San Francisco is suddenly the NFC’s projected 5th seed for
the upcoming playoffs, meaning they could go from last undefeated
squad left (8-0 prior to Week 10) to playing a road playoff game
in barely a month’s time. They’ll still have a chance
to wrest the NFC West crown away from Seattle come Week 17, but
in order to do that, they’ll need to first beat the Rams
this Saturday. Here’s the blueprint for doing that and it’s
similar to the one they employed in a 20-7 beatdown of LA in Week
6: suffocating defense and good balance on offense. Though the
D has suffered some injuries of late, Mostert has provided that
necessary offensive balance, vaulting from scarcely utilized tertiary
option to primary rock-toter. He’s averaging 14.4 FPts/G
the past five weeks and has scored in four straight contests.
Sign me up.
The Bengals are playing for nothing but pride and have been for
quite some time now, but don’t assume that’s having
a deleterious effect on Mixon’s usage or fantasy output.
To the contrary, Cincy’s meal ticket has been the busiest
NFL rusher the past five weeks (100 carries even) and has translated
that healthy workload into a very efficient 15.5 FPts/G, good
for fifth overall during that stretch. He’s been even better
(17.7) the past three weekends and now draws a Miami squad in
similar circumstances, suiting up because the league mandates
every team must play 16 games. I actually like the way both teams
are still competing, though one could question whether the Miami
run D actually is (23.4 FPts/G yielded, third worst overall).
This one’s for moms, degenerate gamblers, and those competing
for a fantasy chip. Trust Mixon on Sunday.
This one’s tricky and comes with some major conditions (like,
do you trust Adam Schefter and own the other Dalvin Cook handcuff,
Alexander Mattison?) but there aren’t many better matchups to be
had come Week 16. Schefter’s reporting he’d be surprised if Dalvin
Cook plays another down in the regular season and that, naturally,
has people looking at his potential replacements, only one of whom
appears to be fully healthy himself. That would be Boone, coming
off a career performance against the Chargers, 13 carries for 56
yards and his first two NFL touchdowns. At least one super RB sub
seems to star in Week 16 every year—Jamaal Williams in 2018, Bilal
Powell in 2017, Zach Zenner in 2016—so why not this one in 2019?
The Monday night game time adds a swizzle, but if Cook and Mattison
are ruled out beforehand, here you go.
Michel’s been sophomore slumping most of the season, though you
wouldn’t know it by comparing his rankings year over year. He finished
his rookie season as RB25 and is currently sitting at RB24 in 2019.
The difference lies in his per-game production, as he averaged a
stout 10.3 FPts/G last year and averages just 8.5 this season (he’ll
play more games). In neither season has he been New England’s most
productive back (that would be James White, even in non-PPR leagues)
and in neither season has he been especially consistent, though
he WAS a revelation in last year’s playoffs. He could be again this
season, but I don’t like what I’ve seen from him lately (5.6 FPts/G
since Week 8) and DO like what I’ve seen from the Buffalo run D
(a -35% RB matchup the past five weeks). No.
It’s hard to remember, maybe, because he played for such
crummy teams in San Francisco, but Carlos Hyde has been this good
before. Actually, he’s been better. He was RB14 in 2016,
when he averaged 13.0 FPts/G, and RB11 in 2017, when he averaged
11.1 but played all 16 games. He’s currently sitting at
9.7 FPts/G this year, but that’s good enough for RB16 in
a more diluted pool and he’s one of the major reasons Houston
stands a very good chance of locking down the AFC South come Week
17. What’s standing in their way this week is a dangerous
Tampa team with a stunningly consistent/suffocating run defense
(just 73.3 yds/game yielded on the ground). It’s gonna be
fun watching the Winston v. Watson show, especially for their
respective owners, but Hyde could very well disappoint.
Ya’ think anyone in Pittsburgh’s had this game circled
on their calendar? Bell’s going to be just as jacked to
face his former mates, presumably, but will be coming into this
one with a much weaker supporting cast and essentially nothing
to play for other than bragging rights. Not so on the other side
of the ball. The Steelers need to keep winning to lock down a
wildcard berth and can’t be certain the Ravens will roll
over and play dead in Week 17, especially if they have a chance
to bury a division mate’s playoff chances. Pittsburgh’s
been really good against the run so far (15.1 FPts/G) and has
yet to surrender a 100-yard rusher on the season. Nope, not a
single one and they also haven’t allowed a rushing TD to
the position since Week 5. Week 5 was in early October.
