All About the Solo: Week 14

One of the most frustrating things in IDP leagues is seeing your stud linebacker fly all over the field on game days only to see the home score keeper dilute his performance by divvying up his tackles as assists. On the flip side, if your league doesn’t score solos and assists too differently, you’ll have a better idea of which teams hand out assists like candy.

Not everyone knows this, but the NFL does not recognize a tackle as an official statistic. Tackles are scored by the home team’s official score keeper and those are the stats you see on the news and websites. The league made an effort to standardize what is and isn’t a solo tackle back in 2007 when they sent a video to all NFL teams, but it is still the discretion of the home score keeper. Even after this effort there is a still a large discrepancy from team to team and week-to-week. I will be tracking this throughout the season to give you a better idea of what to expect when choosing your IDPs each week.

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Sean Lee is as impressive as any linebacker in the league when he’s healthy. The way the Cowboys defense plays with him on the field is night and day different. The week 14 game at the Giants was a classic opportunity for a letdown game. It was Eli Manning’s return to the starting lineup after a mind numbing benching from then-coach Ben McAdoo and the Giants always play the Cowboys tough. Instead, Lee and company dominated this game, especially in the second half. Lee and Anthony Hitchens combined for 32 tackles.

This week they get the Giants of the AFC, as in the Oakland Raiders. With Derek Carr and company not playing much better than the Giants right now and they’re expected to be without Amari Cooper, the Cowboys defense should put on one heck of an encore in Oakland. Fire up all your Cowboys.

The Steelers and Patriots game is going to produce a lot of fantasy stats on both sides of the ball. With these offenses both running a lot of plays there will be plenty of tackle and sack opportunities on both sides of the ball. As expected, Vince Williams stepped in for the injured Ryan Shazier and finished second on the team with seven tackles. Look for that to continue the rest of the season.

I’m definitely playing T.J. Watt if I have him this week. I think the Steelers ask him to do a lot this week to disrupt Tom Brady. On the other side of the field, I don’t really know who to trust outside of the Patriots safeties. They’re sorely miss a dominant presence at the linebacker position.

If you’re desperate for a plug and play linebacker this week, Michael Wilhoite of the Seahawks could be your man. After Bobby Wagner went down with a hamstring injury, Wilhoite stepped in to finish the game. With both Wagner and K.J. Wright banged up and doubtful to play he could see a lot of tackle opportunities at an IDP friendly position.

Telvin Smith is expected back this week so the Paul Posluszny’s revival tour will come to an end. It was fun to see him turn back the clock but the production won’t be there this week. On a positive note, play every single Jaguars defensive lineman you have, duh, right? They’re going up against a clueless Texans O-line and third string quarterback T.J. Yates. There will be blood.

Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.

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