Each week when compiling this report, I take into consideration not only the individual players mentioned, but also the state of their teams and their opponents, team schedules, historical player performance, inclement weather (when applicable), and of course, injuries. This is a dynamic, stat-driven article that aims to assist you in making the right roster decisions for your fantasy squad. Your feedback is important to me, so please keep the emails coming. Got a specific roster question relative to your team? Fire away.

Quarterbacks

Start 'Em:
Quarterbacks Who Will Outperform Relative To Their Draft Position And Recent Hype

Tony Romo @ NYG
Romo has thrown more TDs against the Giants (13) than any other NFL squad, and while the 2009 NY Giants allow just 182.6 passing YPG, they have been burned 18 times through the air. Romo is coming off his best game in nearly a month and will be facing a struggling Giants squad that has dropped 5 of 6 games after winning 5 straight to start the season. He has great faith in WR Miles Austin and TE Jason Witten and should be poised to put up very good totals at the Meadowlands this week.

Alex Smith @ SEA
In his last 2 games, Alex Smith has 5 TDs and just 1 INT and has averaged 229.5 passing YPG in that span. His 55.9% completion percentage leaves a bit to be desired, but TE Vernon Davis and WR Michael Crabtree have proven to be playmakers for Smith and the 49ers. The Seahawks have lost 4 of their last 6 games, with wins coming against the lowly Lions and Rams. Seattle serves up 238.1 passing YPG and has allowed 20 TDs while picking off just 10 passes this season. The ‘Hawks are not prone to getting beat deep, which plays nicely for Smith and his dink-and-dunk passing ways.

Palmer faces the worst pass defense in the NFL this week.

Carson Palmer vs. DET
Palmer has just 2 TD passes in his last 4 games, the worst stretch of his career; he is still looking for his first 300-yard game since 12/30/07. Although he was disappointing against the Browns last week (110 yards, 1 TD), he has a great opportunity to impress this week against the Lions. Detroit easily has the worst pass defense in the NFL, allowing an average of 281.7 YPG. This team has allowed 27 aerial scores and has intercepted just 6 passes this year.

Brett Favre @ ARI
Last week Favre threw for a season-high 392 yards (4th highest mark of his illustrious career) with 3 TDs and 0 INTs. The 40-year-old has now thrown 24 TDs and, amazingly, just 3 interceptions in what could be his best season ever. His 112.1 passer rating is second only to Drew Brees (112.6). The Cardinals have the league’s 29th ranked pass defense, allowing 258.3 YPG and 16 TDs to date, and there is plenty of reason to believe that Brett will add to his total of 488 career passing TDs on Sunday.

Bench 'Em:
Quarterbacks Who Will Under Perform Relative To Their Draft Position And Recent Hype

Matt Hasselbeck vs. SF
Hasselbeck has just 2 TDs and 4 INTs in his last 4 games and 0 TDs in his last 2. He has been held to 112 passing yards or less 3 times in 9 games this season. Seattle has played 4 of their last 5 games on the road and while I expect him to play better at home, he remains very hard to trust as the Seahawks rely on their running game. The 49ers have given up a significant amount of passing yardage (256.5 YPG), but have only allowed 11 TD passes this year, tied for the 7th lowest total in the league.

Jay Cutler vs. STL
Cutler has thrown a career worst 20 interceptions this year - and there are still 5 games to be played. This week’s matchup against the Rams is enticing, but the Bears have lost 6 of 7 and Jay has 2 TDs and 8 INTs in his last 3 games. Surprisingly the Rams have allowed 225.6 passing YPG and 15 aerial TDs this season; I figured both of those numbers would have been higher. Jay is still and elite talent but I would not want to pin my fantasy playoff hopes on his erratic arm in this Week 13.

Vince Young @ IND
In 6 career games (to be fair - one of which was mop-up duty) against the Colts, Young has managed 3 TD passes. I understand that he is coming off the best game of his career (387 yards), but that was only the second time VY has gone over the 300-yard threshold. He has led the Titans to 5 straight victories this season and 9 in a row overall, but that doesn’t help your fantasy team. He remains a long shot to throw multiple TD passes for 2 reasons: Tennessee is a run-first team and the Colts have allowed only 9 aerial scores in 11 games.

Ben Roethlisberger vs. OAK
Big Ben should be cleared to play this week and needs 133 passing yards to reach 3,000 for the 4th time in his career. While he is likely to hit that milestone this week, he could have some trouble putting up big numbers against the Raiders. Ben has thrown 3 INTs in his last 2 games and Oakland is probably not as bad as you may think against the pass. The Raiders have allowed 215.8 passing YPG and just 10 aerial TD passes this year. Oakland is woeful against the run which makes RB Rashard Mendenhall the likely beneficiary.

Running Backs