Runningbacks:
Start:
Beanie Wells against St. Louis – Beanie Wells had an excellent day against a poor Detroit rushing defense last week and is again gifted with a poor opponent this week in St Louis. Beanie is also seeing increased looks as the feature back, which is evident after last week when he was given 17 handoffs to Hightower’s 6.
Cedric Benson against Kansas City – Jerome Harrison was able to put up nearly 300 yards on this defense. That should be enough said. The Bengals will be looking to lock up the division and to do so they will rely on Cedric Benson to control the clock.
Pierre Thomas against Tampa Bay – Tampa has one of the worst rush defenses in the league and Thomas should be able to put up respectable rushing numbers. His real value comes in the targets he receives outside of just carries. If you are in a PPR league, he has extra added value for sure.
Jerome Harrison against Oakland – Harrison had the best fantasy week of the year against the Chiefs terrible run defense and he will get his chance to run wild against a below average run defense from Oakland. With the news that Brady Quinn is out for the year, I think Harrison will get more carries than normal and he is also used in the screen game, which could carry upside.
Jason Snelling against Buffalo – It looks like Turner will be out this week and even with Norwood back, Snelling will be the go to guy for the bulk of the workload. The Bills haven’t been able to shut down many rushing attacks and I see that trend continuing this week.
Sit:
Joseph Addai against NY Jets – Addai is going against one of the top rushing defenses and he is slightly banged up, which means he probably won’t play more than the first half this week. I think Mike Hart will get the bulk of the load and Addai will be put on rest by halftime.
Lesean Mccoy against Denver – Brian Westbrook is expected back and should see a few series as the feature back this week, which will hurt Mccoy’s fantasy numbers. Denver also has one of the best run defenses in the league and should be able to shut down the Eagles undedicated rushing attack.
Any Houston RB @ Miami – At this point, no one is reliable out of the Houston backfield. If they put the ball on the turf, they are done for the day, which is a terrible way to develop young talent, but is also understandable if you are in a playoff race.
Matt Forte against Minnesota – I know you aren’t supposed to ever sit your first pick, but in the case of Forte, I don’t have a problem sitting him this week if you have another decent option. Forte has been held without a touchdown the last two weeks and doesn’t usually have a good day unless he’s playing a bottom 10 rushing defense, which isn’t happening this week.
Quarterbacks:
Start:
Joe Flacco @ Pittsburgh – Joe Flacco is coming off one of the best weeks of his career and should be able to have another good game this week against a struggling secondary of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s main goal is going to be to shut down Ray Rice, which should leave some openings for Flacco and the passing game.
Kyle Orton @ Philadelphia – The Eagles have been really poor against the pass and I don’t see that changing this week with Denver coming to town. I think Denver will have trouble running the ball against the stout run defense of Philly, which will force Orton to throw the ball more and give him the chance to have a good fantasy day.
Sit:
Matt Ryan against Buffalo – Matt Ryan is going against one of the top pass defenses in respect to fantasy performances this week. The Bills may not be a great team, but their rushing defense is so poor, teams rarely have to rely on their passing game to beat them. I don’t think the Falcons will be putting the ball up in the air anymore than they need to this week.
Eli Manning against Carolina – Eli has put together a couple of good weeks in a row for fantasy, but I think that ends this week. Carolina shut down the Vikings and all of their weapons on Sunday night football and I think they will do the same this week against Eli and his plethora of receivers.
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