Sunday Morning Huddle: Week Fifteen

Ken Kelly

As always, there’s a ton of information out there this morning. We’re not going to waste your time by repeating the news and notes about who’s in or out this week, since that’s really not what you visit us for. We’re also not going to do another article on starts or sits this week – we already have our weekly personalized lineup advice for you as part of the premium content package. Again, there are 100 places you can go for game day reports, so we’re doing something different on Sundays for our premium content subscribers.

The Sunday Morning Huddle goes through each game and states what we’re looking to see from a dynasty perspective. We pick one player from each team who have our eye on and describe why their weekend performance is a key one for them in relation to their dynasty value.

Early games

Green Bay at Chicago

It seems odd to ever put Aaron Rodgers in the crosshairs, but that’s reality after he’s only performed as the QB18 over the past three weeks. With a trip to Chicago in store, things may not get too much easier. However, the Bears aren’t exactly setting the world on fire at the moment. Regardless, it’s dynasty league playoff time and A-Rod owners expect to cash in with a big performance today.

The Bears have lost four of five and they need a boost from the return of Jay Cutler in the biggest way. The Packers have intercepted Cutler 15 times over their last six meetings, so the Packers may be hoping he can suit up as well. Either way, Cutler’s performance is going to have a huge bearing on who wins this game and his dynasty owners would like to see a solid outing to continue seeing him as a solid QB2.

Indianapolis at Houston

It’s a huge day for Andrew Luck. We’re going to learn a ton about just how far he’s come in his development. If he can go into Houston and lead his team to their tenth win, that’s going to be one amazing feat. While it’s easy to look at his stats and get nitpicky about his interceptions, he’s also been put on a team that doesn’t have too much talent. Luck has shown more than most thought he would this year and at this point, a win in Houston wouldn’t even be a total shock.

Arian Foster feasts on the Colts more than any other team he plays. His yards per carry numbers are down and his total carries are way up, so let’s hope we see a vintage performance from Foster that doesn’t require him to have another 30 touches today.

Denver at Baltimore

In PPR leagues, Knowshon Moreno has performed as a top eight option over the past three weeks. This has simply been an amazing turn of events after he spent most of his season as a healthy scratch. He’s carrying a big load and it will be interesting to see if he starts to get worn down. He hasn’t looked overly dynamic, but the huge workload he’s had has been a dynasty owner’s saving grace – it doesn’t look to be changing any time soon, either.

Well, we have a new offensive coordinator in Baltimore. Let’s see if they decide getting the ball to Ray Rice is a good idea.

Jacksonville at Miami

Montell Owens actually showed pretty well last week with 91 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries in the Jaguars loss to the Jets. Owens is never going to make you forget about Barry Sanders, but there’s something to keep your eye on with him. Let’s see if he can do it against a tougher Miami rushing defense on the road this week.

For the Dolphins, we’ll focus on rookie Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas. It sure looks like Miller has gained on  (if not passed) Thomas on the depth chart. Reggie Bush is starting to see the majority of the carries again. Let’s see how they’re distributed to the backups this week.

Washington at Cleveland

Without a doubt, this is Kirk Cousins‘ day to shine. With RGIII likely out with his knee injury, the pressure is on for Cousins to perform. The offense isn’t really suited to him, but he’ll have to adjust on the fly if he wants to keep the Redskins’ playoff hopes alive. A good showing this week would solidify him as a deep league stash.

It’s do or die time for Brandon Weeden, whether that’s fair or unfair. The new regime in Cleveland will have an opportunity to go elsewhere for their franchise quarterback and won’t hesitate in doing that if Weeden doesn’t spark the time over this last month.

Minnesota at St. Louis

Adrian Peterson is on a quest for 2,000 yards. Just think about that.

Steven Jackson is is on a quest for 1,000 yards. Think about that, too.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans

The last time these two teams met, Vincent Jackson had his best game of the year with seven catches for 216 yards and a touchdown. His owners would gladly take those catches, the score and about half the yardage today. We don’t need to be greedy, right?

The Bucs pass defense should be just what the Doctor ordered for Drew Brees, who uncharacteristically has just one touchdown and seven interceptions over his past two games. It’s time for Brees to reward the owners who have stuck with him during his quick two game struggle.

NY Giants at Atlanta

Without a doubt, David Wilson is going to be one of the most watched players in fantasy and reality this week. Wilson’s 327 all-purpose yards from last week’s game were a new Giants record and he should get somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 carries today with Ahmad Bradshaw ruled out. Buckle your seat belts and cross your fingers!

For the Falcons, it sure looks like Michael Turner is being phased out a bit. He only played on about one third of the team’s snaps and had just seven carries for 14 yards. In his defense, the game really didn’t flow the way the Falcons wanted it to and they were forced to go away from the run. It will be pretty interesting to see what kind of work he gets this week. Don’t let the touchdowns fool you – he’s a shell of his former self.

Late Games

Detroit at Arizona

If the Seahawks can beat Arizona 58-0, what can the Lions potent offense do to them? If you have Megatron and find yourself in the playoffs today, you could be looking at a huge game. Joique Bell is another player to watch – he’s really been pretty impressive and is still under the radar in a lot of leagues.

For the Cardinals, this quarterback situation is as bad as any team has had in recent memory. Kevin Kolb is now on IR and the combination of John Skelton and Ryan Lindley are scoring tons of touchdowns…for their opponents. Could Brian Hoyer actually see time this week? Regardless, even the great Larry Fitzgerald has to be benched this week.

Carolina at San Diego

Guess who the top fantasy quarterback is over the past month? Yep, it’s none other than Cam Newton who has totally turned his season around of late. While it’s far too early to see if it’s enough to save his Coach (it’s likely not), Newton is back on the radar as an elite quarterback option. Only he really knows just why the turnaround has happened, but he’s making better decisions for sure. Let’s just hope his ego doesn’t get in the way again.

What do Brandon Marshall, Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Roddy White all have in common? They all have fewer points than Danario Alexander does since week ten. Yep, he’s been that good. The saga of Alexander is going to be fun to watch over the last few weeks. Can his knees hold up enough for someone to offer him a lucrative deal as a restricted free agent? Have the Chargers seen enough of him to match such a deal? If he keeps performing this week, that’s going to be a big off-season story in dynasty leagues. Guess who will be there to cover it?

Seattle at Buffalo

For the Seahawks, Marshawn Lynch is quietly putting up one great season. At this point, he has 1,266 yards and nine scores on the season. He’s coming off a monster effort against Arizona that featured 128 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. What does he have in store for the Bills?

Speaking of the Bills, here we go again with CJ Spiller. With Fred Jackson back on IR, the Bills have no excuses but to give Spiller at least twenty touches today. No, really. They have no excuse not to.  Right!?!

Kansas City at Oakland

If there’s anyone to really watch here other than Jamaal Charles, I’d be surprised. Even with Dwayne Bowe out, we’ve pretty much seen what the rest of the receiving corps has and even if we didn’t, the quarterback situation in Kansas City isn’t exactly stellar. Speaking of the Chiefs, just how bad has Peyton Hillis been this year? Is part of the Madden curse making you healthy, but terrible?

Pittsburgh at Dallas

You could say Mike Wallace was happy to see Ben Roethlisberger back last week, eh? Wallace had posted just 91 receiving yards and one touchdown in his four games prior to last week, prompting him to complain about his role in the offense. Turns out, Big Ben silenced him pretty quickly as Wallace exploded for seven catches, 112 yards and two touchdowns last week. Let’s see if that continues this week.

For the Cowboys, all eyes are on Dez Bryant today. He’s been adamant that he’ll play, but it’s impossible to say just how effective he’ll be with a splint on his injured finger. As a dynasty owner, you’re just going to have to roll with it and cross your fingers (no pun intended), unless you’re lucky enough to have some elite replacements you can use instead. Bryant has been unstoppable over the past month and looks to be finally becoming the WR1 everyone thought he could be.

Sunday Night Football

San Francisco at New England

Please let us watch.

Monday Night Football

New York Jets at Tennessee

Please don’t make us watch.

ken kelly