NFL Week 12 Fantasy Notes

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Thursdays, 9-11 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: No FDH Insider program this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Happy Thanksgiving from the FDH family!

Thursday, Nov. 22
Green Bay at Detroit 12:30 pm With two pretty prolific offenses, this might be surprising advice – all out! Neither team will be able to run the ball enough to keep the defenses honest.
N.Y. Jets at Dallas 4:15 pm The Jets will be playing from behind, probably early, so go with Cotchery and Coles. In the battle of the Jones’, each is worth starting.
Indianapolis at Atlanta 8:15 pm Sans Harrison, the Colts’ O is not the same. Regardless of any factors, the Falcons’ O continues to suck. All out.

Sunday, Nov. 25
Buffalo at Jacksonville 1:00 pm RB Taylor and WR Evans are the best marginal starters in the game this week. With only three TDs between them, this looks to be the “progression to the mean” game for them.
Denver at Chicago 1:00 pm This will be a game of palpable desperation on both sides. Strangely, a game with Cutler and Grossman at the helm rates an “all in!” Both defenses are soft enough right now to allow opportunities for offensive progress to take hold.
Houston at Cleveland 1:00 pm The Texans are revitalized offensively with the return of WR Johnson. The Cleveland D is historically bad. All in!
Minnesota at N.Y. Giants 1:00 pm With injuries impacting the NY running game, the Manning-Toomer battery will be firing on all cylinders. Plus, the Vikes are far more vulnerable against the run than the pass.
New Orleans at Carolina 1:00 pm Both Panther RBs are worth a look here, as the team will be doing whatever it can to keep the Saint O off the field. Repetition equals opportunity!
Oakland at Kansas City 1:00 pm In a game with two bad offenses and two fairly average defenses, there sure are a lot of good opportunities here. While Bowe has leveled off a bit lately, he may get some chances in this one. Curry will be able to exploit the Chief defense as well.
Seattle at St. Louis 1:00 pm Both offenses are trending up and neither defense is anything special. All in!
Tennessee at Cincinnati 1:00 pm Why is Vince Young struggling? We told you all year long that the Titan front office was hanging him out to dry with the WR “talent” on the roster. As such, while Young merits a start against the horrible Bengal D, the Tennessee wideouts merit the only exception to an “all in” recommendation in this game.
Washington at Tampa Bay 1:00 pm Owing completely to the balance of both offenses, all in!
San Francisco at Arizona 4:05 pm Call this the Predictability Bowl – you know who you start for each of these teams, and it will be the same as usual here.
Baltimore at San Diego 4:15 pm Even with the uneven passing games, Mason and Chambers will be getting a lot of looks from their quarterbacks.
Philadelphia at New England 8:15 pm With a wobbly Feeley in for McNabb, even Curtis and Brown in a game where Philly will be way behind won’t be worth much.

Monday, Nov. 26
Miami at Pittsburgh, 8:30 pm With Holmes down and Ricky Williams unproven right now (to be very, very kind!), the only marginal fantasy player for this game is WR Ward.