Every Saturday morning, Andy Richardson offers brief overviews of the upcoming Sunday games, including significant developments involving injuries. He'll also offer opinions on lineup questions over the course of the day.
We're getting down to the final weeks of the fantasy season, and it seems like it only just began. I have a league where the playoffs open this week, and there are surely people who need to win this week to keep playoff hopes alive. Difficult for those counting on Marshawn Lynch, A.J. Green and LeSean McCoy, all on a bizarre Week 12 bye. Anyway, let's get right to the games.
Jets at Ravens, Steelers at Browns: I'm grouping these, since they're essentially the same game. Weather could be an issue, it will definitely be cold in both, and there might be more defense than offense. Will be difficult if not impossible for any of the four teams to run the ball. The Steelers are softest against the run, but does anyone really want to count on Willis McGahee or Chris Ogbonnaya? Antonio Brown faces Joe Haden for my playoff top seed. I can't sit him, but I'm not happy about it. Ravens won't run, Jets probably won't either. Marlon Brown should play and Jets are softest against the pass, same deal with Emmanuel Sanders. Dennis Pitta might be active but certainly shouldn't be used.
Bucs at Lions: Starting to think Matthew Stafford is underrated; he is seldom mentioned in with the league's top passers. Guy is having a great year, yet it's all Brees-Brady-Manning-Rodgers, without his name getting discussed. In general. I think the Lions offense, at, home, will be just fine in this game. For the Bucs, I don't like the matchup for Bobby Rainey, but I'm using him in a PPR league. Might be a somewhat high-scoring game. Reggie Bush should be very good, Joique Bell might have a limited role while dealing with a foot injury.
Vikings at Packers: Scott Tolzien should get his first NFL win here. I am using Adrian Peterson, because he's Adrian Peterson, but if I had another decent option (standard league where we start 3 running backs, so I do not), I'd use it. Guy might lose a few snaps dealing with a groin injury, and we have to be prepared for the possibility of him not playing at all. Guess I oughtta go add Toby Gerhart, excuse me for a second. OK, I'm good. Usable if Peterson is out (but only then). Eddie Lacy, Packers receivers, all should be fine. Even Tolzien himself. Greg Jennings (Achilles) iffy, but can't really be used anyway.
Jaguars at Texans: Ben Tate should be very good, Maurice Jones-Drew should be OK. Texans passing offense should also be good. Noteworthy injuries are to Jaguars receivers who should not actually be used anywhere, I suppose there are leagues deep enough that Mike Brown might be considered, but he's hurt and may not play.
Chargers at Kansas City: I don't actually know any Chargers fans, but I feel kind of bad for them and Philip Rivers. This team reminds me of, oh, the Packers around 99-'02, a capable quarterback and some talent here and there, but a lot of holes, and a lot of narrow losses. Bad situation for their offense, but at least Keenan Allen appears to be OK. Love Jamaal Charles and even Dwayne Bowe this week.
Panthers at Dolphins: Another game without a ton of offense. We know Miami won't do much, and you get the feeling the Panthers will have a letdown after their big win over New England Monday night (and they don't have a lot of usable offensive players anyway, and Miami can also play some defense). I don't see anyone here I'd really want to use but Greg Olsen, the Panthers D, and Newton if I absolutely had to. Ted Ginn drafted by the Dolphins, but I wouldn't rush to use him on that basis.
Bears at Rams: Both running games look really good here. As we said in the Weekly, it's hard to know which Rams D is going to show up week to week, but I'd err on the side of using Bears rather than not using Bears. Zac Stacy should be pretty good.
Colts at Cardinals: Trent Richardson may not play, like anyone needed an excuse not to use him. He was actually my top pick in the league where I'm a top seed, casting doubt onto the value of first-round picks in fantasy leagues -- you can win without them, because so many of them flop. Donald Brown won't run well, probably, against this defense, but should put up good total numbers. I'm using Andrew Luck and would use T.Y. For the Cardinals, I am probably going to chance Andre Ellington and Larry Fitzgerald, and hope the Cards offense delivers for me. Indy's defense, nothing special.
Titans at Raiders: Probably Chris Johnson, Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker for Tennessee, Rashad Jennings and maybe Rod Streater (with McFadden and Denarius Moore out) for the Raiders. A blah game with teams vying to be 8-8 on the season.
Cowboys at Giants: In theory this will be a high-scoring shootout, but the Giants just haven't done much of that this season. A big game at Dallas in Week 1, but that was only after falling way behind. New York is playing good defense and has been conservative lately on offense, so I'm not expecting huge production out of their players. Hakeem Nicks is questionable, probably will play, but shouldn't really be used. Victor Cruz and Andre Brown should be fine. The Cowboys should have Miles Austin back. New York did a nice job on Dez Bryant in Week 1, recall, but I'd still bet on him.
Broncos at Patriots: I remember when I was a cynical late teen, early 20ish fan who didn't really get the hype about veteran quarterbacks meeting up. Now I do, I think this is gonna be an awesome game and great theater. And it's a huge matchup, too, with both teams very good, both quarterbacks playing well, playoff seedings on the line, and a very possible playoff preview. Broncos players should be used, Patriots I'd use include Brady, Amendola, Gronkowski, and Vereen. If you're not excited for this game, well, I don't know what to say. Should be a classic.
49ers at Washington: And then there's this one. Washington is just kind of sad, a good offense and sorry defense that will probably lose another tough game because they can't stop anyone. San Francisco has been erratic at best on offense, and though I'd use Gore definitely and Vernon Davis, I can't get excited about anything else in the 49ers passing game. Maybe Anquan Boldin, Washington's pretty bad. More running from San Francisco than passing, and I expect Washington to try a lot of stuff with Alfred Morris, too. No Leonard Hankerson, but you knew that. More important is the fact that Jordan Reed (concussion) has been ruled out, a significant loss for Washington's offense.
Good luck this week, and enjoy the games.
