Fantasy Savvy Start Em’ Sit Em’ Week 12

Week 12, playoffs right around the corner, it’s time to step up! Hopefully you are in the hunt for the playoffs, if not it can be a very depressing feeling with your season coming to an end. But don’t give up, at least play to be a spoiler. If you are in the playoffs, let’s finish strong and as always we are here to help. If you have any specific questions for me you can send them to SteveDeAngelo@gmail.com and I will answer them as fast as I can.

After a pretty horrid start to the year, Matt Ryan is starting to heat up of late. Ryan has back to back 300 yard games with 6 TD’s in his last three outings. Ryan can now be trusted again. He is playing to the caliber that was expected when Owners drafted him. This week, an EXCELLENT matchup vs the Minnesota secondary who are dead last in points allowed to Fantasy QB’s.

Vince Young just wins games. He did it yet again with a eight minute winning drive against the Giants on Sunday night. I suggested Vince last week, I thought he perform a bit better, but he was serviceable with 250 yards and 2 TD’s. However the three interceptions decreased his numbers a bit. Vince also isn’t really running all that much anymore. He really is committed to sticking in that pocket. It’s now to the point where Vince only really runs if he has to. But Vince, after a rough 1st half, shook off the cobwebs and made some big throws in that game. I think he performs even better in this game against New England whose secondary is still extremely poor. It really looks like Vick will be out again, so stick with Vince again this week and expect around 18-25 fantasy points.

Do you still doubt Tebow? In a very tough matchup against the Jets, he still managed to put up around 18 fantasy points. Well it’s gonna be Tebow Time once again in San Diego as he will finish with around 18-25 points in this one. Norv Turner could be fired after this game, if Tebow devastates the Chargers. Expect a bit more in the passing game from Tebow this week with his usual 40-80 yards rushing.

Dalton had a rough one last week tossing three picks against Baltimore, although he did throw for 345 yards and a TD. But he was missing AJ Greenand could be missing him again this week. Cleveland has been the best secondary against QB’s all year led by CB Joe Haden. Green possibly out again, tough matchup, keep Dalton on the bench this week.

Freeman probably had his best game last week against Green Bay, but that was kind of expected since we knew it would be a shootout and Green Bay’s secondary has been allowing a lot of points to Fantasy QB’s. This week the game will be slowed down and Tampa will use LeGarette Blountmore often to attack the Titans weak run defense. The Titans also have been fairly stout against the pass allowing the eighth least amount of points to QB’s.

Joe cool played pretty well against the Bengals last week throwing for 270 and 2 TD’s. But keep in mind Cincy was without their best corner Leon Hall. The 49ers come to town this week and they are going to limit Flacco and this pass game. Ray Rice will be bottled up by the 49ers #1 Rush D and that will in turn affect Flacco’s performance.

Reggie now has 4 TD’s in his last three games and is playing very well. Miami has turned to him in recent weeks and it’s paying off. Matt Moore has also been playing much better and this offense can now move the ball consistently. Gotta stick with Reggie here on Thanksgiving and hope he keeps it rolling, I think he will.

This is the perfect game to use Mendenhall. The Steelers will have a commanding lead in this game and that means plenty of carries for Mendy. Look for around 100 yards and 1-2 TD’s in this game.

Willis had plenty of time to rest his injured hammy and should be fine in this matchup. Expect the zone read with Tebow to open holes for Willis in this game. McGahee is going to get plenty of burn and should find the endzone.

The beast that is Adrian Peterson is OUT for this week so the Great White Hope Toby Gerhart will step in. But unless you have to start Gerhart, you really want to keep him on the bench. Atlanta has been pretty nice against the run all year ranked 6th in defending RB’s. Don’t think Gerhart really has the skillset to get it done in this matchup, keep him benched.

Fred Jackson OUT FOR THE YEAR! WOW! First we thought it was just a calf strain, but now word is it’s a broken leg. Until recently Jackson was one of the best backs in Fantasy this season. But now the young, talented Spiller will get a chance to show his skills. I like Spiller a lot going forward, just not in this matchup against the Jets run D who have been playing extremely well of late. Plus Ryan Fitzpatrick has been so brutal and will do nothing to help Spiller’s cause. Spiller has a ton of talent, it’s just not really going to show this week.

I’m not saying to definitely bench Rice, but if you have other options to go with you’re going to have to think about it. This 49ers D just has been so good all year and I don’t see Rice scoring in this matchup. I think the only way you consider Rice is in a PPR league, other than that you keep him benched. I wouldn’t expect any more than 80 total yards.

The Vikings made it a point to get Harvin more touches coming off the bye week and Harvin has responded with back to back games with six catches and over 50 yards receiving. With Adrian Peterson out, the Vikings will look to Harvin even more this week, making him a very solid play at Atlanta.

Brown is going to be a staple in this offense the rest of the way. The Steelers pass game has gotten much better in recent weeks and Brown has been apart of that success. Brown should be a solid start from here on out.

Pay attention to the statuses of Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, if one of them is out, Cooper is a nice little start against New England. Cooper ran some good routes and made some nice catches while being heavily targeted by Vince Young against the Giants on Sunday night. Vince will look Cooper’s way again if Maclin or Jackson end up being out.

Once again two words: Darrelle Revis

Bad matchup here against Cleveland and their top secondary. I like Simpson, but this is just a bad matchup, stay away.

Don’t trust Boldin in this game. I love that 49ers D and they are going to make Flacco look silly, Flacco has looked silly against much lesser defenses. Boldin will produce little here.

Miller has returned to fantasy prominence once again and I love this guy the rest of the way. He is fully healthy now and it shows, he’s running good routes and getting open. Mike Wallace is also opening up things for him underneath and Ben is finding him.

Carolina loves to play in shootouts, it’s like watching a game of Madden. Newton will be slinging and that means Painter will have to sling. How successful can he be? Probably not too much, but Tamme will benefit because Carolina is one of worst at defending the Tight End ranked 21st. Look for Tamme to have a solid game.

Matt Leinart will be looking for security blankets in his first game in over a year and Owen Daniels will be one of the blankets. Jacksonville also can’t defend the Tight End ranked 30th. Start Daniels.

Might want to consider sitting Davis this week against the Ravens who are ranked 2nd in points allowed to Tight Ends. Davis has been heating up with two TD’s in his last two games, but if you have another possible option go with that.

The Jake Ballard show is slowing down of late with Ballard only having four catches in his last two games for just 48 yards. I think he starts to decline from here on in, just like the Giants will.

Eli is going to be tossing on Monday night and Greer will be deflecting and possibly intercepting. It’s never a good thing when Eli is throwing the ball more than 40 times and that could be the case on Monday night.

Here comes Tim Tebow and the extremely run heavy Denver Broncos. That means plenty of opportunities for Weddle to rack up tackles. He’s a nice IDP start this Sunday because of the style of play of Denver.

Fitzpatrick will not be throwing to Johnson much and that is who Revis will be covering. Little opportunity for Revis to be a fantasy factor here.

Aaron Rodgers will be throwing darts all day to his wideouts and Houston won’t have much chance of deflecting passes or getting an interception. Look for other options.