Week Twelve: Down The Stretch

Week Twelve: Down the stretch

 

Week 12 is here. As we inch closer and closer to the fantasy playoffs, each game is critical and the match-ups can be your best friend. Especial those facing teams who are eliminated or far from making the playoffs. Sometimes these owners do not manage their rosters as they did in the beginning leaving them to play players who are not performing or maybe even injured. Don’t make that mistake. Even if you are having a bad season, you can play spoiler to other teams fighting for a playoff spot and you owe it to your league to play the best possible line-up you can.

 

The holidays are here as well and many of us will be traveling which means we may or may not be able to get to a computer to monitor our teams or make last minute changes. If you find this to be the case, print or write out your rosters and keep it with you. If you need to make any changes you might be able to call your commissioner to make any last minute to prevent starting the wrong players.

 

Let us take a look at all 32 teams and the schedule they face heading into weeks 12, 13 and 14 which can make or break your fantasy season. Orange is for defenses ranked 1-10, light blue is for defenses ranked 11-20 and dark blue is for defenses ranked 21-32.

 

 

Team	Pass D Rank	Run D Rank
Ari	10th	13th
Atl	11th	23rd
Bal	12th	2nd
Buf	26th	20th
Car	14th	19th
Chi	17th	26th
Cin	28th	27th
Cle	31st	28th
Dal	16th	5th
Den	8th	31st
Det	30th	8th
GB	19th	7th
Hou	13th	24th
Ind	2nd	16th
Jac	27th	15th
KC	18th	17th
Mia	5th	30th
Min	32nd	3rd
NE	6th	6th
NO	29th	14th
NYG	9th	9th
NYJ	24th	32nd
Oak	4th	29th
Phi	23rd	12th
Pit	1st	1st
SD	25th	21st
SF	21st	25th
Sea	20th	10th
StL	15th	22nd
TB	3rd	18th
Ten	7th	4th
Was	22nd	11th

 

 

ARIZONA

–

Upcoming games against the 49ers, the Browns and the Seahawks. The Cardinals are still in the playoff picture which they have two good match-ups and then one hard match-up.

 

ATLANTA

–

Upcoming games against the Colts, the Rams and the Saints. After last weekends game, it is unsure who will start the next few games. You should have better options. They have hard match up in week 12 followed by two decent match-ups.

 

BALTIMORE

–

Upcoming games against the Chargers, The Colts and the Patriots. The Ravens are slipping out of the playoff hunt and Boller faces a very tough stretch. Drop him and grab someone else if possible.

 

BUFFALO

–

Upcoming games against the Jaguars, the Redskins and the Dolphins. Losman was ponded by the Patriots last week. He faces two tough match-ups and one favorable match-up.

 

CAROLINA

–

Upcoming games against the Saint, the 49ers and the Jaguars. The panthers have struggled to put points on the board all year. Even though they have two good match-ups and one hard match-up, don’t expect a lot from the passing game.

 

CHICAGO

–

Upcoming games against the Broncos, the Giants and the Redskins. Three unfavorable match-ups will not help Grossman’s chances of putting up good numbers. Even though the Broncos and the Redskins gave up big yards.

 

CINCINNATI

–

Upcoming games against the Titans, Steelers and Rams. Palmer has struggled over the last two weeks and faces two very tough games and one decent game. Some owners may be faced to live and die with Palmer as their QB.

 

CLEVELAND

–

Upcoming games against the Texans, the Cardinals and the Jets.

Anderson faces 3 games to put up good numbers and could lead some owners into the playoffs because of it.

 

DALLAS

–

Upcoming games against the Jets, the Packers and the Lions. Romo has two great games to put up numbers and one tough game in between. The only other QB out playing Romo is Brady.

 

DENVER

–

Upcoming games against the Bears, the Raiders and the Chiefs. None of these games are easy, even though the Raiders seem like a good match-up, it is always a hard fought game. In week 2 Cutler had 269 yds 1TD and 2INTs against the Raiders.

 

DETRIOT

– Upcoming games against the Packers, the Vikings and the Cowboys. Kitna is facing some tough defenses and may be playing from behind in two of these games to pass a ton.

 

GREEN

BAY

Upcoming games against the Lions, the Cowboys and the Raiders. Favre has two good match-ups and one difficult one and may have saved someone’s season.

 

HOUSTON

–

Upcoming games against the Brown, the Titans and the Buccaneers. Schaub has a A. Johnson back and face a couple of games to do well but the Titans and the Bucs will be a tough match-up.

 

INDIANAPOLIS

Upcoming games against the Falcons, the Jaguars and the Ravens. Manning needs to bounce back to his normal form and can use the Falcons to do so before facing two tough match-ups.

 

JACKSONVILLE

–

Upcoming games against the Bills, the Colts and the Panthers. Garrard returned from injury last week and faces two easy games with a critical division game in between.

 

KANSAS CITY

–

Upcoming games against the Raiders, the Chargers and the Broncos. Depending on which Charger and Broncos team shows up, this can be a very tough stretch. Division games are always harder to get a feel for since they have more rivalries.

 

MIAMI

–

Upcoming games against the Steelers, the Jets and the Bills. The rookie had a rough start to his NFL career and he gets to have another tough match-up this week against the Steelers followed by two decent games.

 

MINNESOTA

–

Upcoming games against the Giants, the Lions and the 49ers. Although the Vikings passing game hasn’t been much, he faces a tough match-up against the Giants and then two easier match-ups.

 

NEW ENGLAND

–

Upcoming games against the Eagles, the Ravens and the Steelers. Does it really matter what the schedule is? The next three are not easiest of games but no one has slowed Brady down this year.

 

NEW ORLEANS

–

Upcoming games against the Panthers, the Buccaneers and the Falcons. When you need him most, his schedule is probably the most favorable of the group. With two easy contest and one tough match-up.

 

NEW YORK

GIANTS

– Upcoming games against the Vikings, the Bears and the Eagles. None of these games will be easy and Manning will need to play better during this stretch.

 

NEW YORK

JETS

– Upcoming games against the Cowboys, the Dolphins and the Browns. After Thanksgiving, the schedule is favorable.

 

OAKLAND

–

Upcoming games against the Chiefs, the Broncos and the Packers. It is unknown who will start these games or if they will work in Russell. All these match-ups will be tough.

 

PHILADELPHIA

–

Upcoming games against the Patriots, the Seahawks and the Giants. McNabb did it to me twice this season. Exploding for 4TDs only to have a bad game or get injured the next. It cost me two games this year in the only league I have him. He now faces three difficult games and I wouldn’t use him the rest of the way.

 

PITTSBURGH

–

Upcoming games against the Dolphins, the Bengals and the Patriots. Big Ben faces two great match-ups before the game everyone feels will be the end to the Patriots winning streak.

 

SAN DIEGO

–

Upcoming games against the Ravens, the Chiefs and the Titans. Rivers had a great game last week after four weeks of poor play. He faces the toughest schedule in the league through these games.

 

SAN FRANCISCO

–

Upcoming games against the Cardinals, the Panthers and the Vikings. What might seem as two good match-ups is really a tough one for Smith as he has struggled all year. With only 2TDs on the year it doesn’t matter who he’s match-up against.

 

SEATTLE

–

Upcoming games against the Rams, the Eagles and the Cardinals. Hasselbeck has strung together 3 good performances and has his receivers back at the right time. He faces three decent match-ups to produce well.

 

ST.

LOUIS

– St. Upcoming games against the Seahawks, the Falcons and the Bengals. If it wasn’t for the offensive line, these match-ups would look better. Bulger did post two 300+ games before last weeks disappointing performance. If he can play well, he can put up some good numbers through this stretch.

 

TAMPA

BAY

–

Upcoming games against the Redskins, the Saints and the Texans. Garcia has still only thrown INTs in one game this year but hasn’t passed for over 200 yds the last few weeks. Still he has scored in every game since week 3 and faces three decent match-ups.

 

TENNESSEE

–

Upcoming games against the Bengals, the Texans and the Charges. Young produced his best game as a pro on Monday night and will have a few games to build on that success. The quad injury remains a concern.

 

WASHINGTON

–

Upcoming games against the Buccaneers, the Bills and the Bears. Not a favorable match-up but

Campbell put up 300+ and 2TDs again a good Cowboy team. He should do better against the Bills and maybe against the Bears.

 

The Golden Mug Award

Awarded to the fantasy player who came through for their team.

Terrell Owens

– 8 rec 173 yds 4TDs. Maybe Moss has pushed him this season to produce, or maybe playing with Romo in year two has built good chemistry. Either way Owens exploded this week for some sick numbers.

Honorable Mention

Randy Moss

– 10 rec 128 yds 4TDs. Did Moss watch the Washington/ Dallas game and wanted to prove to T.O. that he is the better receiver? After Owens tied his season total of 12, Moss added 4 more to run his season TD total to 16.

 

The Urinal Cake Award

Jerricho Cotchery-

1 rec 5yds. After posting 90 yds last week, Cotchery did absolutely nothing this week. Be cautious starting him Thursday as he has a tough match-up against

Dallas on turkey day.

Dishonorable Mention

Peyton Manning-

163 yds 1INT.

Ok that’s two bad games back to back. No one would have thought Manning can be called a bust but if he continues this type of play then that will be the case. Actually he has had only three 20+ fantasy point games this season. Some who sacrificed a top RB to grab him have not reaped the benefits.

 

MATCH-UPS

The match-ups

I like this week for QBs:

Matt Schaub

against the Browns. Schaub should continue to do well as he will have Johnson again in this match up. Last week he passed for almost 300 yds and he threw for 2TDs including the 73 yarder to Johnson. This week he will face the Browns who give up 272.8 passing yards a game and are still last in the league in allowing 29.3 points a game.

 

Vince Young

against the Bengals. I have been down on young all year. Not only has he had mediocre passing stats and low TD numbers but his rushing yards haven’t been great also. Prior to his Monday night game he was averaging just 27 yds a game. Not what you expected when you drafted him hoping his feet would make up for his lack of receivers. Still he posted 74 yds on the ground and a TD while having two games in a row with 250+ passing yards and 1TD. He faces a Bengals team that is in turmoil. They are giving up 243.1 yds in the air and 126.5 yds on the ground while allowing 28.6 points a game.

 

The match-ups

I like this week for RBs:

LenDale White

against the Bengals. Last week White let a prime match-up go to waste as he only had 42 yds rushing. This week he faces the bangle squad that will give up a ton of yards and a ton of points. As stated in the previous paragraph, the Bengals are 30^th in the league in total yards allowed with 369.6.

 

Kolby Smith

against the

Oakland.

Opportunity, it is one of the greatest factors in producing fantasy stars in this league. Smith has not yet been a start but has every opportunity to do so. With

Larry Johnson hurt,

Priest Holmes retired and

Michael Bennett traded earlier in the year, Smith has the starting job all to himself. He has a great match-up against the Raiders who are 31^st in rushing yards allowed with 152.6 per game. The home crowed will be cheering him on to run the ball all day.

 

The match-ups

I don’t like this week for QBs:

Jason Campbell

against the Buccaneers.

Campbell played well last week against a good

Dallas defense but the Buccaneers defense is playing a little better. The Bucs held

Atlanta to just 265 net yards while forcing 4 fumbles and 1INT. The Bucs are ranked 3^rd in the league allowing just 173 passing yards a game and are 4^th in the league giving up just 16 points a game.

 

Joey Harrington/ Byron Leftwhich

against the Colts. Last week the Falcons offense was bad as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. It isn’t going to get any better against the Colts. The Colts are 5^th in the league in points allowed giving up just 15.9 points a game. It doesn’t matter since

Atlanta is only scoring 14.2 points a game which is 31^st in the league. If the Falcons fall behind early, it will be a long day for the QB position.

 

The match-up

I don’t like this week for RBs:

Warrick Dunn

/

Jerious

Norwood against the Colts. Not a good day for both parts of the Falcons offense. The Falcons rushing attack last week combined for 49 yds.

Norwood almost had a nice TD run but it was negated by a holding penalty. They now face the Colts who are 2^nd in the league in total yards allowed and only give up 15.9 points a game.

 

Jesse Chatman

against the Steelers. Last week Chatman carried the ball on a 4^th and 1 at the Eagles 1 yard line and was stopped for a loss of 13. Chatman is averaging 87 yds a game over the last month but the Steelers will stack the box forcing Rookie

Jon Beck to throw and limiting Chatman with a Steelers defense that is only allowing 79.9 yds a game on the ground.

 

Week Eleven’s brew of choice was Heineken. I had to drive back from

Orlando after attending a wedding. I listened to the early games in the car as it was an 8 hour drive. When I got into town, I drove and picked up a nice 12 pack then watched the late games and Sunday night match-up. As always drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive.

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!!!