Unlikely heroes tend to emerge around this time of the fantasy season. Maybe it’s that player you took a flier on. Maybe it’s the streamer you plugged in because you had a stud out due to injury. Or maybe it’s that player who’s been in your lineup all season, but you never really expect much from them.

Like a kicker.

Whoever it is, they emerge and explode in unexpected ways, and in Week 14, we had a quite a few unlikely heroes (and some unexpected “villains”) who helped carry teams into the second round of the fantasy playoffs (or sunk them completely). Here’s a couple of those surprising players:

For those of you who don’t know who Younghoe Koo is, he is currently the Falcons kicker. He reached viral fame for doing stuff like this:

But he was never expected to be one of the top kickers in fantasy. I mean, his Thanksgiving performance alone (missing a 42-yard field goal and an extra point) pretty much relegated him to streamer status in fantasy. Well, that — and his current 47% rostership — will probably change after what he did in a crucial Week 14:

Ryan Tannehill has been playing crisp, efficient football for the Titans, but expecting him to deliver a potentially week-winning performance in the fantasy playoffs is asking a lot — yet, that’s exactly what he did in Week 14 against the Raiders:

With T.Y. Hilton out, Zach Pascal was expected to assume WR1 duties for the Colts. Yet, in such a low-volume passing game, not many fantasy managers seemed to expect much from Pascal, hence his 35% rostership this week. Well, Pascal did more than just help (9 targets, 5 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD, 2-PT), especially for this manager:

Took a flyer on Pascal to replace Josh Jacobs, saved my year! — Dan Heiserman (@HeisermanDan) December 9, 2019

But of course, as mentioned before, where there are heroes, there must be villains. In this case, villains mean star fantasy players who just couldn’t make it happen in a must-win week.

In the case of Odell Beckham Jr., not making it happen has been a season-long trend:

Odell is about to send me packing — Aj (@ajtaldii) December 9, 2019

It’s hard to complain about Patrick Mahomes, but in a must-win week, it’s tough to stay logical:

13 points just won’t do. pic.twitter.com/bSHfYtswKf — Gabriel Largaespada (@GLargaespada) December 9, 2019

Philip Rivers has been going through a mediocre stretch in both fantasy and reality. So it’s understandable why you would bench him for a seemingly better option in Week 14 ... right? (Go check Rivers’ stat-line vs. the Jaguars — ouch).

Finally benched Rivers 🤦‍♂️ — Coach Raines (@CoachRaines_) December 9, 2019

Who saved/sunk your fantasy season in Week 14? Let us know in the comments and hit us up @YahooFantasy !