Sometimes the worst things in fantasy football are also the best. That’s a fairly vague statement, I know. Stick with me though. I’m getting to the point.
In week 7 of this column, I wrote about a fantasy football league that I have been in for six years. The league is a very competitive 12-team PPR league that has been going on since 2008. It’s so competitive that nobody in the league has won back-to-back championships. In fact, last year’s champion is currently in 11th place.
Last week, week 10 of the NFL and fantasy football season, I was in a matchup with our defending champion. He and I tend to be two of the more reserved people in the league when it comes to smack talking, so there was no surprise when neither one of use spoke about the matchup while it was happening.
At the end of Sunday night, he was beating me 120-98. There was some talk in the group chat about how I sucked so badly that I was going to lose in a week were my opponent was without a running back. The problem with that was I still had two players that had to play on Monday Night Football: Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen.
Going into Monday night, I was nervous because in the two weeks prior, both Benjamin and Olsen combined for a measly 9 and 15 points. So them coming up short of the 22 points was a possibility.
Now if you watched the game that night, Carolina versus Philadelphia, you will remember that it was a one-sided game, with Philadelphia beating 45-21. Throughout most of the game, Benjamin and Olsen were doing nothing because Philly’s defense was manhandling Carolina’s offense.
If you watched the game, you will also remember that Benjamin had two late game touchdown receptions, the first of which won me my match up. Coming into the week, only one game separated us in the standings. Because of the win, I jumped to sixth place, and he fell to 11th.
There are two things to take away from this story: firstly, don’t talk smack before Monday Night Football because the football Gods frown upon that; secondly, Monday Night Football can really suck or be really great in fantasy football.
Just a reminder: check to see when your league’s trade deadline is, because it is likely coming soon.
As always, start your studs, and good luck this week.
Bye: Baltimore, Dallas, Jacksonville, New York Jets
Start ‘Em: Quarterbacks
Philip Rivers (San Diego): In week 6, the last time San Diego and Oakland played, Rivers put up 313 passing yards and 3 TDs. The one quarterback that has yet to post a double-digit fantasy point game against Oakland’s defense is Russell Wilson. Which do you think is more likely?
Matthew Stafford (Detroit): Arizona’s defense has given up blah blah blah. I don’t care. Stafford has Megatron back, and with the addition of Golden Tate, he’s likely to have 17-plus point fantasy days until the end of the season.
Robert Griffin III (Washington): Have you seen the fantasy points Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy put up in this offense? Do you really think a healthy RGIII is going to do worse? Didn’t think so.
Sit ‘Em:
Matt Ryan (Atlanta): Carolina’s defense is such a great matchup… for anyone not named Matt Ryan. He’s posted over 15 fantasy points (in standard scoring) only 3 times this season. Matty Ice has been too inconsistent against weak defenses this season, and it is mostly because of the struggling offensive line.
Cam Newton (Carolina): SuperCam was sacked 9 times last week. NINE TIMES. Sadly, at this point, he’s almost droppable.
Jay Cutler (Chicago): There are a couple of things to point out with Cutler. Firstly, Minnesota’s defense has allowed the fourth fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Secondly, Chicago has yet to win a home game this season, and it is partly because of Cutler’s 1:1 touchdown and interception ratio at Soldier Field.
Start ‘Em: Running backs
Ahmad Bradshaw (Indianapolis): Do I need to say it again? You know, the whole “When he stops producing…” spiel. Okay, I won’t. Bradshaw is on pace for 1,269 all purpose yards and 14 total touchdowns this season, and with New England’s defense giving up the third-most fantasy points to opposing RBs, this game is shaping up to be a matchup dream for Bradshaw.
Frank Gore (San Francisco): Looks like San Francisco’s coaching staff has finally figured out that giving Frank Gore the ball more usually gives them the win. The New York Giants defense has allowed an outstanding 5 yards per carry this season, so Gore could be in line for a huge game. Assuming they give him the ball like they did last week.
Rashad Jennings (New York Giants): If he’s back, which boy oh boy I hope he is, you’re starting him. Not because the San Francisco run defense is a push over, because aren’t, but because he’s the safety target that Eli has been missing with Andre Williams in the game. In the 5 games that he played, he averaged 101 yards from scrimmage. Jennings owners everywhere are silently rejoicing right now.
CJ Anderson (Denver): Ronnie Hillman is out for 2-3 weeks; Montee Ball is coming back from a groin injury (he wasn’t playing well when he was healthy); and Head Coach John Fox has stated that he is “going with the hot hand,” which is currently Anderson.
Sit ‘Em:
Steven Jackson (Atlanta): The struggling Carolina defense has given up the seventh-most points to opposing RBs, but Jackson is a touchdown dependent back that only has four on the season.
Trent Richardson (Indianapolis): Just looking at stats, you would think that Ahmad Bradshaw is the starting back in Indianapolis. That isn’t the case. In fact, the only statistic that Richardson is leading Bradshaw in is touches (129 to Bradshaw’s 117). Ahmad Bradshaw has produced over 200 more total yards, four more touchdowns and has amassed almost double the amount of fantasy points.
Any Cleveland RB: Last week, all of the running backs scored a touchdown. That’s not likely to happen again this week. The backfield situation is too muddy to start any of them.
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Start ‘Em: Wide Receivers
Odell Beckham Jr. (New York Giants): You saw last week. At this point, he’s a must start in any league if you own him. He’s had double-digit fantasy outputs in four of the last five weeks, including back-to-back 100-yard games.
Mike Evans (Tampa Bay): Same as above. In the last four games, Evans has produced 382 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. He’s slowly becoming the No. 1 receiver in Tampa Bay.
Golden Tate (Detroit): Just in case you were wondering whether or not there would be enough targets to go around in Detroit with Megatron back. Tate 13 targets last week against Miami, second to Calvin Johnson’s 15. Tate’s appeal isn’t that he sees targets, but also that he catches a lot of them. Of his 93 targets on the season, which is fifth most in the league, he’s caught 66 of them, which is second most in the league.
Brandon LaFell and Julian Edelman (New England): This game is likely to be a high scoring game which means there will be a lot of balls to go around to Edelman, LaFell and Gronk. All three should be in starting lineups.
Sit ‘Em:
Michael Crabtree (San Francisco): Crabtree has been such a huge disappointment in fantasy leagues and in real life. He has a team high 7 dropped balls, 3 of which could have gone for touchdowns, and has only 40 catches on the season. Anquan Boldin is the No. 1 receiver there, and it isn’t close.
Mohamed Sanu (Cincinnati): I haven’t decided yet if it’s because AJ Green is back and healthy, or if it’s because Andy Dalton is just that bad of a quarterback. I’ll let you decide.
Rueben Randle (New york Giants): Three words: Odell Beckham Jr. Randle has caught only 54 percent of his targets (79 targets) and is averaging only 45 yards per game. He has 17th most targets amongst wide receivers and has barely cracked the top-25 in receptions.
Start ‘Em: Tight Ends
There aren’t any big name tight ends on bye weeks this week, thankfully. So go ahead and start the guy’s that you would normally start.
Picks of the Week:
Houston over Cleveland
Carolina over Atlanta
Chicago over Minnesota
New Orleans over Cincinnati
Denver over St. Louis
Kansas City over Seattle
San Francisco over New York Giants
Washington over Tampa Bay
San Diego over Oakland
Detroit over Arizona
Green Bay over Philadelphia
New England over Indianapolis
Pittsburgh over Tennessee
