2014 Fantasy Football: Week 4 Monday Night Football Preview
Source: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images North America
Monday September 29, 2014
New England Patriots @ Kansas City Chiefs
Tom Brady and the Patriots try win their third straight when they travel to Kansas City to take on the 1-2 Chiefs. The Chiefs will have to try to get something going against the Pats’ third ranked defense. With the inconsistency of both teams’ fantasy players, this game could turn in to a potential nightmare for fantasy owners. If you are relying on a player in this game to win your matchup, you will probably be sweating it out all day.
New England Patriots: Key Players
QB Tom Brady
Brady is still trying to figure out how to get this Patriots’ offense rolling with some sort of consistency. He has a decent chance to do just that on Monday night. The Chiefs have allowed the eighth most fantasy points to opposing QBs and are not the same defense they were last season.
Verdict: Start Brady. With six teams on bye it’s going to be hard to find a better starter than Brady. He will get his season back on track (from a fantasy perspective) at some point. This is as good a game as any to roll the dice on a breakout game from Brady.
It’s so hard to predict what Belichick is going to do with his RBs. Ridley will likely get the bulk of the carries. That is as long he doesn’t fumble. He is the teams’ best runner but often finds himself in the doghouse.
Verdict: Start Ridley. He may not be the greatest start, however, he has a nice matchup against a defense that was gashed by Lamar Miller in Week 3. He is hard to trust, but options are limited this week.
RB Shane Vereen
Vereen is off to an extremely disappointing start to the season. He has only 148 yards from scrimmage and has caught just nine passes so far. Without catching a high volume of passes, Vereen’s value is extremely limited.
Verdict: Sit Vereen. He can have a breakout game at any time. However, right now it is very hard to justify starting the struggling RB, even in PPR leagues.
Edelman is the only WR in New England even worth a look. He already has a very solid 22 receptions, 260 yards and a TD. He’s not a big play or red zone threat, but he still has a lot of fantasy value.
Verdict: Start Edelman. This only applies to PPR leagues. The guy catches a lot of passes and hasn’t failed to reach 80 yards yet this season. He’s a good little player who is worth at least a flex look.
When healthy, Gronk is the most dominant force at the TE position, especially in the red zone. Brady will look his way early and often, as he almost always does.
Verdict: Start Gronk. If he’s on your roster, he’s in your lineup.
Kansas City Chiefs: Key Players
QB Alex Smith
Smith hasn’t been particularly good this season. Then again, he’s never great. He usually won’t kill you either. The matchup doesn’t help. The Pats’ have the top ranked pass defense and have given up the least amount of fantasy points to opposing QBs.
Verdict: Sit Smith. He’s just not that great. He definitely not good enough to justify starting him against such a terrible matchup.
Charles is expected to return from injury this Monday night. He will likely be a game-time decision. There is nothing worse than a situation like this on Monday night.
Verdict: Start Charles. If he plays you have to play him. It may be risky leaving him in your roster if you don’t have a backup plan in case he sits out. Start him but temper expectations.
RB Knile Davis
As it looks more and more like Charles will play, this situation is getting more risky. We are guessing even if Charles can play Davis will get a decent amount of touches. Very risky play though.
Verdict: Start Davis. This can go either way and is extremely risky. My gut says that Charles will be nowhere near 100-percent on Monday night.
WR Dwayne Bowe
Welp, we had to pick one of the Chiefs’ WRs to put in this section. Bowe is the best option the Chiefs have at WR. Hopefully he’s not the best option you have at WR.
Verdict: Sit Bowe. Bowe hasn’t been good in a long time and wasn’t even that great back then. You don’t want him in your starting lineup.
TE Travis Kelce
Kelce is a talented young player and is only going to get better. He’s an explosive TE and is by far the best option on the Chiefs not named Jamaal Charles.
Verdict: Start Kelce. His snaps have dramatically increased each week and it has shown in his production. Kelce is looking to be this year’s breakout TE.
Predictions
Final Score
New England: 24
Kansas City: 20
Best Play
Patriots: Stevan Ridley
Chiefs: Travis Kelce
Sleeper
The Author
