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Love

Rashard Mendenhall, RB, PIT – Pittsburgh has had issues on the offensive line this season and Mendenhall’s stats have suffered as well as Roethlisberger’s health.  Ben is not even close to 100% and the match up is especially soft for Mendenhall and the running game.  It has been a while since you’ve been able to use him as an RB1 but he snuck into my top 10 this week and has to be in your lineup this week.

A.J. Green, WR, CIN – The rookie battle between Patrick Peterson and Green might be spoiled by an injury as Green is currently listed as questionable for this week but he is tough and should they start him, you have to as well.  The deck was stacked against Green this season with a fellow rookie QB and shortened off-season but he has been unbelievable and the match up isn’t really that scary as Peterson has gotten beat often enough.

Tim Tebow, QB, DEN – The Bills defense gives up a lot of yardage on the ground and with the number of carries Tebow gets, he is among the safest options at QB this week. I wouldn’t even be too surprised if he got up over 100 if the game gets out of hand, which isn’t too likely.

Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ  - The Jets are currently clinging to a playoff spot tied at an 8-6 record with Cincinnati and playing against the Giants, who have been weak to the ground game this season. Greene is also playing the best football of his career and the offense plays much better when the ground game is effective.

Demaryius Thomas, WR, DEN – Thomas has clearly over-taken Decker as Tebow’s top receiving threat and going on the road to Buffalo means that there will be a a fair amount of yardage to be gained for the Bronco offense.  The run game will be the focus but that means that with 8 men in the box, you can’t double cover Thomas very often.

DeAngelo Williams, RB, CAR – Williams has scored in 2 straight weeks and with Tampa Bay being the 3rd worst rush defense in the NFL, the chances are better than ever that Williams AND Stewart are able to put together another nice game.  Don’t overreact too much though, you have to the play the guys that got you to the playoffs and he certainly wasn’t very helpful this year. But, you could consider him in your flex if you’ve had an injury over the past couple weeks.

Victor Cruz, WR, NYG – Darrelle Revis will be locked on Hakeem Nicks, who has been the top threat over the past few weeks by far. Cruz will be the more targeted of the two and is more likely to have a big game in what can barely be considered a home game for the Jets.

Hate

Anquan Boldin, WR, BAL – Joe Haden has been shutting down elite receivers all season and Boldin has been on the slide recently too. Boldin might pull in a TD but he has so little upside, I think you could sit him down easily this week.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, SEA – I know what you are thinking, he has been really consistent over the past few weeks but look at it this way.  The 49ers are the top rush defense in the NFL and have allowed 259 yards fewer than the Ravens, who are in 2nd. Last week, Lynch faced the 8th best rush defense and only managed 40 yards. He did have 2 TDs in that game but the 9ers have yet to allow a single TD on the ground all season.  He’s improved a lot recently but the deck is stacked against him this week. Flex play at best.

Steve Johnson, WR, BUF – Johnson has been battling a groin injury all season long and just as it seemed to be behind him, he re-aggravates it.  On top of that, Champ Bailey comes to town and is one of the most under-rated shut down corners in the league. Another flex play.

Tony Romo, QB, DAL – Romo is usually a no brainer to get the start but this week he falls outside my top 10 against an Eagles secondary that has been much improved over the past couple weeks.  The Cowboys will find that they are more effective on the ground.  Romo will do OK, but I wouldn’t hold your breath for 30 points.

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Studs

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, JAC – There is certainly no better place to start than the guy who ended my season and the season of many others.  MJD went absolutely crazy this week against the Buccaneers and totalled FOUR TDs on 136 all-purpose yards.  He was the highest scoring player from week 14 and if he can carry the Jaguars’ offense, he can carry your fantasy team too.

Tony Romo, QB, DAL – Yes, Dallas lost the game.  Tony Romo still had a big statistical performance for fantasy owners after starting RB DeMarco Murray went down early in the game.  Felix Jones filled in well against a soft rush defense but it was Romo’s 321 yards and 4 TDs that really kept Dallas in this game and it took some late heroics from Eli to take this game from Dallas.

Shonn Greene, RB, NYJ – Assuming you didn’t reach for him as your RB1 at draft time, you may have gotten by and into the playoffs with Green as your RB2. Good for you if you did because now that he is on fire late in the year, he is fast becoming one of the best second RBs that you could ask for. And you have to love a player that is at his best when it matters most for you.

Julio Jones, WR, ATL – These big-play guys can be frustrating but you have to start them when they have a soft match up.  And if you did this week with Jones, it paid off in a big way.  He only managed 3 catches but they totaled 104 yards and two scores.

Rob Gronkowski, TE, NE – The only thing crazier than how unbelievably good Gronkowski has been this season is how early he will be taken in fantasy drafts next year.  He has already set the single-season TD record which was previously 13 for tight ends.  His current tally is 15 and counting with 3 games remaining. I heard an interesting fact on ESPN’s Fantasy Focus Podcast this week; If you took away all the TDs from Gronkowski and let all the other players keep theirs, he would still be the 4th highest scoring TE in the NFL for fantasy.

Marques Colston, WR, NO – The Saints offense did not look like it has in recent weeks.  They don’t play near as well outside and the Titans secondary did a great job of bottling up the receivers of New Orleans until the 4th quarter.  When it mattered most, to win the game, Brees found Colston twice on scoring plays and managed to squeak out a win.

Duds

Calvin Johnson, WR, DET – The Lions passing game was working pretty well with a soft match up this week and yet Calvin Johnson only had 29 receiving yards and 11 rushing.  Three fantasy points is not enough from the top receiver in the NFL for fantasy football and it hurt a lot of people in a bad way. You have to keep starting him but I don’t expect teams to stop double covering him anytime soon.

Jermichael Finley, TE, GB – Zilch. Zippo. Nadda.  This is exactly how many points and catches Finley had this week.  Just one target too, that is what legitimately scares me. I expected more from Finley this year but his targets have been low and aren’t getting any better.  He is not a top 5 option like he was drafted as.

Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, NYG – Hey, Bradshaw… how about you show up to team meetings…  He was benched for the first half of the game and wasn’t that productive in the 2nd half. Brandon Jacobs ran well in his place but there wasn’t much warning about this and it destroyed a lot of match ups this week.

Greg Jennings, WR, GB – This isn’t the first time Jennings’ numbers have been low but it is the first time that the entire Packers passing game had a mediocre day.  That’s what happens when the running game gets the job done for a change. Don’t be too worried about it if you made it through but you could easily have been eliminated by Jennings’ poor performance.

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Love

DeMarco Murray, RB, DAL – The Redskins are just awful recently and I see no reason for this to change.  Shanahan seems to change his mind about who he is starting at RB by the minute and because of that, this team is in disarray. Even if Murray doesn’t get a big play, he will be used heavily to close out the win after Romo gets it done with his arm.  Murray is inside my top 10 this week and I don’t see him disappointing.

Brandon Lloyd, WR, STL – The Rams still haven’t been playing great outside the game against New Orleans, but they have been in need of a WR with elite skills that can beat man coverage and Lloyd has given them that.  Bradford finally has a guy that he can trust enough to throw the ball up to in a jump-ball scenario and this duo will only get better as they become more and more comfortable with each other.

Tony Romo, QB, DAL – Romo just carved up the Bills secondary to shreds last week and when he is on his game, he is more than capable of huge fantasy point totals.  The Dallas offense has been functioning much more smoothly since the emergence of DeMarco Murray.  He brings a balance to the offense that opposing defenses can NOT ignore and it has meant that his receivers are able to get open deep much more often.

James Starks, RB, GB – With teams on bye and a fair few guys injured, I think Starks could make a VERY nice flex play this week as a fill-in.  Admittedly this offense runs on the arm of Aaron Rodgers but, Carolina is allowing an average of 24.2 fantasy points per game (worst in the NFL) and Starks should be used a bit more than he normally is.  Even if that is done by way of the passing game.

Deion Branch, WR, NE – The Patriots don’t have an elite receiver but they do not need one against KC because the Chiefs don’t have any elite cover-corners.  Since reuniting with Brady, Branch’s career has been rejuvenated and there is no one that has more chemistry with Brady apart from Welker. Branch makes a very interesting flex play this week in what is sure to be a blow out… in prime-time… poor Tyler Palko.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, SEA – I have been very cautions with Lynch as a fantasy player throughout his career.  He has always lacked consistency and the past two weeks are the first back-to-back 100 yard performances of his career.  With a soft match-up and Lynch playing as well as he ever has, the risk is as low as it has been in a while. Go ahead and start him with confidence as an RB2 for this Sunday.

Hate

Chris Johnson, RB, TEN – I am not going to forget about the first half of this season just because Johnson has had two respectable fantasy performances.  As I said in yesterday’s Studs n Duds post, most of Johnson’s production was in garbage time against an exhausted defense.  I also said that I was going to stand up and take notice at how effective Atlanta was at shutting down the Saints’ RBs. Johnson is back outside my top 20 this week but should be ok for a flex-start.

Eric Decker, WR, DEN – Even though Decker is the guy that Tebow looks for the most, I don’t think you can afford to start him this week.  With just two completions for Denver last week and facing the Revis/Cromartie duo, I don’t know if a Bronco wide receiver will have a catch in this entire game.  If one does, good luck guessing who it will be and don’t count on it being a scoring play.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, BUF – Saying that Fitz would barely be a top 20 guy against the Dolphins two weeks ago would have been absurd.  But now the Bills have been terrible and Miami is playing some pretty good football. I think Miami is going to lose but lean on the running game to limit Buffalo’s time of possession and fantasy-production.

Damian Williams, WR, TEN – I want to see how Williams does with teams preparing for him before I trust him so quickly on my fantasy-roster. I think Williams being on top of the depth chart will be a good thing for teammate Nate Washington and actually rank Washington higher this week.  Keep Williams stashed on your bench for now.

Chris Ogbonnaya, RB, CLE – 90 yards was a decent game for Ogbonnaya last week but he had a soft match up against the Rams.  While Jacksonville hasn’t been amazing this year, their run defense is their strong point and this guy had just one point two weeks ago in the starting role. He is barely a viable flex play in my eyes.

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