Love

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC - The Jaguars are fighting for a playoff spot and/or the division title in December?! Someone pinch me… I must be dreaming.  The Jags are an exceedingly average team with a mediocre quarter back, so it will not be an easy road for them.  The one thing that they do have going for them is a star RB in MJD.  The Raiders come to town this week and are known to be a bit weak against the run.  Look for MJD and Rashad Jennings to see a lot of work in this game and for Jack Del Rio to avoid having to attack the likes of Nnamdi Asomugha on the outside in the vertical passing game.

Anquan Boldin, WR, BAL – All season long receivers and tight ends have been having huge games against the Texans and while Boldin has been inconsistent all year… this week he is worth the risk.  You may also want to look towards Derrick Mason this week as he is the most trusted receiver on the field for Flacco and he understands the offense incredibly well as a possession receiver.

Knowshon Moreno, RB, DEN – Moreno is making a pretty solid claim at being a top 10 RB for next year’s fantasy draft.  With the firing of Josh McDaniels and the promotion of the Bronco’s former RB coach to interim head coach… it stands to reason that the predominately pass-first offense we have gotten to know from Denver is gone for at least the season.  Studesville has a tall task ahead of him, but a nice back in Moreno to lean on for the remaining 4 games.

Jacoby Ford, WR, OAK - I still say he is not a weekly starter unless your league counts return yards.  However, Ford has been a dynamic playmaker for the Raiders and they look to get him involved in the game early and often.  I would try and stick with safer options this week, but if you have been snake-bitten by injuries, the upside of Ford could pay off big this week against the Jaguars who have a pretty terrible group of cornerbacks.

Michael Turner, RB, ATL - Turner is one of the few workhorse backs in the NFL and he has a matchup that Marshawn Lynch was able to exploit last week.  The Panthers run defense has been their achilles heel all season and Turner is having a great year.  Also, considering the game is outdoors in Carolina, Matt Ryan will lean on his run game to push the Falcons to another win  in a setting they typically do not perform well in (road game, outdoors).

Donald Driver, WR, GB – Ok, so I wanted to put Jennings here, but that just seemed too lazy to me… So I am including Driver instead!  Everyone knows that Jennings is the hottest receiver in the NFL now that Bowe crapped out last week and if you read my article earlier in the week, you saw Driver’s amazing TD catch.  They are going against the Lions this week folks… Driver is at least a flex play against a defense known to allow the big play, oh and they are banged up at the moment to boot!

Peyton Hillis, RB, CLE – As per fantasy-law… start your RBs against Buffalo! It doesn’t hurt that he is a top 5 guy either.  And if you’re scared of how last week went, Buffalo’s defense will not be able to participate in a field goal oriented game… just too bad!

Earl Bennett, WR, CHI - He just appeared in my weekly pickup article this week, but I am already throwing him into my love list!  To me, Monday was about the Jets collapsing… not the Patriots defense being suddenly great.  The secondary for NE will likely nab an INT or two from Cutler, but since that doesn’t negatively effect the score of a WR… don’t worry about it!  The Patriots DBs are young, inexperienced and they will not be able to shut down the Bears balanced offensive attack completely.

Hate

Cedric Benson, RB, CIN - What a rough season for the Bengals, but for this week all I need to say here is that he is up against the Steelers!  Make sure to leave Benson on the bench this week if possible!

Jonathan Stewart, RB, CAR - After such a disappointing number of carries last week for Goodson, you might expect Stewart to be the top fantasy RB on the Panthers. You’re correct… just not this week! I expect Atlanta to get the lead early and hold it through the entire game and since Goodson is the guy they look to in the passing game, don’t expect Stewart to have a big performance.  The rankings on these two guys should be VERY close, but Stewart holds much more value the rest of the way.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, SEA – Treat that game as a one-time deal… until it proves not to be!  I doubt you see a repeat performance against the 49ers this week with the division title hanging in the balance in every game for each team the rest of the season.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB, NE – The Lawfirm has been clutch for the past few weeks and you can still start him this week because of it… but the Bears have a very good run defense (ranked 2nd in the NFL) and if he does not find the end zone you could be in trouble!

Sidney Rice, WR, MIN - Don’t let one game force you into making a mistake in the playoffs!  Rice has a lot of big play potential, but Favre is expected to be the QB and the match up is not favorable.  The Giants defense is effective when they rush the passer… Favre, being old, is not adept at evading a rush… and the Giants are ranked 2nd in the NFL against the pass.  They are only allowing an average of 192 yards per game.  Rice will still get a decent ranking (top 20), but if you drafted well you won’t need him, so don’t sit any of your studs to make room for him.

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Josh Cribbs, WR, CLE - Active
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC - Active
Santana Moss, WR, WAS - Active
Sidney Rice, WR, MIN - Active
Mike Sims-Walker, WR, JAC - Active
Benjamin Watson, TE, CLE - Active

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Studs

Steve Johnson, WR, BUF – Why so serious?!  The Joker made a big statement in a phenomenal 2nd half comeback against the Batman and Robin led Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.  Johnson scored three TDs in the 2nd half to push the Bills to their biggest comeback in 13 years.  He is fast becoming an exciting young talent and has officially reached must-start status as this Bills offense is on a roll.  Also, in this career-performance, Johnson had his face painted as the Joker and wore a t-shirt with “Why So Serious” written on it underneath his jersey and showed it off after his first TD.  Lower your expectations for Week 12 against the Steelers, but unless you drafted really well… you’re probably going to be starting Johnson anyways.

Greg Jennings, WR, GB – Jennings had his best game of the season this week.  He was on the receiving end of 3 of the 4 TD passes thrown by Aaron Rodgers and he totaled 152 yards as well.  You should be just fine relying on him down the stretch as he and the Packer’s offense appear to be firing on all cylinders.

Ben Roethlisberger, QB, PIT - Big Ben had a slow start in this storied rivalry, but ended with one of his most productive games of the year and the top scorer of the week in standard formats.  He also was able to show off his toughness in this physical battle by taking a punch to the face from Richard Seymour.  Ben is a top 10 QB for the rest of the season and if you weren’t able to get an elite QB, then you should feel fine using him as your starter the rest of the way and in the playoffs.

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC - MJD looked like he is in the prime of his career this week, he totaled 220 yards which included the longest reception of his career.  He had a slow start this year due to starting with an injury, but the Jaguars keep finding a way to win games and the fact that they will be in the playoff hunt means that he will remain the feature of their offense.  Jones-Drew is a starting running back from here on out and will remain in my top10 regardless of the match up he has in any particular week.

Santonio Holmes, WR, NYJ - The Jets have been giving fans their money’s worth for the past few weeks as they have managed to come from behind and win games in the dying seconds or overtime for three weeks in a row.  A big part of the Jets success has been Santonio Holmes who, when the game is on the line, is the favorite target of Mark Sanchez.  This big performance was relatively expected against the league’s worst pass defense, but you can count on Holmes being a top 20 guy and a great WR2 for fantasy owners the rest of the season.

Thomas Jones, RB, KC - The Chiefs are back to their old insane way of dividing carries between their two-headed rushing attack.  Jamaal Charles is the one with all the talent and production, but Jones still sees enough carries to make us all shake our heads and wonder what Charles could do if he saw 20-25 touches.  In his defense, Jones performed quite well with his 15 carries.  He totaled 71 yards and scored twice in this game, so he remains a flex play.

Mike Tolbert, RB, SD – On Monday night, Tolbert had a career high 111 yards rushing and scored a TD.  He was able to compliment his tough running-style with 42 yards receiving.  He demonstrated an ability to read defenses and find holes that Ryan Mathews was not able to show all season.  Tolbert is likely to remain a key part of the offense even if Mathews comes back and could develop into a great flex option with the balance of a Philip Rivers led offense.

Duds

Percy Harvin, WR, MIN – The inconsistency of the Vikings offense was not kind to Harvin this week.  Childress lost the respect of his players a while ago and hopefully Leslie Frazier is able to get them back on the right track… otherwise Harvin owners will lose their confidence in him and relegate him to a flex play at best.  Personally, I see no reason to panic as Sidney Rice should be able to have an impact when the Vikings aren’t playing a team as good as the Packers.

Anquan Boldin, WR, BAL – Boldin only managed 29 receiving yards this week, but since he lost a fumble… he put up zero points for fantasy owners.  The issue here is inconsistency, owners will not be able to trust a guy that has zero point weeks going into the playoffs.  Until he is able to demonstrate his big play ability, he will be at best a flex play.

Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG – There has been a lot of talk recently about Bradshaw’s recent fumbling issues.  I do not share any concern about him losing his starting job, but with the receiving corp quickly depleting due to injury… Bradshaw just might drop significantly in production as they are likely to turn to a heavy running style.  Keep him in your starting lineup for now, but be concerned and make plans in case something more develops while the Giants try and get back on the winning track.

Michael Crabtree, WR, SF - Even though he was only able to manage 15 receiving yards, the 9ers offense struggled in this game.  I don’t have any long-term concerns just yet, not after ONE bad game… but if they struggle next week too, it will be time to worry.

Randy Moss, WR, TEN - I went from excited about the Titans, to terrified.  Another 0 catch game from Moss means that you can’t start him… especially not with Rusty Smith at QB.

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