This is the last week of the fantasy football season—literally, in most leagues. It's also, figuratively speaking, just about the last week of the year IDP managers want to Live the Stream.

Fantasy managers in a must-win situation (as so many are) don't want to plug holes in their boats with Flex-Seal. They want reliable weekly starters. Individual defensive players who have demonstrated time and again this year that they will post a number. Guys who won't let them down in a matchup that may well determine if they play on or not.

But as I found out as a kid when Santa didn't bring me the AT-AT I explicitly asked for (multiple times), we don't always get what we want.

Some IDP managers wouldn't even be in the position they are had they not struggled streaming plays for weeks to compensate for injuries or players who haven't met expectations. Quite a few others are dealing with the fallout from the second Byepocalypse—Week 14 features six teams on bye.

That was nice of the NFL.

So, like it or not, many IDP managers are Living the Stream in Week 14.

Hey, if the guy in the commercial can ride a screen-door boat across the water, we're golden, right?

Right?

IDP Matchup Play: EDGE Leonard Floyd, San Francisco (vs. Chicago)

It's been a down year for the San Francisco 49ers, largely because of the onslaught of injuries that have besieged the team. However, there have been bright spots as well, including the play of veteran edge-rusher Leonard Floyd, who is just off the team lead in sacks after 13 weeks. While speaking to reporters, head coach Kyle Shanahan credited Floyd's non-stop motor with his success in 2024.

 "Yeah, his motor's been, he's like that every day in practice," Shanahan said. "Especially for a guy like whatever year it is, 10th or something. To be able to go that hard in practice every day, I don't get how he can keep it up. You could always see it on tape; he's got such a good motor on tape. He knows no other way. He loves playing football, he keeps it very simple, he likes to come out there every day. He goes hard as he can. In the games, he just cuts it loose and he kind of took over in that way, and I think he's a real inspiring guy to watch."

The Bears mark the third former team that Floyd will have faced this season, and he has been hot of late, piling up nine tackles and 3.5 sacks over his past three games. It's not news that some rookie quarterbacks tend to get sacked a lot, and Chicago's Caleb Williams has been dropped more than any other quarterback in the league this year—49 times.

IDP Matchup Play: EDGE Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh (vs. Cleveland)

Two weeks ago in Cleveland, the Steelers were stunned by the lowly Browns—in part because the team's pass rush was held in check. After a month-long absence, Highsmith is expected to rejoin that pass rush for the rematch in the Steel City, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn't try to hide his excitement at the idea of having a full complement of edge rushers while addressing the media.

"It's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Tomlin said. "You can't run out of rush men, particularly in December." So, it's exciting. Make no mistake, there's enough work for all parties involved, and we're excited about sorting that out as we prepare."

Nick Herbig has had his moments with Highsmith out, and the Steelers acquired veteran Preston Smith at the trade deadline in part because of Highsmith's injury woes this season. But from all indications, the fifth-year veteran will be a full-go when the Steelers take on the only team in the NFL that has given up 50 sacks on the season in 2024.

IDP Matchup Play: LB Jordan Hicks, Cleveland (at Pittsburgh)

Hicks' first season in Cleveland has been a microcosm of his professional career—he's a quality NFL linebacker when healthy, but that caveat has loomed over Hicks for much of his decade-long career. Hicks has missed four entire games this year and considerable chunks of others with a nagging arm injury, and he acknowledged to reporters that it has been a bumpy ride.

"Frustrating. Trying to just let my body heal, but also mentally being engaged and constantly wanting to be out there," Hicks said. "In my 10 years, injury's always been the hardest part of this game, overcoming it and staying positive through it. So anytime you get dealt those cards, it just sucks."

Hicks is finally 100 percent (or at least close), and in Monday's wild loss to the Denver Broncos, the 32-year-old led Cleveland with 12 total tackles one week after logging a sack against the Steelers. This week's second go-round will take place against a team surrendering the eighth-most fantasy points per game to linebackers in 2024.

IDP Matchup Play: LB Micah McFadden, NY Giants (vs. New Orleans)

Not much has gone right for the Giants this season, but the play of McFadden has been one—he's started all 11 games and has been as productive on a per-snap basis as any linebacker on the team. McFadden endured his share of losing in college, too, but he told reporters that no matter what his team's record is, he intends to give his all every snap.

"Obviously, this season is not where we want it to be," he said. "But, at the end of the day this is our job, and we all get paid to do this. But, on a deeper level, there's a sense of pride. Especially for me, every time I step out on the football field, I have an appreciation for the opportunity to play in the NFL and to be out there with my teammates and to support them and play alongside them. It's a true honor. I think that's what we're all playing for."

McFadden's snap counts have vacillated a bit in his third professional season, but he has been a three-down player (75-plus percent snap share) in each of his past four games ahead of this week's home date with a Saints team that has been kind to opposing linebackers in 2024—fifth in fantasy points per game given up to the position.

IDP Matchup Play: S Jonathan Owens, Chicago (at San Francisco)

There aren't that many NFL players who aren't best known as NFL players. But Owens is the exception to that rule—something to do with being married to arguably the greatest gymnast that ever lived. In an interview, Owens said that he hopes being around athletic greatness every day at home helps him become a better athlete in his own right.

"She's the greatest in her sport ever," Owens said. "So, I'm like, some of that has to rub off on me, you know what I mean? So, um, I just love having her there, and like, it just gives me more energy, more effort. I want to impress my wife."

In case you've been living in a cave, he's married to Simone Biles.

Owens is likely never going to be an elite player—he's not even a full-time starter. But right now, Owens is in an every-down role in Chicago, and he showed in both Green Bay and Houston that when the snaps are there, the stats generally follow. Taking on a 49ers team that leads the NFL in fantasy points per game allowed to safeties is just gravy.

What? Too soon to say gravy?

IDP Matchup Play: S Donovan Wilson, Dallas (vs. Cincinnati)

Two years ago, Wilson led the Cowboys with 101 total tackles—a season that earned him a three-year, $21 million extension in 2023. But the 2024 campaign hasn't been a good one—Wilson's production, level of play and even durability have all been shaky at times—as the folks at Blogging the Boys detailed.

"He hasn't put forth the performance the Cowboys need at the safety spot," they said. "Wilson has 11 missed tackles on the season, which is just one fewer than he had last season, and there's still seven games for the Cowboys to play. He has a missed tackle percentage of 18%, the second-worst of his career. In coverage, it's been even worse. Wilson has allowed 19 receptions (tied for the second-most of his career). The 280 yards, 90.5% reception percentage, and 14.7 yards per catch Wilson has surrendered in 2024 are the worst marks he's had in his six seasons in the league."

So why roll out a struggling player in a game that IDP managers have to have? For starters, it hasn't been all bad for Wilson—he logged five stops and added a sack in a Thanksgiving Day win over the New York Giants. He also faces a high-octane Bengals offense in Week 14 that tends to keep opposing safeties busy—seventh in fantasy points per game given up to safeties this year.

Gary Davenport ("The Godfather of IDP") is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow him on Twitter (Can't make him call it X) at @IDPSharks.