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.

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START ‘EMS I NAILED
1.) Philip Rivers – 308 yards, 3TDs & 2 INTs for 26 fantasy points. He’s quietly becoming a MVP candidate.
2.) Fred Jackson – 80 yards rushing & 4 receptions for 32 yards for 15 points. Not great, but not bad for an avg. Running Back on a terrible team.
3.) Anquan Boldin – 72 yards on 6 receptions that got reversed to 67 yards on 5 receptions midway through the week. This stat (2 point reduction) gave me a fantasy win (against Big Ed) instead of a loss. 17 points

START ‘EMS I SCREWED
1.) Robert Meachem – 5 receptions for a measly 43 yards. 9 points. Not
what his owners were hoping for in the FF playoffs.
2.) Dwayne Bowe – 4 receptions for 56 yards. 9 points. He’s obviously
is still shaking the rust off from the 4 game suspension after dropping
a sure TD.

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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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