You know why I love fantasy football?  Because only fantasy football can make someone care to watch a game between a 10-3 juggernaut and a 2-11 scrapyard team closely.  In reality, this game doesn’t matter too much, other than seeing if the Saints can secure the 2^nd bye week through the playoffs, or what draft pick the Vikings are bound to land.  In fantasy football though, this game is full of goodness.  The big question coming into the game will be the health of key players.  For the Vikings, everyone will wonder if Adrian Peterson will suit up, and if he does, will he be effective enough to risk in fantasy lineups when the “one and done” fantasy playoffs are in full tilt.  For most leagues, winning this game means going to the league championship, while a loss means you cry into your beer until the next season’s draft… so are you gonna risk that outcome on a fresh-off-injury AP?  If he is relatively healthy, you probably have to, as your other choices might not be very pretty.

On the Saints side of the ball, Jimmy Graham is a concern to a lesser extent.  Graham was wracked by painful back spasms during pre-game warm-ups last week; he gutted it out and played through the pain, but it was obvious to many a fantasy stat line that he was much less effective than his uber-stud self.  Graham vows to play this week no matter the pain, which his all well and good… but you may see more of a 5-50 type of performance like he had last week, as opposed to the normal 7 or 8 for 80-100 and a touchdown we’ve become accustomed to.

Even with a couple of hobbled star players, this game should be a fantasy playland where tons of points are scored.  With Graham hobbled, look for another big game from Marques Colston as well as Darren Sproles, plus you should get some good use out of Lance Moore and maybe even Robert Meachem.  I wouldn’t start Meachem in the playoffs if I had any other choice, but if you’re hurting with injury at the WR or Flex spots, I would try to go Moore first but wouldn’t feel terrible with Meachem as a last resort.

For the Vikings, the offense runs through Percy Harvin these days, and even with Peterson back I would expect that to continue.  Harvin has been electric for over a month now and is a solid bet for at least 100 total yards and a touchdown, with multiple catches.  Outside of Harvin though, Devon Aromashodu could be useful as a Flex player and if Christian Ponder plays he could have a good game… even Joe Webb could do alright here, but I wouldn’t want to count on either with the playoffs on the line.

Good Start: QB Drew Brees, RB Darren Sproles, WR Marques Colston, TE Jimmy Graham, RB Adrian Peterson (if he plays and is considered healthy), WR Percy Harvin

Middle of the Road:  RB Pierre Thomas, RB Chris Ivory (if Ingram is still out), WR Lance Moore, QB Christian Ponder (if he plays), WR Devon Aromashodu

Bad Start:  WR Robert Meachem (but less bad than the rest), WR Devery Henderson, the rest of the Vikings
  So crazy man Todd Haley finally gets sacked like his quarterbacks, and I say it’s about time.  The dude is only consistent in his inconsistency, as he could never really find his groove at the end of last season and into this season.  He got his players hurt by playing them too long in the preseason (see: Tony Moeaki), he would keep running Thomas Jones when it was obvious the guy is more done than a fast food burger, and he insisted on going into the season with Tyler Palko as the backup, who has been horrendous now that Matt Cassel is out with an injury.  Of course, it’s not like dear old Romeo Crennel is bound to be any better… of course, he’s better than Josh McDaniel, who’s rumored to be a front runner this off season.  Say it ain’t so, Scott Pioli!

So what’s Romeo’s first duty as coach?  That’s right, find a way to slow down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.  You know, that was almost funny to put in the same sentence… Romeo Crennel and the Chiefs slowing down the Packers; sorry to say, it ain’t gonna happen.  The best Crennel can do is hope that he can keep his team within a couple of scores, show they have some fight, and for the love of pete put that Palko kid back on the bench.  Seriously, can Ricky Stanzi actually be worse?  Throw Kyle Orton out there, injured finger or no, or toss Stanzi out there and see what he can do.  Either way, it won’t be a win… but it could be more entertaining than watching Palko flail around with his noodle for an arm.  All the QBs need to know is to get the ball into the hands of the best playmakers they have left, namely Dwayne Bowe and Dexter McCluster.  If they can do that, the Chiefs at least stand a chance of hanging in for a half or so.

Speaking of the Packers, it’s not like the Pack don’t have their own problems to contend with. 
The team lost Greg Jennings for at least two weeks with a torn MCL, so look for Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Donald Driver to all be useful in this game.  Heck, even Jermichael Finley might get over his skillet-handinitis to be a target once again for Rodgers, who seemingly forgot that Finley was on the field and failed to throw him the ball last week.  This week that should change, although it would still be hard to rely on Finley for anything more than 50 yards considering his current trending.  Ryan Grant will probably have another week with the running back duties to himself, and facing a defense that ranks in the bottom third of the league in the category.  Grant only got 10 carries last week, but he looked spry enough to score twice and vault himself into useful RB3/Flex category.

Good Start:  QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Jordy Nelson, WR James Jones, WR Donald Driver, TE Jermichael Finley, WR Dwayne Bowe

Middle of the Road:  RB Ryan Grant, RB Randall Cobb, RB Dexter McCluster, WR Steve Breaston

Bad Start:  The rest of the Chiefs
This game probably harkens the end of Matt Hasselbeck as the regular starter for the Titans, as Jake Locker took over for an injured Hasselbeck in last week’s game and was electric, very nearly sparking the Titans to an upset win against the heavily favored Saints.  With the playoffs disappearing in the distance for this team and Hasselbeck nursing a calf injury, they might as well see what they have in Locker, who has looked more dynamic in his appearances when compared to the portfolio for Hasselbeck this season.

For the Colts, this game is probably another in a long line of losses that will almost assuredly end with them tying the Lions as the only teams in NFL history to actually go 0-16.  Hard to believe we went over 20 years with that distinction, and then in the last five years two teams will have done it.  Yes, I know the season still has three games left in it for the hapless Colts to scrounge up a win; but I’m buying my “2011 Colts: 0-16 and Lovin’ It!” t-shirt right now.  This team doesn’t play defense, can’t keep up on offense except against the absolute worst defenses, and to make matters worse, waived the white flag around week 7 or so.  They absolutely look like they’re just going through the motions, and they’re doing that with Dan Orlosvsky no less, so there’s almost no chance of even
accidentally winning a game.

For fantasy purposes, this game should be a boon for the Chris Johnson owners, as Johnson has only been able to take advantage of the cake matchups so far this year.  This is undoubtedly a cake of the double-tiered variety, so expect over 100 yards from Johnson and at least one score; anything less will be a bitter disappointment in a year full of bitter disappointment for those who drafted CJ.  This should also be a good fantasy outing for Locker and his receivers, especially Nate Washington, whom he has really taken a liking to.  Washington is nursing an injury of his own so if he doesn’t suit up, Damien Williams and Lavelle Hawkins will be the beneficiaries.

Good Start: QB Jake Locker (if Hasselbeck doesn’t play), RB Chris Johnson, WR Nate Washington (if he plays) WR Damien Williams (even better if Washington is out), WR Pierre Garcon

Middle of the Road:  WR Lavelle Hawkins (if Washington doesn’t play), TE Jared Cook, WR Reggie Wayne

Bad Start:  QB Dan Orlovsky, RB Donald Brown, WR Austin Collie, TE Dallas Clark
  This game is the yin to the Saints-Vikings matchup’s yang.  Not much going on here in terms of fantasy points other than one or two players; and guess what?  Yep, they won’t be on the Browns’ side of the ball.  The Browns score fewer points than a lot of soccer teams; averaging less than two touchdowns a game and sporting an offense that wouldn’t put a lot of scare into a pee-wee team, let alone any NFL caliber defense.  While the Cardinals don’t have a world class defense, ranking only 22^nd in the league, they have played better of late, giving up no more than two TDs to the 49ers, Cowboys, and Rams.  The Cards are on a mini-roll, and are still quite alive in the playoff hunt, remarkably.

Part of the reason for the Cardinal’s doing better in the second half of the season has been the play of backup QB John Skelton.  With Kevin Kolb at the helm in the first seven games, the Cardinals were a putrid 1-6… then something remarkable happened; Kolb got hurt!  Once he was replaced with Skelton, the Cardinals went 3-1 and suddenly had life.  Kolb came back last week, played adequately enough to get a win, then got his bell rung last week (while on his way to an uninspiring day, no less), so in came Skelton who rallied the Cardinals past the 49ers to add more legitimacy to the whispers of a QB controversy.  This week, the Browns come to town with the #1 passing defense in the league; but with Skelton willing to chuck it up to Larry Fitzgerald to go up and get it down field, Fitz owners shouldn’t fret about a down game… ain’t gonna happen.

For the Browns, they’ll counter with a 3 headed monster running attack, which is more “My Little Pony than actual monster.  Peyton Hillis is healthy, but apparently will now share with Montario Hardesty and Chris Ogbonnaya in one of the worst RBBC’s in the league… none of these guys is worth even getting close to a lineup, let alone actually being in one.  This was the kind of matchup Hillis owners would have salivated over; this year, Hillis owners are probably vomiting thinking about the wasted draft pick.

Speaking of running, if there’s one matchup left to exploit for Beanie Wells owners, this is it.  The Browns are terrible against the run and Wells is usually money at home, couple those things together and you have a player that might very well vault you into your league’s championship game.

Good Start:  RB Beanie Wells, WR Larry Fitzgerald

Middle of the Road:  QB John Skelton (if Kolb doesn’t play), Early Doucet, Greg Little

Bad Start:  Every other player sporting a little birdie or a solid orange helmet
  Hey how about this?  A battle of two teams that have not met a lot of expectations, one more of a bitter disappointment than the other.  This is one of the few games that the Jets can say the team they’re lining up against is more disappointing to their fans than they are.  Don’t get me wrong, the Jets have looked good at times; it’s just too bad when the team really could have used good performances earlier in the year, no one was willing to step up.  Now, the running game is clicking and Mark Sanchez has looked better the last couple of weeks than he has all season long, so right on time, Rex Ryan’s bunch is turning it on right at the end in order to try to sneak into the playoffs.  You know Rex, I think your fans would think it would be nice if you would actually get a home playoff game once in a while.  Think of the Jets as the Chargers-East… disappointing early in the year, turn it on in December and try to get in the playoffs the hard way.

Indicative of the Jets late surge, Shonn Greene has been money the last couple of weeks, rolling up nearly 300 total yards and 4 touchdowns in the last two games.  The Eagles have been bad against all manners of backs, but they have been especially susceptible of late against more physical attacks, so Greene will be a good one here.  Outside of Greene though, it’s tough to count on other Jets, but Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress could both be decent plays here.

While the Jets at least know how to come together to make a run at the end, the Eagles seemingly are just making the runs out of whatever chances they had at the beginning of the year.  They assembled one of the most promising rosters on paper, then realized once live fire started that paper doesn’t win you a damn thing.  Chemistry matters more than anything… to be honest, this fact was no more on display than the Eagles’ Thursday Night matchup two weeks ago against the Seattle Seahawks.  The Eagles were far and away more talented on paper, but the Seahawks have something in their somewhat talent-poor roster that the Eagles could only dream of… chemistry and the sense of team.  If only the Eagles could have talent AND team… but I digress.

Michael Vick returned last week and didn’t look very good; we might be able to chalk that up to rust, but this week isn’t going to get any easier against a Jets defense that isn’t as good as it was last year, but is still decent enough to give the Eagles fits.  In this matchup, Vick is a lukewarm start at best… if you have any better options, I would highly consider them.  Lesean McCoy is still a good play of course, with or without the concussion people have been talking about that he may or may not have.  As long as McCoy is out there, you have to play him, and he is almost guaranteed a score since he’s gotten into the endzone at least once in every game save for one this entire season.  Outside of McCoy however, it’s hard to trust any of the Eagles, especially Desean Jackson.  Not only is Jackson likely to disappear at the most inopportune time, he will probably draw Darrelle Revis on many downs, so if you have any other options this week, I’d use them.

Good Start:  RB Shonn Greene, WR Santonio Holmes, RB Lesean McCoy

Middle of the Road:  QB Mark Sanchez, WR Plaxico Burress, TE Dustin Keller, QB Michael Vick, WR Desean Jackson TE Brent Celek

Bad Start:  RB Ladainian Tomlinson, WR Jeremy Maclin, WR Riley Cooper
  Now this is the matchup of the week… not necessarily for fantasy purposes other than the usual Patriots suspects, but this one should be highly entertaining.  The Brady vs. The Tebow… Belichick vs. the Almighty… who will walk away with the win?  The obvious answer seems to be the Patriots in a laugher, as they sport a real actual offense, one that can score seemingly at will.  But hold the phone; not only has the Broncos offense rallied behind Tebow and his 7-1 record as the starter, but the defense has also come alive, playing lights out to give Tebow a chance to win games in the 4^th quarter.  Remember, it’s not like Tebow has had to score three touchdowns late in the fourth quarter like a Peyton Manning… usually he has only 3-10 points to make up when he starts to go on his divine march toward victory with 5 minutes or less to go in the game.

While the Broncos defense has been more respectable, the last time they faced this high-powered of an offense they got pasted by the Lions to the tune of 45-10.  During their 6 game winning streak, they’ve face the Raiders, Chiefs, Jets, Chargers, Vikings, and Bears; those teams rank 12^th, 28^th, 25^th, 8^th, 16^th, and 21^st in total offense.  The Patriots rank 2^nd only to the Saints and average over 30 points per game… this is for sure a different beast than the Broncos have faced this season.  While this matchup will be a little tougher than usual for Brady and company, you still shouldn’t shy away from using him or his automatic studs, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski.  While the numbers do stand a chance of being a little depressed, you can still expect at least 250 yards and 2 or 3 touchdowns by Brady, with the main beneficiaries being Welker and the Gronk.  In fact, don’t be surprised if Brady gets Gronkowski another two touchdowns to put that TE scoring record well out of reach for a while.

The one area of the Patriots you should shy away from is the running game; seemingly the Patriots have had a different lead rusher every week, and its anyone’s guess as to who will have their turn next.  If you’re playing a Pats running back, you’re probably not playing anymore this week anyhow, unless your league has a consolation ladder.

For the Broncos, Tebow should have a good fantasy game against one of the worst defenses in the league.  In fact, Willis McGahee is worth a play, as is Tebow’s new found favorite target when he does actually throw the ball, Demaryius Thomas.  Thomas has had a couple of good fantasy games in a row, rendering Eric Decker and afterthought for now.

Good Start:  QB Tom Brady, WR Wes Welker, TE Rob Gronkowski, QB Tim Tebow, RB Willis McGahee, WR Demaryius Thomas

Middle of the Road:  WR Deion Branch, TE Aaron Hernandez

Bad Start:  The Patriots running game, WR Eric Decker
  The Ravens look forward to a Sunday Night matchup on the west coast in a game that they will probably welcome Ray Lewis back to the defense after he’s missed the last couple of weeks with an injury.  It’s not like they’ve played poorly with Ray-Ray out of the lineup; the Ravens have won each game he’s been out, keeping pace with the Steelers to make sure they maintain their head-to-head tiebreaker advantage.  The Chargers come into the game having laid waste to the Jaguars and the Bills recently, showing up just in time to probably miss the playoffs by a game or so.  To think, what if the Chargers actually put together an entire season of not underachieving during half the year?  They might actually be the perennial playoff team that everyone expects them to be with the offensive weaponry they have at their disposal.

The Ravens haven’t traveled particularly well at 3-3 on the road, having lost games at Seattle, Jacksonville, and Tennessee.  This should bode well for the Chargers, save for one fact… the three teams the Ravens played were playing very good defense at the time they played them.  The Chargers haven’t really played good defense all year, so that probably submarines any advantage they might have from playing at home against the Ravens.  Baltimore will probably run early and often with Ray Rice, trying to use the formula that they win the most with; limit Joe Flacco’s throws, run the offense through Rice, play good defense.  But, Flacco will take a couple of strikes down the field on play action, so he might get one money ball out to Torrey Smith if you’re the gambling type.
The Chargers will find scoring points slower going this week as opposed to the last couple of weeks, as this is an honest to goodness real NFL defense they’re matched up with.  Philip Rivers has already had his struggles but has looked better recently; expect a regression of sorts, as the Ravens will harry Rivers into some bad decisions.  I would expect at least a couple of turnovers by Rivers in this game, which may result in some points for the opportunistic Ravens defense.  Ryan Mathews has been good of late for the Bolts, but don’t look for a good game here… probably still worth a start as a low end RB2 or high end RB3/Flex, but don’t expect more than that numbers-wise.

The conundrum is what to do with Rivers’ passing targets.  Antonio Gates has been rock solid for about a month now, and he probably will still get his 60-70 yards in this game.  Vincent Jackson on the other hand has been wildly inconsistent, and expecting him to blow up against the Ravens is probably foolhardy… if you have to play him, I’d say if you get more than 50 or 60 yards count yourself lucky.  None of the other pass catchers are worth considering in this one, as Malcom Floyd and Vincent Brown both probably won’t get enough action in this matchup to warrant a start.

Good Start:  RB Ray Rice, WR Anquan Boldin, TE Antonio Gates

Middle of the Road:  QB Joe Flacco, WR Torrey Smith, QB Philip Rivers, RB Ryan Mathews, WR Vincent Jackson

Bad Start:  TE Ed Dickson, RB Mike Tolbert, WR Malcom Floyd, WR Vincent Brown
  Now here’s what should amount to a good ol’ slobberknocker of a matchup between two of the best defenses in the league this year.  The Steelers come off a lackadaisical effort against a vastly inferior Browns team on Thursday night last week, winning in a similar sleepwalking manner as they did when they beat the Chiefs a couple of weeks back.  Pittsburgh has had a way of falling asleep at the wheel against inferior opponents lately, but will still get up just fine against top competition.  The 49ers come off a surprising loss to the Cardinals last week, letting a team score three touchdowns on them for the first time since their loss against the Cowboys way back in week 3.  Unfortunately for the 49ers, the Steelers sport the kind of offense that gave them fits in the desert; one that passed a lot and went for the big plays, which the Cardinals proved last week can beat the 49ers.

As long as Ben Roethlisberger is breathing, the dude is playing.  For all of you out there worried about him, I say don’t… he’ll play.  More the problem in my mind is the matchup here, because the 49ers don’t score many touchdowns, so if Ben can lead a couple of TD drives in the game, he won’t be needed to gunsling a bunch of scores.  I would expect his numbers to be a little lower in this one, maybe around 250 total yards and a couple of scores with an interception.  Serviceable, but if you have a better option you’ve been playing matchups with (like in the Eli Manning, Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford variety), you should probably roll with that.

The Steelers receiving game should be played regardless of matchup as long as Big Ben is in the lineup.  Mike Wallace hasn’t gone over 100 yards since week 7, but he has scored some touchdowns since then and he’s always a threat to take it the distance any time he catches the ball, so you have to play him.  Wallace probably will get at least one or two chances to grab a long ball, and on the big stage of Monday Night Football it wouldn’t be a surprise for his stat line to read around 4 or 5 catches for 90+ yards and a long score.  You also have to play Antonio Brown, who has lead the team in targets and yards in the last few weeks, and is now the new and improved version of Hines Ward.  Look for him to be solid as well, catching his normal 6 or 7 passes for around 70 or 80 yards.
What you don’t want to do is play either team’s running game if at all possible, as Frank Gore and Rashard Mendenhall will find the running lanes tightly closed.  If you have Gore you probably have to play him, but don’t expect much more than 50 or 60 yards from him and a close in score if you’re lucky.  For Mendenhall, he’s been terrible on the road anyhow and against a top 5 defense… fuggetaboutit.

Good Start:  WR Mike Wallace, WR Antonio Brown, WR Michael Crabtree

Middle of the Road:  QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Frank Gore, TE Vernon Davis

Bad Start:  RB Rashard Mendenhall, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller, QB Alex Smith, RB Kendall Hunter





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