FIRST DOWN – Omaha, Omaha

Unless you live under a rock you know that Peyton Manning, not the steak company or insurance company, made Omaha famous. If you are a Peyton Manning owner, it’s time to be like Peyton and call Omaha and audible to another play…one that doesn’t include the eldest Manning (Peyton) in your championship lineup. No, seriously, sit him down this week. I can 100% guarantee you that if you are a Peyton owner that if you went to set your lineup and the name showed something other than Manning, say, Jones, there is no doubt in my mind that you wouldn’t be clicking the box to make him a starter. I leave you with the following to ponder…In week 1, Peyton Manning was the #5 scoring QB. That’s means that four QBs outscored him. In week 2, he was QB4, meaning that three QBs outscored him. So, thru two weeks, Manning was outscored seven total times. Stay with me here! Thru the first 12 weeks of the season, Peyton Manning was outscored 55 times. Over the last three weeks, he’s been outscored 67 times. SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES! From week 13-15, Colt McCoy has been outscored 65 times (injury insured he didn’t even play three full games), Shaun Hill just 51 times, Teddy Bridgewater 40 times and Mr. Jay “I’ve been benched for Jimmy F’n Clausen” Cutler only 23 times. I’m telling you, take the name and the emotion out of this decision and it should be easy to sit Peyton F’ Manning this week.

*If a player didn’t play in a particular week I used 32 as the number he was outscored by. If a player did play and was outscored by more than 32 other players then I used the actual number they were outscored by.

I don’t think you really need to look at any more numbers but here’s one last comparison showing Peyton over different spans of times this season.

SECOND DOWN – Steve’s Studs, Duds & Suds

If you have been reading this column then you know what my “Seven Sleepers” is all about. If you don’t, you will once you move to third down. These “Studs & Duds” are players that many probably look at as must starts and my “Studs” are players I think will finish number one overall at their position and the “Duds” are players I see finishing outside the top-24 at their position. On the offensive side of the ball this could help you on the DFS front.

On the suds side be sure to tune into next week’s episode of the Blitzed Podcast where Harley Schultz will be interviewing the founder of Founder’s Brewing for our Tapped In segment.

*I wanted to pick Michael Griffin as my DB dud but his game started shortly after I finished writing this.

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.  

Johnny Manziel, JFF, Johnny F’n Football!!!! Those aren’t good exclamation marks. Mr. Football may have single handily destroyed the average of my sleeper QBs this year. You’d think that I’d have learned my lesson, and I did, but I was tempted to go back to him this week. Instead, I’ll opt for Josh McCown. At RB, Joseph Randle is the hot pickup for teams this week and that does make sense. However, his value is directly tied to if DeMarco Murray plays or not, so coupled with him being the hot pickup I’m passing on him. Instead I’m going with his teammate, Lance Dunbar. It’s a bit of a reach but even if Murray plays I think that Dunbar has a role on passing downs, which there should be plenty of this week. The Chiefs, so far this year do not have a passing TD to a WR. Zip, zero, zilch, nada…that changes this week as Dwayne Bowe scores six (points, not touchdowns)! At TE, last week I wasn’t helped by Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injury that landed him on injured reserve. Andrew Quarless only has the best QB in the league throwing to him against a team that’s not very good at keeping TEs from scoring fantasy points. So hopefully things pan out much better at TE this week.

On the defensive side of the ball, Vinny Curry is a pure upside play against a Washington team that’s given up more points to DL than any other team has this year. The Broncos have lost LBs to injury the way they have RBs this year. Danny Trevathan was healthy, then he was out, then he was healthy, and back out again…this time for the year. Brandon Marshall has had a great season, but a mid-foot sprain will keep him off the field this week. More snaps for Steven Johnson should push him into the LB3, fringe LB2 range. My DB selection comes with an asterisk. I’m pegging Bradley McDougald, but only if Major Wright is inactive. If Wright is active then I’ll default to him as my play.

NOTE: Check back next week and I’ll have the average points scored for each of my seven sleeper positions this year.

FOURTH DOWN – TRENCH WARFARE

This week the Falcons go to New Orleans in a battle of who doesn’t want to win the NFC South.

SAINTS PASSING OFFENSE & PASSING DEFENSE

FALCONS PASSING OFFENSE & PASSING DEFENSE