DENVER (vs Oakland):
The Broncos played poorly on Monday night, and that should make some fantasy leaguers happy on Sunday. There will be no resting of players against Oakland. They need to win to ensure themselves a bye in the first round. And the planets are aligned for them to put up big numbers. They're at home against a lesser opponent, and they're looking to restore their confidence, building some momentum heading into the postseason. ... Peyton Manning has gone four games in a row without putting up Manning-like numbers. He's thrown only 5 TDs in those games, and he's been under 235 yards three times. He was under 180 yards in
This report is taken from today's Week 17 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 20 pages of camp reports, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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two of those games. His arm turned into a wet noodle on Monday night. But fear not. He's still one of the game's very best quarterbacks. Injuries have left him short-handed in recent weeks, and he was on the road against a quality, motivated opponent on Monday night -- in adverse weather conditions. Note that while Manning's stats have been down in recent weeks, he still completed 70 percent in both of the games leading into Cincinnati. And this week he's facing the defense that he's torched like no other. Since signing with Denver, Manning is 5-0 against the Raiders, and he's put up big numbers in every game. The Raiders have held him under 310 yards only once, and that was when he put up 266 yards and 4 TDs in a half against them in Week 17 last year.
| Manning against Oakland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Yards | TD | Int |
| '12 Oak | 338 | 3 | 0 |
| '12 Den | 310 | 1 | 1 |
| '13 Den | 374 | 3 | 0 |
| '13 Oak | 266 | 4 | 0 |
| '14 Oak | 353 | 5 | 0 |
This time around, Manning get extra motivation from having just laid an egg on national television. The last time he had a game like this (when he was intercepted 3 times in a Monday night loss at Atlanta in 2012 -- his second game with Denver) Manning came back to pass for over 330 yards and multiple touchdowns in three straight games. We'll check the weather, but Manning should be fine. Oakland just allowed Kyle Orton to pass for 329 yards and 3 TDs on Sunday. ... We're putting a lesser grade on Julius Thomas. He's a talented tight end, but he might still be working through the sprained ankle that sidelined him for three games. He hasn't played full time the last two weeks, and he hasn't been a big part of the passing game. He's caught only 3 passes for 63 yards in the last two games. The Broncos can win this game comfortably without him, and they might be careful to ensure he's healthy in the postseason. Even before the ankle injury, the Broncos were using Thomas less than you might think. He's been under 35 yards in six of his last seven games. ... The wide receivers are just crushing people right now. Demaryius Thomas is averaging 100 yards, and Emmanuel Sanders is at 89. Thomas has outscored him 11-9, but all of Sanders' touchdowns have come in the last 10 games. Great, top-5 type receivers, and the matchup is right. Sanders is sitting at 95 catches, so it's a lead-pipe lock that he'll catch at least 5 passes on Sunday. ... For whatever reason, Wes Welker doesn't have much of a role. He's averaging only 32 yards, and he's scored in only two games. Maybe they think his skills have slipped, or maybe they're worried that if they use him too often it won't be long before he picks up a career-ending concussion. Maybe Welker picks it up in the postseason, but that's just a shot in the dark. He could be playing his last regular-season game. ... C.J. Anderson should have another big game. Peyton Manning tends to back defenses away from the line of scrimmage, opening up the running game, and Anderson looks very comfortable in that starting role. He's averaged 136 yards (97 run, 39 rec) in his last seven games, with 7 TDs. The Raiders rank only 21st in run defense. ... Ronnie Hillman has missed the last six weeks with a foot injury, but they'll probably work him in for a few carries -- get him ready in case they want to use him as a change-of-pace in the postseason. Hillman has been practicing. ... The Broncos Defense gets to face a rookie quarterback, but that's not quite the windfall you might expect. Derek Carr has been unusually good at getting the ball out of his hands; only five teams have allowed fewer sacks. The game grades out more favorably for interceptions. The Broncos have picked off 17 passes, while the Raiders are sitting at 15 -- the combined total of 32 ties as the 4th-best number on the board this week. ... The Broncos have been only an average kicking team this year -- too many games with only extra points. But with the way their offense moves the ball, they have the potential to go top-5 in any given week. In two of their last four games Connor Barth has gone for 17 and 16 points. Since Peyton Manning showed up, they've scored double-digit kicking points in all five games against the Raiders. So we'll put Barth in our top 5 this week.
