Week 13 Fantasy Football Previews & Predictions: Expect A Big Day From Rodgers & Crew
Aaron Rodgers (credits below)
The playoffs start in many fantasy leagues this week or else this is likely the final week to try and get into the playoffs in others, but either way, there are huge decisions to be made.
You don't want to be like the owner who benched Beanie Wells last week for Frank Gore and had his playoff chances end with a six-point loss that could have been an easy win with Wells in the lineup.
This is the time of the year you think hard about whether or not you want to go with Vincent Jackson and his boom-or-bust style or a more reliable Marques Colston. Are you going to ride out free-agent find Laurent Robinson with the season on the line? Can you trust Andre Johnson with T.J. Yates at quarterback.
Plenty of questions, so lets look for some answers.
Carolina at Tampa Bay: Mike Williams is trying to repay those owners who were frustrated by him early in the season but held onto him and this should be his best game yet. Josh Freeman is a nice play in deeper leagues as well and LaGarrette Blount's sudden impact in the passing game makes him a must-start. Cam Newton and Steve Smith remain reliable, but Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams are impossible to trust.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh: Tough match-up for Andy Dalton, but I've said that before and he's been fine, so he's right around 15 in my rankings this week. AJ Green should bounce back as he gets healthier this week. Ben Roethlisberger will be good and Mike Wallace should re-emerge as his favorite deep threat here.
Atlanta at Houston: Don't love the Falcons other than Michael Turner here on the road against an improving defense. The biggest question surrounds Houston's passing game. Can T.J. Yates find Andre Johnson with another week of practice. He should, but I'm not counting on it. I think Arian Foster and Ben Tate could both get 20 carries and have monster games on the road, but I fear Johnson may be a guy who struggles to get more than 65 receiving yards per week the rest of the season. It's a tough deal for his owners who waited more than a month for him to return, then saw his top two quarterbacks go out for the season as he returned.
Denver at Minnesota: Percy Harvin is a receiver I am playing over Andre Johnson this week. I pumped up Harvin all year and it looks like his health and opportunities will finally come together to provide a nice final few games for him. I think he could be a 20-point fantasy performer this week because he has just missed a couple of touchdowns in each of the past two weeks. I don't want Christian Ponder or Toby Gerhart here. Tim Tebow will get you his 15 points and I think Eric Decker will have a nice day in the return to his college town. Willis McGahee is officially back to RB2 status.
New York Jets at Washington: I like the Jets to breakout here with Mark Sanchez, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes, and Shonn Green all having an above-average day. Considering the poor performances from those guys this season, an above-average performance doesn't necessarily mean worthy of playing in a 10-team league, but if you have to play them, you can feel good about it. Mike Shanahan has proven before that one good week for one of his running backs does not signal a pattern, so trust Roy Helu at your own risk because I am not trusting him or anyone on that offense this week.
Indianapolis at New England: Play your studs, Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark in Indy's annual shootout with New….oops, this is 2012 and for the first time in six years, the story line for this game changes. Now it's bench all your Colts, play all your Pats and turn away from the bloodbath that is about to emerge.
Oakland at Miami: Play Michael Bush even if Darren McFadden returns because I think Bush gets most of the carries either way and I'd keep McFadden on your bench even if he plays unless you are desperate. I like Carson Palmer to post top-16 quarterback numbers, but I'm not willing to put my playoff hopes on the line by trusting any of his receivers. Matt Moore has emerged as a legitimate quarterback in deep and two-quarterback leagues and I expect Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush to be good here.
Tennessee at Buffalo: Chris Johnson found his stride just in time for the fantasy playoffs. At least, that's the hope of owners who need him to repeat last week's performance for the next few weeks. Tough to count on him, but if you've got him, you have to play him. Ryan Fitzpatrick is another guy who shook off a slump to have a big performance last week. I'm not willing to ride him into the playoffs and the same goes for Stevie Johnson.
Kansas City at Chicago: Kyle Orton makes his Chiefs debut against his former team and that is a recipe for disaster for him and the entire Chiefs offense. Get the Bears defense in your lineup and don't worry about Matt Forte's recent struggles, he'll get over 140 total yards and a score here.
Baltimore at Cleveland: The Ravens defense is the fantasy stud here as I wouldn't trust any Browns on offense. If you want to trust Peyton Hillis, go ahead, but he could have 13 yards as easily as he could have 100. This will be a good week for Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, and Anquan Boldin.
Dallas at Arizona: So, to the question posed earlier, yes I will play Laurent Robinson with a lot on the line this week. Can't deny five straight weeks of production. I like Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and DeMarco Murray also, as usual. You have to play Beanie Wells if he looks healthy because he could be almost all the offense for the Cardinals with Larry Fitzgerald as the only other fantasy player on their team.
Green Bay at New York Giants: Look for a shootout here with Aaron Rodgers getting close to the 40-point week Drew Brees posted on the Giants last week. Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, and Jermichael Finley are all must-plays with Donald Driver and James Jones as safe bets in deeper leagues. The Giants' passing game will keep up with Green Bay so get Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz in all line-ups.
St. Louis at San Francisco: As good as Frank Gore was during a full month of 100-yards games, he has been equally frustrating battling injuries and seemingly having his role limited in the last month. You have to play him and hope for a bounceback game here against the Rams. The 49ers defense is a great play this week and Alex Smith should be productive. Brandon Lloyd and Steven Jackson are safe standard-league plays for the Rams.
Detroit at New Orleans: Another shootout, although I said that about last week's Lions/Packers game and then watched Matthew Stafford struggle to reach double figures. Stafford's interceptions are a problem, but at this point in the season, you likely have no alternative but to play him and hope he can overcome them and post a big total like he did two weeks ago. Hard to trust any of his running backs unless Kevin Smith is out for sure and Maurice Morris is the lone option in the backfield. Drew Brees is in line for another huge day and Marques Colston too along with the usual output from Jimmie Graham. Lance Moore and Darren Sproles both flex guys to take a chance on this week.
San Diego at Jacksonville: Maurice Jones-Drew is the only Jaguar to play as usual, but what to make of the Chargers. You would think a Jacksonville defense with a new head coach would be ripe for Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson, but those two have become impossible to predict. The Chargers seem to particularly struggle on prime-time games, so going across the country on Monday night, I can't trust Rivers but Jackson is at least a WR2 who could be the top receiver in all of fantasy football as he's been a few times this year. Ryan Mathews is becoming the most reliable Charger.
You don't want to be like the owner who benched Beanie Wells last week for Frank Gore and had his playoff chances end with a six-point loss that could have been an easy win with Wells in the lineup.
This is the time of the year you think hard about whether or not you want to go with Vincent Jackson and his boom-or-bust style or a more reliable Marques Colston. Are you going to ride out free-agent find Laurent Robinson with the season on the line? Can you trust Andre Johnson with T.J. Yates at quarterback.
Plenty of questions, so lets look for some answers.
Philadelphia at Seattle: Vince Young is putting up numbers, but I don't trust him in anything less than a 12-team league. Keep an eye on DeSean Jackson's status before the game and whether he is in the starting lineup – if you need a big-play possibility, take the risk and play him. He has been close to catching a couple long scoring passes in recent weeks, but has been so frustrating to his owners because of his inconsistency. He even got benched late last week, but one of these weeks, he's going to catch those long bombs and get in the end zone and maybe even score on a punt return, so if he's been forgiven by Andy Reid, you should forgive as well. LeSean McCoy is suddenly dropping in performance but I expect that to change even against a tough Seahawks run defense. Marshawn Lynch is approaching top-10 status for a running back so he is the only reliable Seahawk in fantasy.
Carolina at Tampa Bay: Mike Williams is trying to repay those owners who were frustrated by him early in the season but held onto him and this should be his best game yet. Josh Freeman is a nice play in deeper leagues as well and LaGarrette Blount's sudden impact in the passing game makes him a must-start. Cam Newton and Steve Smith remain reliable, but Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams are impossible to trust.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh: Tough match-up for Andy Dalton, but I've said that before and he's been fine, so he's right around 15 in my rankings this week. AJ Green should bounce back as he gets healthier this week. Ben Roethlisberger will be good and Mike Wallace should re-emerge as his favorite deep threat here.
Atlanta at Houston: Don't love the Falcons other than Michael Turner here on the road against an improving defense. The biggest question surrounds Houston's passing game. Can T.J. Yates find Andre Johnson with another week of practice. He should, but I'm not counting on it. I think Arian Foster and Ben Tate could both get 20 carries and have monster games on the road, but I fear Johnson may be a guy who struggles to get more than 65 receiving yards per week the rest of the season. It's a tough deal for his owners who waited more than a month for him to return, then saw his top two quarterbacks go out for the season as he returned.
Denver at Minnesota: Percy Harvin is a receiver I am playing over Andre Johnson this week. I pumped up Harvin all year and it looks like his health and opportunities will finally come together to provide a nice final few games for him. I think he could be a 20-point fantasy performer this week because he has just missed a couple of touchdowns in each of the past two weeks. I don't want Christian Ponder or Toby Gerhart here. Tim Tebow will get you his 15 points and I think Eric Decker will have a nice day in the return to his college town. Willis McGahee is officially back to RB2 status.
New York Jets at Washington: I like the Jets to breakout here with Mark Sanchez, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes, and Shonn Green all having an above-average day. Considering the poor performances from those guys this season, an above-average performance doesn't necessarily mean worthy of playing in a 10-team league, but if you have to play them, you can feel good about it. Mike Shanahan has proven before that one good week for one of his running backs does not signal a pattern, so trust Roy Helu at your own risk because I am not trusting him or anyone on that offense this week.
Indianapolis at New England: Play your studs, Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark in Indy's annual shootout with New….oops, this is 2012 and for the first time in six years, the story line for this game changes. Now it's bench all your Colts, play all your Pats and turn away from the bloodbath that is about to emerge.
Oakland at Miami: Play Michael Bush even if Darren McFadden returns because I think Bush gets most of the carries either way and I'd keep McFadden on your bench even if he plays unless you are desperate. I like Carson Palmer to post top-16 quarterback numbers, but I'm not willing to put my playoff hopes on the line by trusting any of his receivers. Matt Moore has emerged as a legitimate quarterback in deep and two-quarterback leagues and I expect Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush to be good here.
Tennessee at Buffalo: Chris Johnson found his stride just in time for the fantasy playoffs. At least, that's the hope of owners who need him to repeat last week's performance for the next few weeks. Tough to count on him, but if you've got him, you have to play him. Ryan Fitzpatrick is another guy who shook off a slump to have a big performance last week. I'm not willing to ride him into the playoffs and the same goes for Stevie Johnson.
Kansas City at Chicago: Kyle Orton makes his Chiefs debut against his former team and that is a recipe for disaster for him and the entire Chiefs offense. Get the Bears defense in your lineup and don't worry about Matt Forte's recent struggles, he'll get over 140 total yards and a score here.
Baltimore at Cleveland: The Ravens defense is the fantasy stud here as I wouldn't trust any Browns on offense. If you want to trust Peyton Hillis, go ahead, but he could have 13 yards as easily as he could have 100. This will be a good week for Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, and Anquan Boldin.
Dallas at Arizona: So, to the question posed earlier, yes I will play Laurent Robinson with a lot on the line this week. Can't deny five straight weeks of production. I like Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and DeMarco Murray also, as usual. You have to play Beanie Wells if he looks healthy because he could be almost all the offense for the Cardinals with Larry Fitzgerald as the only other fantasy player on their team.
Green Bay at New York Giants: Look for a shootout here with Aaron Rodgers getting close to the 40-point week Drew Brees posted on the Giants last week. Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, and Jermichael Finley are all must-plays with Donald Driver and James Jones as safe bets in deeper leagues. The Giants' passing game will keep up with Green Bay so get Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks, and Victor Cruz in all line-ups.
St. Louis at San Francisco: As good as Frank Gore was during a full month of 100-yards games, he has been equally frustrating battling injuries and seemingly having his role limited in the last month. You have to play him and hope for a bounceback game here against the Rams. The 49ers defense is a great play this week and Alex Smith should be productive. Brandon Lloyd and Steven Jackson are safe standard-league plays for the Rams.
Detroit at New Orleans: Another shootout, although I said that about last week's Lions/Packers game and then watched Matthew Stafford struggle to reach double figures. Stafford's interceptions are a problem, but at this point in the season, you likely have no alternative but to play him and hope he can overcome them and post a big total like he did two weeks ago. Hard to trust any of his running backs unless Kevin Smith is out for sure and Maurice Morris is the lone option in the backfield. Drew Brees is in line for another huge day and Marques Colston too along with the usual output from Jimmie Graham. Lance Moore and Darren Sproles both flex guys to take a chance on this week.
San Diego at Jacksonville: Maurice Jones-Drew is the only Jaguar to play as usual, but what to make of the Chargers. You would think a Jacksonville defense with a new head coach would be ripe for Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson, but those two have become impossible to predict. The Chargers seem to particularly struggle on prime-time games, so going across the country on Monday night, I can't trust Rivers but Jackson is at least a WR2 who could be the top receiver in all of fantasy football as he's been a few times this year. Ryan Mathews is becoming the most reliable Charger.
Written by Steve Mims exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Follow Steve on Twitter @nwsportscards
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(November 19, 2011 – Photo by Elsa/Getty Images North America)
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