Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
It has been my honor in writing these articles throughout the season and I want to thank you all for reading. As the season comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all that are still playing good luck. This has been a great opportunity for me to write about something I have been passionate about for many years and share my insights and thoughts with all of you. Next year I would like to create a way for you all to share your opinions with me and give me a chance to interact with my readers. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the more appealing match ups for week 15.
What’s appealing?
• (NE) QB Tom Brady vs. Miami Dolphins – Brady has dealt with so many circumstances out of his own personal control this season and yet is still trying to hold his head high and finish the season with some swagger for the playoffs. Problem is Brady is a shell of himself without his favorite weapon (Gronk) who he has lost for the season. Danny Amendola should be a good play today as he and Julian Edelman will be targeted early and often. Brady also has a joker in his pocket with a healthy Shane Vereen who I will speak more about later. The Dolphins are NOT a stud defense. Ranked 16th thus far and 13th against the pass this season which means Brady should have some big play opportunity. Look for the Pats to be a run heavy and short pass happy offense for the remainder of the season. This means Brady has seen his most effective days already but it’s his competitiveness that makes me believe he’s still a great play for this last remaining week.
• (ATL) QB Matt Ryan vs. Washington Redskins – What a match-up huh… A franchise QB who has been underwhelming all season long while even putting up some very large passing numbers against a defense that can barely shadow their own shadow. How is 3,677 yards with 21 TDs and 13 INTs. Those are very respectable numbers for a guy who lost his two top receivers for basically the entire season. Now that Roddy White is back and Ryan still has Douglas on the opposite side, I would expect his numbers to be the highest it may have been all season. Here’s something else to consider is just how bad the Redskins passing defense is. They rank 27th against opposing QBs. On top of that is the loss of the Redskins QB Robert Griffin and the fact that backup Kirk Cousins will be without two of his top receivers’ (Reed, and Hankerson.) This means Ryan and the Falcons will most likely have possession of the ball a lot more than anticipated giving him more opportunities to put up some serviceable numbers for fantasy teams everywhere.
• (NE) RB Shane Vereen vs. Miami Dolphins – Vereen was spectacular last week and likely would have put up numbers like that all season long if it wasn’t for the broken arm he suffered in game 1. Though Vereen doesn’t look on paper like a stud RB, in a PPR league he is as close to striking gold as you will find anywhere in the NFL. Vereen caught 12 of his 17 targets last week for 153 yards while only rushing for 9 yards. He will be a major asset to Tom Brady without Gronkowski available. Look for Vereen to be a mere flex play in non PPR leagues but a RB1 in a PPR format.
• (CLE) WR John Gordon vs. Chicago Bears – I haven’t spoken about this kid in a while. Gordon has set NFL records in the last few weeks with his unbelievable play. No matter who is throwing him the ball, Gordon goes after it with a beast like mentality. Gordon was thought to be a major talent with some serious mental flaws. Regardless of his mental state of mind, he seems to be focused while on the field which is all fantasy owners should be concerned with. Look for Gordon to continue his remarkable play as the season comes to a close. He’s a WR1 the rest of the way.
• New Orleans Saints DST vs. St. Louis Rams – The Saints just stopped Carolina, one of the best offenses in the last 2 months so they are pumped and ready. The Rams haven’t found their identity without Sam Bradford and are still working to create a running game that would scare an opposing defense. The Rams offense ranks 27th while their defense is ranked 19th. This team is in need of a new regime, and new thought process, and an influx of some new talent. Thank goodness they have multiple 1st round draft picks after the RGIII trade. One more note, Tavon Austin will sit this week which makes this pick even easier.
Less Appealing Options
• (WAS) Kirk Cousins vs. Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons have struggled to stop the pass this year ranking 20th overall in pass defense. That really won’t matter. Cousins’ is being put in a battle that he just can’t win. The Skins are the second worst team in the NFL this season. They will also be without their TE Jordan Reed who is battling concussion like symptoms as well as Leonard Hankerson who has been placed on IR. This is just a terrible situation to be in for your debut in the NFL. As a fan of Cousins, I pray he just makes it out in one piece. The team has no reason to play hard around him this late into an almost lost season and the potential for him to fall flat on his face is far greater than the potential for success. Don’t touch anyone on the Redskins team this week or potentially the rest of the season. The red flag is flying high.
• (CHI) Jay Cutler vs. Cleveland Browns – Cutler gets his job back even after being the second best QB in town. With that being said, if he struggles I expect HC Mark Trestman to pull the plug and send in Josh McCown who has been nothing short of amazing in Cutlers absence. This whole thing stinks of favoritism to me. Trestman is putting his team at risk of losing the game by simply giving his former stud QB his job bag based on nothing short of name recognition. I can’t think Cutler deserves to be a starter until we all get to see if Trestman trusts his health and we won’t know that until Monday. Sit Cutler, find a better option.
• (NYG) RB Andre Brown vs. Seattle Seahawks – The Seahawks are a nightmare for any RB in the NFL. Brown is no exception. The Giants will have their hands full moving the ball and Brown has been a relevant part of their game plan since becoming the starter. The Seahawks weakness is at shutting down the RB as they rank 15th in the league against the run, but as a whole the Seahawks are a top 3 defense that makes opposing teams change their game plan every week and the Giants will be no different. Expect nothing more than a FLEX play for Brown with the potential to do very little. I would anticipate less than 100 yards on about 20 carries. Well see if I’m right.
• (GB) WR Jordy Nelson vs. Dallas Cowboys – I may be dead wrong about this one. Nelson has played well this season while healthy, but he hasn’t scored a TD since week 8. Rodgers has been deemed unhealthy for 1 more week which makes me believe that this is NOT the week Nelson breaks out even IF they are playing the worst Cowboys defense in the history of the franchise. The simple fact is that he gets less targets with Matt Flynn throwing than he does with Rodgers and since were in the playoffs here, you don’t want a “what if” in your lineup. Don’t expect Nelson to be more than a WR3 until Rodgers comes back, and by that time the fantasy playoffs may be over.
• New York Jets DST vs. Carolina Panthers – Yes Cam lost his first game in 9 weeks so I would expect him to come out pissed off and ready. The Jets have a tremendous run defense but have been miserable against the pass in recent weeks. First round draft pick Dee Milliner has been soo bad that Rex Ryan has benched him multiple times in the last few games. This is a simple pick. Expect Cam to throw all day as the Jets will prevent him from running around much, but they couldn’t stop a carrier pigeon let alone Steve Smith and Greg Olsen. The Jets won’t be able to stop them this week. Find another option for your defense.
This will be the final installment of the fantasy football articles for the season and once again I wanted to thank GMenHQ.com and all the writers for their great work even through a very touch season for the New York Giants. Good luck to you all and I look forward to you reading from GmenHQ.com during the offseason. For those of you who are a fan of my work. I will be writing for the upcoming NFL draft sometime in January. I wish each and every one of you a fantastic holiday season. Enjoy family, friends, and some football!