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Love

Drew Brees, QB, NO - Madden curse be damned… Brees finally looked like the elite QB you drafted when they came off their week 10 bye and beat up on a weak opponent in the dome.  This week, the Saints play the rebounding Cowboys in Dallas and are heavy favorites.  The Cowboy secondary is young, inexperienced and while they have been playing well… we are talking about the Super Bowl champions.

Adrian Peterson, RB, MIN - With how much the Vikings offense has struggled lately and the new head coach being charged with the responsibility of trying to provide a stability to the team, it appears as if we can expect a heavy dose of the league’s best running back… Adrian Peterson.  More recently, Favre has suggested simplifying the play book to help the Vikings get back to fundamentals and playing sound, error-proof football.  All of these signs point to Peterson carrying the load for the rest of the season.

Calvin Johnson, WR, DET - Many of the elite WRs from draft day have under-performed.  Megatron is not one of them.  The Patriots allow over 25 points per game to the WR position and Johnson has been a beast in the red zone this season.  He remains a must-start, regardless of the QB situation… especially against the young and inexperienced Patriots secondary.

Tom Brady, QB, NE – The Patriots’ signal caller is an elite fantasy QB, he doesn’t care who his receivers are and his owners shouldn’t care about bad match-ups when starting him.  After a big game against the Steelers two weeks ago, you can’t get caught with him out of your lineup against the Lions.

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, PIT - Even though Mendenhall has only managed to top 90 yards ONCE since the return of Big Ben, you start your running backs against the Bills.  Buffalo, despite their success recently, is 32nd against the run.

Mario Manningham, WR, NYG – With the news that both Smith and Nicks will be out this week and Nicks for longer than that… Manningham is about to have a HUGE second half of the season.  The Giants have fumbling issues and are going to need to give Brandon Jacobs more carries.  Since this is not a recipe for success in my book, the emphasis will be placed on the passing game for their week 12 match-up against the surging Jaguars.

Heath Miller, TE, PIT – Much like you start your running backs against the Bills, you start your tight ends against them as well. With all the injuries to top-end TEs this season, many fantasy owners have to turn to the waiver wire on a weekly basis to try and rotate out people with good matchups.  The Bills have allowed the most touch downs to opposing TEs (8) and playing the top guy that faces them each week is a pretty solid strategy.

Hate

Fred Jackson, RB, BUF – He has been huge for fantasy owners that held him on their bench for the first half of the season and I like him down the stretch.  Not this week however!  The Steelers have not allowed a 75 yard rusher this season and I do not expect that to change against a team that lost 8 straight games to start the season.  Production in the passing game is his only chance at a decent game, but the blitzing scheme of the Steelers should beat the shaky o-line of the Bills.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN - I feel like he has made this list a lot this year, but with the Jets as his opponent… he deserves to be here again.  A team that can’t hold a 21 point lead against the Bills is not likely to have a strong outing against an elite defense.  We don’t know which receiver will be on Revis island for this game, so stay away from ALL Bengals wherever possible this week.

Matt Ryan, QB, ATL – Even though Ryan is typically a stud at home, the Packers defense is playing great lately. Clay Matthews is likely to be the defensive player of the year for the 2010 season and should limit the production of Ryan and the Falcons offense.  Lower expectations for everyone, but start your studs in Michael Turner and Roddy White.  Ryan is not a stud, so look elsewhere if you have a decent option to replace him.

Donald Brown, RB, IND – The Chargers come to town this week and have played some inspired defense so far this season.  Brown has yet to have a break out performance and the chances that we see that in this game is very slim.  Look elsewhere unless you are desperate.

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Love

Peyton Hillis, RB, CLE – Hillis just may be the real deal.  In the past couple weeks people have compared him to Mike Alstott, Jerome Bettis and Larry Cszonka.  I won’t go that far yet, but for this season he is one of the best and most consistent RBs that you could hope to own.  He is a must start and a top 5 back until week 17 when they play the Steelers again, the last time is the only week he was not able to score 10 points all season.

Drew Brees, QB, NO – Brees and the Saints have had their ups and downs this season, but when you have one of the best QBs in the league and they play against the 28th ranked pass defense at home your decision is easy.  Seriously though, a lot of this love has to do with the likelihood that one or both of the injured RBs will return this week.  This offense will be very close to what it was last year once both are back and we are due to see a flash of that production this week regardless.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, NYG - I know he didn’t have a great game last week, but the Giants have a track record of being inconsistent over the past couple season.  When they play well, they stack up against any team in the NFL.  I won’t go as far as calling this a new trend or anything, but if they struggle this week too then that will be the time for concern.

Felix Jones, RB, DAL – Normally, I would not advise you to start Jones after a season full of disappointment and just one productive game.  However, this week he is a decent flex option as he goes against a Lions defense that is banged up and allows a lot of 20+ yard plays.  Lets just hope Jason Garrett can get this team turned around and keep this running game productive.

Matt Ryan, QB, ATL – Matt Ryan is on the road this week and that is typically not a great time to start him.  This week will be an exception as the Falcons are on a roll lately and going against the Rams’ 18th ranked pass defense.  Despite being on the road, the Ryan-White connection will still be in a dome and this team is on a mission to prove that they are the best team in the NFC.  What is scaring me the most about the Falcons? They might be right!

Santonio Holmes, WR, NYJ – Holmes is a clutch player that Sanchez is learning to look to when the game is on the line.  This week against the worst secondary in the NFL should be a great game for Holmes, Mark Sanchez and Braylon Edwards.

Hate

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, BUF - Fitzpatrick is a great backup to have.  Since taking over the job, he has managed double digit fantasy points in each game.  With his lowest two performances coming in consecutive weeks now, sit him down if you have another viable option.

Jahvid Best, RB, DET – Fool me once, shame on you… fool me for 7 straight weeks? My bad.  It has been 7 weeks since Best managed double digit fantasy points and after not even getting the job done against the BILLS… he is at best a deep flex play.  I’m sure he’ll score a TD again at some point during his career… but I’m done thinking it might happen this season after such a long drought.

Chad Ochocinco, WR, CIN - Don’t let one great game change the negative opinion that 85 has been crafting all season.  Expect the double-team to be back on him this week as well as for him to have a modest game at best.  Asking for any more than that is asking to get burned.

Keiland Williams, RB, WAS - Even if Portis and Torain are non-factors in this game, the Tennessee Titans have a very good run defense and Williams is at best a flex play in this game.

Brandon Marshall, WR, MIA – He’s just been bad this year.  He has only two games in the double digits and with Tyler Thigpen calling the shots this week, all of the upside that kept Marshall as a fantasy-starter is gone.

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*Game is being played in Toronto

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