|
Bye Weeks: N/A
Grab a Helmet
LeSean
McCoy v. CHI: McCoy says he wants to “roll” this weekend and
put the Eagles offense on his back vs. the Bears. He doesn’t actually
need to (Philly’s got plenty of other weapons), but it’s nice
to hear, regardless, and especially when he’ll be facing a squad
that’s giving up almost 132 rushing yards per game. That’s last
in the league, by the way, and the next closest team (Atlanta)
is more than a game’s worth shy of catching up. Put another way,
these ain’t your typical Monsters of the Midway. Chicago likely
gets Lance Briggs back on Sunday and that might help some. I have
my doubts, however, that it will make a huge difference against
an explosive and extremely diverse Philadelphia attack. McCoy’s
no longer atop the fantasy RB heap thanks to Jamaal Charles’ ridiculous
Week 15, but he still stands a pretty good chance of being the
second-ranked rock toter when it’s all said and done. Even including
Charles, he might be the best start of the weekend at his position.
Memo to Jason Garrett: Give DeMarco Murray
the ball.
DeMarco
Murray @ WAS: Jason Garrett’s mystifying misusage of Murray
in the final minutes of last week’s debacle will probably cost him
his job if Dallas doesn’t make the playoffs. Whether his quarterback
should have checked to a pass or not on the game’s most critical
play (Romo’s momentum-changing pick), the fact is Murray only carried
the ball 18 times on a day when he averaged 7.4 yards per romp and
his Cowboys nursed a double-digit lead most of the afternoon. If
you’re wondering how to kick away a 23-point lead in the NFL, Garrett
just wrote the playbook. He can’t afford to make the same mistake
twice and likely won’t against a Redskins defense that is offering
up only token resistance of late. Stick with Murray and hope the
Cowboys’ brain trust seeks more balance in a game they simply must
have thanks to last week’s meltdown.
Ryan
Mathews v. OAK: Mathews is capable of just about anything this
coming weekend and might be the position’s biggest wildcard as we
get set to decide league championships across the land. Recent history
(two 29-carry, 100+-yard outings in a row) suggests he’s in for
a ginormous afternoon against Oakland’s struggling defense. A more
comprehensive look at his up-and-down career, however, indicates
he’s equally as capable of breaking hearts (not to mention bones)
come Sunday afternoon. The Fresno St. product had never actually
carried the ball 29 times in a game prior to Week 14 and he’s now
done it two times in the past two weeks. Whether that should be
considered a red flag or a harbinger of great things to come is
up to you to decide, but I’ll offer this: I’d start him over his
backfield mate, Danny Woodhead, this Sunday. I would not have said
that most of the year.
Grab a Gatorade
Pierre
Thomas or Darren
Sproles @ CAR: New Orleans dominated the first matchup
of NFC South rivals just two short weeks ago, a much-hyped Monday
night affair that took place at the Louisiana Superdome. They
did so by suffocating a resurgent Panthers offense and exposing
a Carolina secondary that hadn’t yielded more than one passing
TD in a game all year (Brees threw four of them). What the Saints
WEREN’T able to do that evening was run the ball effectively or,
frankly, even at all. If you factor out Sproles’ 38-yard scamper
(his only carry), they managed just 31 yards on 16 other handoffs
despite being ahead most of the night. Carolina is second overall
against opposing backs for a reason (only Arizona has yielded
fewer points to the position) and should have no trouble making
the Saints one-dimensional again this weekend. Whether that alters
the bottom line this time around is another story entirely.
Stevan
Ridley or LeGarrette
Blount @ BAL: Calling the Patriots’ running back situation
“murky” would be a significant understatement at this juncture.
Ridley, Blount, Shane Vereen, and Brandon Bolden have all led
the team in RB points at least twice apiece this year, and there
seems to be no rhyme or reason to how Coach Belichick and Co.
utilize them on a weekly basis. The only thing we can count on
is that Ridley’s next fumble in a Patriots uniform will probably
be his last. Regardless who gets the lion’s share of the work
in Week 16, the chances of New England reaching paydirt by ground
are probably pretty remote. Baltimore has yielded up just four
rushing TDs in 2013 (only Seattle and Carolina can match that)
and desperately needs a W to stay in position for the final AFC
wildcard spot. Expect a slugfest in the Charm City come Sunday.
Andre
Brown @ DET: Baltimore’s in position to make the playoffs
thanks mostly to Justin Tucker’s 61-yard, game-winning howitzer
in the Motor City last Monday night, a kick that put the Lions’
backs squarely against the wall in their own quest to make the
NFL postseason. In that game, Detroit gave up just 56 rushing
yards (on 12 carries) to the Ravens’ Ray Rice. Amazingly,
that was only the second time since Week 5 they’d surrendered
more than 50 yards to an opposing back…and the other time
occurred in the Week 14 loss to Philly (LeSean McCoy’s snow-aided
217 yards). Detroit is a profoundly frustrating team that should
be a lot better than it is, agreed, but the one thing they do
consistently well is stuff opposing ground-gainers. Brown isn’t
particularly special and neither is the New York offense right
now, so sit him down.
Wide Receivers 
|
