aside from the four-target day in Week 4. Jeffery is a key weapon for the Eagles passing game and having him back made an immediate impact for Wentz and the rest of the offense as well.

Red Zone Defense

New England Patriots – Only thrice in the last nine seasons, dating back to 2010, have teams allowed less than 30 opponent trips to the Red Zone over the course of a season. I know there are still four games left in the season, but New England is at 18 trips allowed right now in 12 games for a staggeringly low 1.5 trips allowed per game. The lowest total allowed in the last decade has been 26, meaning the Patriots are on pace to break that, despite the mediocre performances they’ve had the last few weeks, at least by their standards. With the Chiefs, Bengals, Bills, and Dolphins left, there’s a pretty good chance that their current pace will hold.

Baltimore Ravens – Last week it was all about Lamar Jackson and him possibly being an Avenger, and don’t get us wrong, he’s great and was again last weekend, but let’s not forget the Ravens’ defense. Aside from the demolition of the Dolphins, the Ravens have been allowing between 3.1 and 3.6 opponent trips to the Red Zone most of the year, until now. Even three weeks ago it was at 3.4 trips, now that their trade acquisitions and health have kicked in, they are down to 2.8 trips through Week 13. They have the Bills, Jets, Browns, and Steelers left on the schedule and still trying to lock down homefield advantage in the AFC playoffs meaning that defense should continue to tighten down on opponents in the last quarter of the season. It’s no wonder they’re at or near the top of every power ranking list that comes out.