ESPN’s current player blurb on Moore claims that the Raiders are underrated against the pass.  Really?  How?  Oakland allows the fifth most fantasy points to opposing QBs, has given up the 11th most passing yards, and has allowed the 4th highest total of passing touchdowns.  And they’ve done it against inferior competition.  They’ve only faced two QBs who rank among the top ten in fantasy points at that position, and they haven’t seen one of those quarterbacks since Week 5.

Then there’s this from one of my favorite people on Twitter, @PFF_MikeClay: Raiders Defense has allowed 2+ passing touchdowns in 9 of their last 10 games (only exception: 0 vs. KC Wk7). Hey, Matt Moore!

The list of quarterbacks that have thrown for 2+ TDs against the Raiders includes such names as: Colt McCoy, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, Christian Ponder, and Caleb Hanie.  I see absolutely see no reason why Matt Moore can’t be on that list by Sunday night.

Houston may be suffering in its ability to get production from its quarterback position, but they’re having no problem suppressing the production of opposing quarterbacks.  Admittedly, they haven’t faced the strongest opposition, but they’ve handled weak quarterbacks as they should.  They’ve allowed double digit fantasy points to quarterbacks just four times and 15+ points just once.

Ryan is in the 8-12 range almost every week in the QB rankings and when he faces a strong opponent like this, he shouldn’t be above the start line.

The last time Pittsburgh played Cincinnati in week 10 Mendenhall was listed in this very same space.  The strength of Cincy’s run D and the fact that Mendenhall has only one game with more than 70 yards rushing (still true) were cited as reasons to leave him on your bench.  Mendy racked up a whopping 44 yards on 16 carries (2.75 ypc).  Unfortunately, he got in the end zone….twice.  Both scores came from inside the 10, so the circumstances of the game resulted in that sit call being wrong.  But it’s about process, not results, and the thinking is the same this time around.  Mendenhall has sucked, Cincy’s run D hasn’t, so he shouldn’t be a top 20 RB this week.

Brown is going to be listed in this spot every week until either he’s recognized as the top 20 receiver that he is or he stops playing like a top 20 receiver.  He has at least eight points in his last five games (Laurent Robinson and Victor Cruz are the only other receivers who can make that claim).  And he’s doing it almost exclusively with yardage as he has only one TD catch.

Brown is the only receiver with 700+ receiving yards and less than three touchdowns. He and Greg Little are the only receivers with 45+ receptions and 85+ plus targets with only 1 TD.  Those numbers absolutely scream regression.  REGRESSION!  Brown is absolutely going to catch some TDs down the stretch, and after you combine that with the 90 yards he’s averaging over his last five games, he’s going to have some very big days.

Speaking of regression alerts, Crabtree is only slightly less of a positive regression candidate than Brown is.  Crab has over 500 yards, 74 targets, and 44 receptions, but only one touchdown.  He has 13 catches the last two weeks and faces a Rams team that allows the 7th most fantasy points to wide receivers.

Before his antics and performance garnered him some attention last week, Stevie had been nowhere to be found since week 3, the last time he reached double digit fantasy points prior to his 13 against the Jets.  As he goes up against a Titans team that is 6th best against WRs and has a pretty decent shutdown corner in Cortland Finnegan, expect him to slip back into the obscurity of mediocrity.

Unless you own Graham, Gronkowski, Gates, Witten, or Gonzalez, you’re just trying to guess which tight end will get in the end zone that particular week.  Green Bay is really bad against tight ends, so Ballard has a shot to get you double digit points from your TE slot if he can get in the end zone.  If he doesn’t, he should be safe for five points or so.

As for Davis, more from @PFF_MikeClay: Vernon Davis owners — No unit of tight ends has eclipsed 52 receiving yards in a single game vs. the Rams this season. They’ve allowed 1TD.

Enough said.