FIRST DOWN – On The Road Again

“Home Sweet Home” is generally a good term and when a player gets to play at home, especially in a dome, you expect that to be a huge edge and benefit for them. Many times it is, but that’s not the case for Julio Jones. Granted, Jones is coming off of a monster 10-189-1 game where the 189 yards represents the most he’s ever had in a home game and his 10 catches are the second (11 in 2013) most he’s had at home. Jones has played in 46 games as a pro – 23 at home and 23 on the road. It might be hard to believe but he has 38 more catches, 484 more receiving yards and 5 more TDs on the road than he does at home. This week, look for Jones to be a road warrior for you as he visits the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field.

SECOND DOWN – GIVING THANKS

Last week I gave you a small appetizer of players that scored one-yard touchdowns and who it was that set the table for them. What follows is every one-yard rushing and receiving touchdown scored thru 13 weeks this year – all 130 of them. On some of the touchdowns I showed more than one play that set the table for these short touchdowns.

THIRD DOWN – Steve’s Seven Sleepers

The fantasy playoffs are upon us and gambling on sleepers in the playoffs isn’t something many like to do, but injuries and poor matchups still make sleepers a viable option in some instances. Check out my seven sleepers that I think can put up solid production this week. To qualify the player can’t rank in the top-36** at their respective position based on the season long rankings in the Huddle IDP Expert League. I thought it’d be nice to show how my sleepers did the previous week so you’ll also find last week’s sleepers with the amount of points that they scored. I also want to add that I’m trying to target players that should be available on waivers, which at this time of year is a very difficult thing to do at the running back position.

*Top-12 for QB & TE. **Top-15 for QB & TE.  

Even with Zach Mettenberger getting hurt last week and Charles Clay ending up on the inactive list I’m pretty happy with last week’s sleepers. Hopefully you opted for Blake Bortles (18.56), Colt McCoy (28.88) or Ryan Fitzpatrick (39.32) who were part of the contingent that I said I considered plugging in…how I wish I had gone with Fitzmagic. At RB, I thought that Tre’ Mason was going to have a good game but I never saw him having the type of game that he had. At WR, the gamble to go with Donte Moncrief hit but it’s a good thing that two of his three catches were long TDs. Charles Clay ended up being inactive, and Niles Paul wasn’t an option since Jordan Reed was active, and balled out too. I’m not picking Reed as a sleeper this week (because I doubt he’s available on waivers) but I love his matchup again. On the IDP side Justin Tuck didn’t put up big numbers but there’s nothing wrong with 8 points from a sleeper DL. At LB, James Thomas had his biggest fantasy game of the year and at DB, Pierre Warren was solid but nothing more.

For this week I’m going a bit deeper but I really like the matchups but only time will tell how they’ll play out. At QB, Shaun Hill has a strong matchup against a poor Washington pass defense. The only thing I don’t like is that Hill is on the road. Two other options that I like at QB and almost went with are Kyle Orton and Teddy Bridgewater. At RB, Jonathan Stewart is most likely available on many waiver wires and not only does he have a strong matchup but with DeAngelo Williams likely out he’ll have plenty of carries to call his own. At WR, Cecil Shorts III hasn’t done much this year but he’s facing a Texans team that ranks 2nd in points allowed to WRs this year. At TE there’s not much to dislike about the matchup Kyle Rudolph has against the Jets. On the defensive side of the ball Damontre Moore is in line for more snaps with Robert Ayers and Mathias Kiwanuka each being put on injured reserve this week. At LB I like David Hawthorne’s matchup so much that I picked him up off waivers and I’m starting him in one of my playoff games this weekend. At DB, Marcus Gilchrist is another player who has a strong matchup and like Hawthorne, I picked up Gilchrist and I’m starting him in that same playoff matchup too. Hopefully that’s not the kiss of death for those two.

FOURTH DOWN – TRENCH WARFARE

Talk about a something has to give matchup. As you can see, the Dolphins only weakness running the ball is over Left Tackle, which does happen to be a slight weakness for the Ravens. However, across the line this is a strength versus weakness type matchup. One thing that will be interesting is to see if and/or how the loss of Haloti Nagata (suspended) will impact the Ravens run defense.

DOLPHINS RUSHING OFFENSE

RAVENS RUSHING DEFENSE