Week 17 Preview: Key Matchups and Their Fantasy Relevance
Rams at Seahawks
In a week full of playoff implications and divisional rivalries, this fight over the NFC West title has the feel of a fist fight between a one armed man and a blind guy. Each team has serious issues on both sides of the ball, but are very different in a variety of ways. Pete Carrol was brought in to coach the Seahawks and attempt to transition them from the Matt Hasselbeck era into a Super Bowl contender under a different QB. Hasselbeck has not looked as good as he did in his prime for a couple years now and I do not expect him to suit up in 2011. Comeback player of the year candidate Mike Williams has surpassed all expectations of his performance this season and is a part of the future of this team along with the younger receiving talent (Golden Tate and Ben Obomanu). Many believed Charlie Whitehurst to be the heir apparent to Hasselbeck, but he has looked iffy at best in his sporadic appearances this season. With the race for this division title being so wide-open all season, the aging and struggling Hasselbeck has been able to put the Seahawks in position to host a playoff game. There are no players on the Seahawks worth the risk of starting in standard formats, with Williams and Marshawn Lynch being the only players worth any consideration for your flex position.
The Rams have already located their QB of the future in Sam Bradford and hope only to try and get him the experience of playing in the post season to cap off a very impressive rookie campaign. Bradford has endured a fair amount of injuries to his receiving corp. but has been able to remain productive in spite of these changes. If the Rams hope to win this game they must lean on their most consistent threat, Steven Jackson, who has what I consider to be a very easy match up. Jackson is a top 10 RB every week and should be started with confidence this week as he has been a consistent statistical performer regardless of the success of the team as a whole for the past few seasons. I think the Seahawks win a close game this week due to their home field advantage in this match up. Qwest field is not a friendly environment for the Rams and their rookie QB because of it’s structural design to increase sound levels on the field.
Packers at Bears
The Bears have said that their primary goal as a team is the beat the Packers. They have the opportunity this week to knock Green Bay out of the playoffs before they begin and I expect them to do everything in their power to do so. The connection between Mike Martz and Jay Cutler is strong and the reason for their success this season. They have gotten better offensive line play than I had thought was possible in the pre-season and because of this they have already clinched the division title. Matt Forte has been a huge part of the offensive production for the Bears, he has coupled his pass catching ability with a tough and physical running style that has made him among the most complete backs in the NFL. Despite Johnny Knox’s great performance last week, there is little reason to expect a repeat performance this week against Clay Matthews and the Packers’ formidable defense.
The Packers have endured a wide variety of injuries on both sides of the ball this season and because of it, have struggled to maintain their Super Bowl aspirations. Their passing offense has, for some time, been the strength of this team and the combo of Rodgers and Jennings has proven to be one of the best QB-WR tandems in the league. They lack a quality rushing attack and have since they lost Ryan Grant in week 1. Because of this the Bears are my favorite to win this game at home and make their path to the Super Bowl a little easier because of it. Jay Cutler remains a decent option at QB and Matt Forte is a must start, despite the quality opponent they face.
Buccaneers at Saints
Tampa Bay has been an exciting young team to watch this season. Their core of players are all at the beginning of their careers and undrafted rookie free agent LeGarrette Blount must be considered for rookie of the year. Josh Freeman has had a break out season and is coming off a career performance last week against the Seahawks. This week he faces a complex blitzing scheme that has hindered far more seasoned Quarterbacks and while he should be a decent QB2 starter, I would shy away from him in standard formats. Blount and rookie WR Mike Williams are still quality starters in this game as both sides still have something to play for in this game.
After defeating the Falcons at home last week, New Orleans appears to be back in Championship form heading into the playoffs. I expect that the Saints will end up resting their starters at the end of this game, due to the (almost) guarantee that the Falcons will retain the division title by beating the Panthers at home. Pierre Thomas announced his return to prominence last week with a solid performance against the Falcons. He did this without Chris Ivory active and taking any carries from him, but I expect Thomas to carry the load the rest of the way as he did prior to his injury. With their ability to clinch the divisional title very unlikely… do not expect a huge game from Thomas, who just barely cracks the top 20 at RB. Even with the possibility that Brees and company do not play the entire game, any usual starters on the Saints should remain in their fantasy-owners lineups. Look for the Saints to win this game in close fight.
