This is for those of you who are still playing out your fantasy leagues in Week 17. It definitely gets a little interesting with a lot of fantasy studs taking a seat because of meaningless matchups. Your NO-BRAINERS to sit this week include all of the Colts studs… Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark & Jospeh Addai. There’s mixed reports on the Saints… Coach Sean Payton says they will play to win, but that might be tough to do with Drew Brees being designated as the #3 QB this week on the depth chart.

The Chargers have the #2 AFC spot locked up & an automatic bye so look for limited action from Philip Rivers, LaDanian Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson & Antonio Gates. Be very careful with the New England Patriots & Cincinnati Bengals studs. Belichick & Brady both say they’re going to play to win but a Boston Herald report says they’ll possibly sit Welker & Moss. It might be tough to win without those two running routes. Just proceed with caution with those two teams. OK… on to the guys that will be definitely playing this week!

START ‘EM

QB
1.) Donovan McNabb @ Cowboys – The Eagles will do what they do best… throw early & often. Both teams need this victory & the Eagles control their own destiny in pursuit of the NFC”s #2 seed. Watch McNabb Shine.
2.) Matt Schaub – He’s going to air it out at home vs. New England. The Pats pass rush is getting a little better but still suspect. Given time in the pocket, I expect Schaub to find Fantasy Football’s #1 WR Andre Johnson quite often.
3.) Brett Favre vs. Giants – Favre likes being the HERO and this is a crucial game for the Vikings. If he can keep his head on straight and not get carried away with himself (that means not forcing the ball into tight coverage) then he should walk away the victor. That means a steady dose of Adrian Peterson and picking his spots to heave the ball up there.

RB
The no-brainers this week are Chris Johnson (going for a few records), Ray Rice, MJD & Adrian Peterson. There’s going to be some huge numbers put up from a few of these guys.
1.) Frank Gore @ Rams – He just laid 152 total yards on Detroit in Week 16. What makes you think he can’t top that against a Rams’ defense that ranks #27 against the run and has allowed an NFC-most 21 rushing TDs?
2.) Mike Tolbert vs. Redskins – I watched this guy play at Coastal Carolina & he was a human wrecking ball. With Tomlinson & Sproles likely to sit in this meaningless game watch Tolbert get 15-20 carries. He was fed the ball 10 times in a row last week to end their game. Sneaky sleeper that could notch you 12-16 fantasy points.
3.) Fred Jackson vs. Colts – This is the kiss of death putting him on this list. I need him to perform for me this week because our league is still playing. He’s maintained his stranglehold on Buffalo’s featured RB job. He had 15 touches last week to Marshawn Lynch’s four. With the Colts packing it in to concentrate on the playoffs I’d expect the Bills to play hard to steal this victory.

WR
1.) DeSean Jackson @ Cowboys – he will be the recipient of many of McNabb’s passes as he has turned himself into one of the NFL’s premier receivers. Expect him to have a huge game against the Cowboys’ #21 ranked pass defense.
2.) Roddy White vs. Buccaneers – White had eight catches for 139 yards against Buffalo last week. He opened the game with a 42-yard touchdown catch on the Falcons’ first play from scrimmage. Matt Ryan & company are shooting for back to back winning seasons and a good way to get that victory is to target his main receiver early & often.
3.) Vernon Davis @ Rams – He’s matured and has finally started doing what fantasy owners had expected for years – scoring touchdowns (12.) Watch him get at least one more & quite possibly 2 or 3 against a horrible Rams defense.

SIT ‘EM

QB
1.) Carson Palmer @ Jets – If the Bengals starters are limited then I wouldn’t expect Palmer to play for more than a half. Even if he does play more Ochocinco will be matched up against Darrell Revis – one of the leagues top cornerbacks.
2.) Eli Manning @ Vikings – With the Giants playoff hopes crushed they really have nothing to play for other than pride…and if they had any of that they wouldn’t have gotten destroyed last week. The Vikings have the bye to play for & they will fight & claw to wrap up this victory.
3.) Vince Young @ Seahawks – With RB Chris Johnson chasing history I would expect the Titans to put all their eggs in his basket. Now that they have no shot at the playoffs their only goal is to get him the records. That will severely limit what Vince will do.

RB
1.) Ahmad Bradshaw @ Vikings – He’s going to start for the Giants now that Brandon Jacobs is out for the year. He should see about 15-20 touches but he’s dealing with lower leg issues & has even mentioned that he thinks something might be broken. Add this to the fact that he’s facing a stout Vikings defense that can’t afford to lose.
2.) Cedric Benson @ Jets – He is slated to start but he might get limited touches as the Bengals don’t need the win. They will be seeded #3 or #4 and they probably don’t think it’s worth getting their studs banged up for this one.
3.) Marshawn Lynch vs. Colts – His four touches last week are proof that the Bills are moving in a different direction with Fred Jackson as their main cog.

WR
1.) Devin Aromashodu @ Lions – He was the waiver-wire pickup of the week because he was Jay Cutler’s main target last week with Devin Hester banged up. Well now Hester is back in the fold (coming back to full practice on Thursday) so Aromashodu will now be coming off the bench.
2.) Hines Ward @ Dolphins – He’s in danger of sitting out the Steelers’ regular season finale because of two separate hamstring injuries. Those injuries have taken away his ability to make hard cuts. I fully expect him to play because that’s the kind of competitor he is, but don’t count on much.
3.) Brandon Marshall vs. Chiefs – He has a great matchup versus the Chiefs but he’s apparently found himself in coach Josh McDaniel’s doghouse again. It figures that in the Broncos’ most critical game of the season “prima dona” Marshall has to show his ass & hurt his whole team in the process.