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!

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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.

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START ‘EM

QBs
1.) Philip Rivers vs. Bengals – Rivers has guided the Chargers to 8
victories in a row and they’re once again one of the favorites to make
a Superbowl run. Rivers has passed for 22 TDs vs. 7 INTs with a 104 QB rating. He quietly goes about his business while Manning, Brady & Brees get all the press. This match up has implications with possibly the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs on the line. Add this to the fact that the
Bengals have had a rough week with the death of Chris Henry & may not be focused like the should be.
2.) Kurt Warner @ Lions – Here’s his bounce-back game after last week’s debacle.
3.) Matt Schaub @ Rams – The Texans are shooting for their best record in franchise history and won’t let the 1-12 Rams get in their way. All he has to do is throw it to Andre Johnson 10 times & he’ll post
excellent numbers.

RBs
1.) Laurence Maroney @ Bills – Larry Mo has become New England’s
workhorse RB and had quietly hit paydirt 8 times this year. He’s facing
the worst run defense in the AFC in a game that looks like both teams
will grind it out because of the weather.
2.) Fred Jackson vs. Patriots – Jackson has done well in the past vs.
the Patriots and had a pretty good game against them to start the
season. Plus New England has two of their best run stuffers (Ty Warren
& Vince Wilfork) banged up & not at full strength.
3.) Ray Rice vs. Bears – Rice has given new life to the Ravens offense
this year & if Fantasy Drafts were held again right now he’d probably
come off the board in the top half of the 1st round. Chicago is ranked
25th against the run. Say no more.

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START ‘EM

QBs
1.) Matt Ryan vs Buccaneers – Look for him to break out of his November slump. The Bucs have allowed the 3rd most fantasy points to QBs this season.
2.) Matt Schaub vs Colts – They’ll be playing from behind and will rely on Schaub to keep it close. He’ll go to his stud Andre Johnson early & often.
3.) Alex Smith vs Jaguars – USA Today’s Sports Weekly has him ranked the 24th best QB start. I beg to differ. The Jags defense ranks 26th in the NFL against the pass and Smith has thrown multiple TDs in three out of the five games he’s played this season.

RBs
1.) Ricky Williams at Bills – He’s back to looking like the pre-bong
hitting, soul searching running back we used to know.
2.) D’Angelo Williams at Jets – Williams is clearly the Panthers best back and will prove it against the beaten down Jets… No matter how much crying Rex Ryan does before the game.
3.) Pierre Thomas vs New England - Everybody thinks that this years “MNF game of the year” is going to be a shootout (which it might be) but I expect the Saints to shake it up & give the Pats a heavy dose of Thomas.

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All right, the season is half over and some of you cannot wait for this weekend’s games, and some of you cannot wait for this season to be over! In any case, here are my picks to help you crush the opposition this week:

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Quarterbacks
1. Tom Brady vs Dolphins – The last time he played was in England. He’s had plenty of time to rest up & study! Plus the Dolphins are missing 2 key DBs.
2. Matt Hasselbeck vs Lions – The Lions’ 1-win to date might be their only win.
3. Donovan McNabb vs Cowboys – He’ll produce on the big stage with a ton of weapons at his disposal.

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