Week 12 of the NFL season is already upon us. Seems like just yesterday I was mock drafting around the clock to try to get a feel for the draft value for different players. I blinked, and we are merely weeks away from the end of many peoples seasons, and the tourney to crown a champion for others. Let's take a look at the good and bad match ups for this weeks NFL action.
Match Up Monsters
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The Cleveland Browns are likely to go through one of the biggest late season transformations of any team in the league. The addition of Josh Gordon back to the receiving corps for the Browns is primed to completely change the Cleveland offense. Gordon has been a prolific pass catcher in the past, and as long as he can be in somewhat game ready shape this week, he figures to have a soft landing spot this week. The Browns face the last ranked pass defense of the Atlanta Falcons this week. Atlanta allows 281.2 yards per game through the air, and Josh Gordon and Andrew Hawkins factor to catch a lot of passes in an offense that threw the ball 50 times last week.
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Kansas City Chiefs running backs Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis have a great match up on
Thursday this week against the Oakland Raiders. Oakland is allowing 129.8 yards per game on the ground with their 27th ranked run defense. Keeping with the tradition of Thursday night games being great for running plays right into the strength of the Chiefs offense. Charles is always a must start guy, but Davis could see some work as well if the Chiefs get out to a lead, and in spelling Charles.
Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts wide receivers will likely be out for blood this week after getting trounced last week by the Patriots. Bad news for the Jaguars and their 26th ranked pass defense. Allowing 261.9 yards per game, and 18 touchdowns through the air, the Colts will likely take it to the Jags porous defense. Look for lots of big numbers for the likes of the Colts pass attack.
DeMarco Murray and the Dallas Cowboys running backs should be licking their chops at their match up this week. Facing the worst ranked run defense of the New York Giants who allow 145 yards per game and 13 rushing touchdowns on the season. The Giants were gashed by the Seahawks two weeks ago, and last week gave up 5 yards per carry to Frank Gore last week. Look for Murray and maybe even Joseph Randle to get some quality points for your fantasy teams this week.
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I've been down on the Chicago Bears offense the last few weeks, and will admit being mostly wrong last week. This week I see a big week ahead for the Bears against the 30th ranked pass defense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has given up 20 touchdowns through the air this season, and 266.1 yards per game. This should be a game that Jay Cutler can get right in, and light up the scoreboards in your fantasy leagues with Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall, and maybe even some Martellus Bennett. The bears offense is a full go for me.
Match Up Misses
The New York Jets offense has been a mess this season, and I don't see it getting better this week against the Buffalo Bills defense. Ranked 9th against the run, allowing 99 yards per game and only 5 rushing touchdowns on the season against the pass, it seems like it might be a long day for Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory. The receivers for the Jets might not fare much better against the 7th ranked pass defense the Bills are sporting. Only allowing 222.6 yards per game and 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions on the season, the Bills run a formidable defense out every week. If you have been playing the Jets offense, I can't say that I see much to like this week.
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Speaking of a mess, Washington is a hot one. Robert Griffin III was a good college quarterback. Yes, College. In the NFL he is well on his way to being a bust. This doesn't lead to good things for those surrounding him on the offense. This week I expect tough sledding for the Washington running game, namely Alfred Morris. The opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, sports the 6th ranked pass defense in the NFL at 88.6 yards per game and 5 scores on the season. I fully expect the 49ers to stack the box and force RG3 to beat them, and I don't think he can. Alf would likely not be a guy making my starting lineup this week if I had any shares of him.
The injury to Carson Palmer seems to be a bad omen for the Arizona Cardinals offense. Yes, they did face a touch match up last week against the Detroit Lions, but they managed only 2 early touchdowns and held on for dear life shutting down the Lions offense. This week they will be led into Seattle by Drew Stanton in his second start since Palmer went down. Add to that a grade 2 MCL tear for Larry Fitzgerald, and facing the 3rd ranked pass defense of the Seahawks, and it smells like a recipe for disaster. The Cardinals will likely find a better chance at using Andre Ellington in the run game to try to beat Seattle the same way that the Chiefs did last week. I am sitting my Cardinals wide outs this week.
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The New Orleans Saints running backs, be it Mark Ingram alone, or along with any of the rest of the compliment, has a tough game ahead of them against the 5th ranked run defense of the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens only allow 84.5 yards per contest on the ground, and have only given up 6 rushing touchdowns on the season. This does not bode well for Ingram, who managed only 67 yards on 23 carries last week against the Bengals at home. At the time of this writing the status of the other backs for the Saints is not known for week 12, but I can't say I am a fan of starting any of them this week.
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The New England Patriots rushing attack was fantastic last week. This
week however they face a top ranked run defense in the Detroit Lions that allows 68.8 yards per game, and has given up only 4 rushing touchdowns on the season. On top of those dismal stats for the Patriots there is usually no consistency to their game plans from week to week, and it wouldn't shock me if Jonas Gray was used very little. It is hard to say if Shane Vereen will be used much as a receiver out of the backfield, but if I was forced to start a Patriots running back this week, Vereen would likely be the one. The Lions have a stout defense, and relying on Gray is not on my to do list this week.
And so ends another match up monsters here in week 12. Some great games await us this weekend, and I hope that these takes on the match ups upcoming provide you with some insight into what may be in the future of your fantasy teams. Start that ideal line up this week and lets hit that playoff push hard together. Good luck this week!
