Fantasy Friday: Week 14
PITTSBURGH (93-7 THE FAN) -- It is crunch time!
Most 16-week leagues are starting their playoffs this week and 17-week leagues are in the last week of the season as everyone fights for playoff positioning. You can't afford to make any mistakes at this point in the season, so let us begin!
Here are my stars and duds for week 14.
Quarterbacks To Play:
Cam Newton: Newton has now put together 3-4 nice weeks in a row after driving his owners crazy for the 1st half of the season. I expect that to continue playing the Falcons this week at home (meaning you get the Falcons off the turf). I think most owners will forgive his inconsistent play earlier in the season if he is able to stay hot for the next few weeks.
Andrew Luck: Luck has almost become an automatic starter in deep leagues, but those of you still playing the match-up game will like him again this week. Luck gets the Tennessee Titans at home this week, where the Colts are 5-1 this season. Facing the Titans is also a good thing. Tennessee ranks 26th in the league this year against the pass, allowing over 257 yards per game. Luck has gone over 300 yards in 6 games already this season including last week when he threw for 391 and 4 scores. In his match-up earlier this season against the Titans, Luck threw for 297 and 1 score.
Ben Roethlisberger: It was just announced yesterday that Ben would be starting again in Pittsburgh and I expect Ben to jump right back into the swing of things. Roethlisberger hasn't put up crazy numbers this year, but has been wildly consistent. He has thrown at least 1 touchdown pass every game this season while only throwing 4 picks. No QB has had more attempts this year and threw less than 4 interceptions.
Quarterbacks to Bench:
Joe Flacco: Flacco has been bad recently. In the last 8 games Flacco has 5 games where he has been held under 200 yards. He has also just 8 touchdowns to go with 5 interceptions in that span. Coming off a tough game last week against the Steelers defense, it does get easier going against Washington, but the Redskins have been steadily improving and kept Eli Manning under control last week in their win over the Giants.
Running Backs to Play:
Doug Martin: Not only has Martin been strong recently and has not yet hit that rookie wall, but he is also playing against the Philadelphia Eagles, who gave up on the season around Halloween.
Adrian Peterson: In most cases Peterson is a no-brainer, but so is not playing a running back against the Bears defense. I'm here to tell you this week you go with Peterson. Even though AP came back at the beginning of the season it seems as though he is just finally getting to 100%.. He has gone over 100 yards the past 6 games including running for 108 two weeks ago in Chicago.
Running Back to Bench:
Reggie Bush: The Dolphins are going across the country to play a road game against the 49ers defense, enough said!
Wide Receivers to Play:
Antonio Brown: It looks like Brown will be back ad ready to go against SD this week. With Roethlisberger back as well, expect these two to hook up regularly as they did earlier in the season. While Mike Wallace is the deep threat and quick strike guy for the Steelers, Brown has become a very reliable receiver for Roethlisberger in the new Steelers offense.
Colts WR's: We like Luck this week at home against the Titans and we like his targets too. Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton have both been very good and should both be targeted a bunch against the terrible Titans secondary.
Wide Receivers to Bench:
Larry Fitzgerald: This is one of those situations that fantasy owners hate. Everyone that follows the NFL knows that Fitzgerald is a top 3 receiver in football, but his quarterbacks are so bad right now in Arizona that he has become useless to play.
That is your Fantasy Friday update for Week 14, as always good luck and don't forget to update your rosters.
