If it’s a good matchup, Grossman has shown he can take advantage of it.  And Minnesota is about as good as matchups get for quarterbacks.  The Vikings have allowed at least two touchdown passes in all but one week since week five and 25 total touchdown passes over that nine game span.

The key to Blount having a good fantasy day is simply having his team stay in the game.  Blount’s four worst games of the season have been those where Tampa lost by two touchdowns or more with Blount getting about ten carries.  Any time his carry totals have gotten deeper into the double digits, he’s been just fine. 

Although Carolina blew Tampa out the last time they played, Carolina’s defense is bad enough that the Bucs should be able to put up points with Josh Freeman at QB as opposed to Josh Johnson.  And if Raheem Morris is smart (debatable), he’ll try to slow the game down and keep Cam Newton off the field by handing the ball off to Blount frequently.  If Blount does get the requisite touches, he’ll have a good day, especially against a terrible Carolina run D.

The Eagles absolutely stifle opposing receivers that line up out wide on the left side of the formation.  Fortunately, for Robinson, Dez Bryant is the Cowboys wideout who works primarily from that side of the field.  Robinson worked out of two-wide sets (and even a one-wide set at least once), so he should see enough snaps from a favorable spot (whether it be in the slot or wide right) to have a good fantasy day.

As mentioned in this space before, when selecting a tight end outside of the top six or seven guys you’re essentially just throwing darts at the proverbial touchdown dart board.  Keller is sixth among tight ends in red zone targets and the Giants are tied for the third most touchdowns allowed to tight ends.  Hopefully one plus one actually equals two in that logic equation this week.

Over their last six games, the Vikings have allowed an average of just over 13 fantasy points per game to opposing defenses.  That’s a lot.  Washington has an underrated defense due to a tough schedule and some bad luck in that they’ve forced the sixth most fumbles and have recovered the eighth fewest.

Combine last week’s monstrosity and this week’s tough matchup, and how could you have the confidence to start Manning in the finals of your league?  All the other top ten type QBs have at least decent matchups, and a few of the lesser guys have great matchups (like Grossman and Mark Sanchez), so there’s no reason to start Eli this week.

Somehow Jackson has managed 32 fantasy points in the last two weeks against above average run defenses (Seattle, Cincinnati).  But with no threat of a passing game, it’s hard to bet on Jackson continuing to defy the odds, especially against a Steelers run D that’s better than Seattle and Cincy’s.

If Eli is in your “Sit ‘Em” section and one of his receivers is likely to be covered by Darrelle Revis most of the time, then that receiver also has to be in the “Sit ‘Em” section.

As mentioned above, the Eagles almost completely shut down receivers who line up on the left side.  Bryant lines up on the left around 60% of the time.  This is another case where one plus one should equal two.

The Chargers have the third lowest total of yards allowed to tight ends, and opposing tight ends have been targeted less against the Chargers than any other team.  While they have allowed seven touchdowns to tight ends (tied for third most), touchdowns can be affected by circumstance and aren’t the best measure of a team’s ability to stop a certain position.  That’s a really long way of saying that the Chargers are pretty good against tight ends, so Pettigrew may not be a great play this week as a result.

All of ESPN’s big four rankers have Chicago’s defense ranked 11th or higher, and Karabell has them as high as sixth.  This seems insane to me as no defense facing the Packers has scored more than five fantasy points.  Green Bay still has to win a game to lock up home field throughout the playoffs, so their starters are playing this entire game.  You’d be crazy to start any defense against them.