SEATTLE (at T.B.)
Seattle's offense is coming around. It scored only 12 touchdowns in its first eight games, with over half of those coming in wins over the 49ers and Jets. But it's performed well in each of its last three games, with 4, 3 and 3 touchdowns in wins over the Bills, Patriots and Eagles. They hardly punted while rolling up 420 yards at New England. So they'll probably score in the mid-to-high 20s again on Sunday. The Bucs have allowed only 10 and 17 points the last two weeks in wins over Chicago and Kansas City, but those offenses can't hang with Seattle's. Tampa Bay allowed 30 and 43 points in its previous two games -- home losses to Oakland and Atlanta. ... Russell Wilson is healthy again, possibly making him a top-5 quarterback in the second half of the season. When he was playing with knee and ankle injuries he was limited to getting rid of the ball when protection started breaking down. Now he's scrambling again ...
This report is taken from today's Week 12 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 21 pages of camp reports, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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. . . buying those extra seconds to create big chunk plays downfield. He's averaged 301 yards in his last three games, with 6 TDs. And now that he can run again, he should scramble for 15-25 yards in a lot of games. He looks like he's on the start of a playoff-push roll. He's facing a lesser pass defense here. The Bucs rank in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed and have given up 20 TD passes. In our eyes, they've faced four top quarterbacks: Matt Ryan (twice), Carson Palmer and Derek Carr. Those quarterbacks have averaged 378 passing yards against them, with a combined 13 TD passes. Love Wilson this week. ... Thomas Rawls should be outstanding in this game. He's working against a bottom-10 run defense, and a unit that will be knocked on its heels trying to deal with Wilson. Rawls is about all the Seahawks have at this position, with C.J. Prosise likely out for the regular season, Christine Michael released and Troymaine Pope out with an ankle injury. Alex Collins will probably pick up a half-dozen touches. But it's Rawls' gig, and he looked like 2015 Thomas Rawls in the Philadelphia game -- delivered blows on a couple of carries and had a decisive cut on one play to get outside for a nice gain. Tampa Bay held Kansas City to 82 rushing yards last week, but it allowed over 120 rushing yards in each of its previous five games, and it's allowed 9 rushing touchdowns. Rawls has the look of a top-10 back this week. ... With the passing game coming alive, Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham could be top-10 players at their positions in the second half of the season. Graham has averaged 73 yards in his last eight games, with 4 TDs. He's got a much better command of the offense this season. And Baldwin and Wilson have always had a strong rapport. When Seattle's offense heated up in the second half of last season, Baldwin caught 12 TDs in those final eight games. He might be starting one of those kind of runs. Baldwin has averaged 84 yards in his last three games, with 3 TDs and a touchdown pass. ... Don't underestimate Tyler Lockett. He was slowed by a knee injury for a good chunk of the season, but he's healthy now and the offense is coming around. He's shown with a handful of plays in the last few games that his speed and elusiveness is back. He'll catch a few touchdowns, he'll be handling the ball on end-arounds in many games, and he'll probably score on a kick return at some point. ... Steven Hauschka has missed a few kicks, but he's a capable enough kicker and the offense is coming alive. He'll probably be one of the top half-dozen players at his position during the remaining six weeks of the season. ... The Seahawks Defense will be without half of its starting secondary, including Earl Thomas (maybe the best free safety in the game). But it's still a tough, veteran unit, and it probably will get its best lineman (Michael Bennett) back this week. Seattle has a league-high 31 sacks, while the Bucs have allowed 23, making this one of the more favorable pass rush games on the board this week. And there should be a pick or two; Jameis Winston has thrown 10 interceptions in 10 games -- he'll force some balls -- while the Seahawks have picked off 9 balls.