As the Cowboys play host to the Chargers, many of us will be dreaming of playoff scenarios. Obviously, the Cowboys always come first. But, in the world of fantasy football, the playoffs are now!
For leagues that start their playoffs next week, some of us owners face win-and-in situations. Hopefully, those Cowboys we have on our squads can help us out.
Make the jump for the Week 14 Fantasy Focus.
QB Tony Romo - Last week, I said not to expect a huge day from Romo. Boy, was I wrong! After having a career day (41 of 55 for 392 and 3 TDs with 0 INTs), Romo asked the special teams coach if he could be the placekicker's holder. Now, the ball will hit his hands on every offensive play other that Razorback and punt formations.
San Diego will be a challenge for the Dallas passing attack. It currently ranks 8th (204.4 YPG) in pass defense, but the defense ranks averagely in points allowed (15th in NFL, 20.2 PPG). The Chargers have a tendency to force teams into a shootout with them. That, alone, should tell you that Romo is a great start this week.
RBs Marion Barber - The reason the Chargers try to force teams into a shootout is to cover for a weakness: their run defense. It ranks 21st in the league, giving up an average 117.8 YPG. SS Eric Weddle will miss the game and the rotation at NT has done little in clogging up holes.
Barber has looked great in the past few weeks, but did have a rare fumble against the Giants. The problem with the Dallas rushing attack looks to be the offensive line's inability to beat down the opposition (not a Flozell joke). It would make sense for the Cowboys to control the ball and keep Philip Rivers off the field. If they can manage to do so, Barber would get around 20 carries. I'd start him if I had him.
Felix Jones - Rumor has it that the Chargers don't do a very good job at containing RBs on outside runs. Felix excels at outside runs, so does the Dallas O-line. Starting "El Gato" is a gamble every week. You gamble on him having a big game, but more often that not, you are disappointed with the amount of touches he receives.
I'll go out on a limb and bank on him hitting a homerun this week. That doesn't mean he'll have double-digit carries though. Flip a coin.
Tashard Choice - He's buried on the depth chart, so getting 5-10 points out of him is the most you can expect.
WRs Miles Austin - If anyone can benefit from a shootout game, it's Austin. CB Antonio Cromartie can be a gambler at times, and I've heard that the San Diego secondary is not comprised of sure tacklers. OC Jason Garrett will have Austin running all over the field.
He caught 10 for 104 and a TD against the Giants - a week after abusing the Raiders. It's not presumptuous to chalk up another big day for him.
Roy Williams - Okay, RW is finding his niche on offense...and it's catching TDs. He caught two last week and one the week before. Don't expect him to rack up the yardage, but he could score you 10-15 points if he's your best option. Not great, but not bad either.
TEs Jason Witten - Holy career day from JWitt last week! He caught a whopping 14 passes for 156 yards. And get this: he averaged more YAC than Miles Austin, 11.1 to the WR's 10.4.
The end zone is still eluding Witten though. This has got to be the week he scores, right? Right?
Cowboys D/ST - Uh oh. Giving up a 30-burger to the Giants dropped the scoring defense from 2nd down to 5th in the league (now allowing 17.8 PPG). Both the D and the /ST can be blamed for that. Giving up two big plays to cost the team the game had to have humbled these units. They've got to regroup fast because Philip Rivers is spearheading an offense that ranks 3rd overall in scoring, averaging 28.5 PPG. If the Chargers' running game wasn't ranked so low (30th averaging only 88.7 YPG), the total offense could be up there in the top three with that of the Saints, Colts, and our Cowboys.
CBs Terence Newman and Orlando Scandrick will have their work cut out for them. Luckily, Mike Jenkins is back in the secondary both preventing big plays and making a few himself. SS Gerald Sensabaugh gets one of the tougher jobs in the NFL: covering TE Antonio Gates.
The Chargers score TDs, so it may not be wise to start the Dallas D/ST this week. Although they could get some sacks on Rivers, he's only thrown 6 INTs this year.
It's playoff time for the BTB and BTB Part Deux fantasy leagues on FleaFlicker! Below are the playoff brackets for both leagues. If your team is not in either one, then you are playing in the Consolation #1 bracket.
BTB League
Round 1(14 Tue 12/8-Mon 12/14) |
Semis(15 Tue 12/15-Mon 12/21) |
Finals(16 Tue 12/22-Mon 12/28) |
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#1 The Speed o... | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #4 Flashlights | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #5 Quincyyyyy | |
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Winner |
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| #3 Doomsday Redux | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #6 Official Sp... | |
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[TBD] | |
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#2 Static | |
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BTB Part Deux League
Round 1(14 Tue 12/8-Mon 12/14) |
Semis(15 Tue 12/15-Mon 12/21) |
Finals(16 Tue 12/22-Mon 12/28) |
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#1 kill everbody | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #4 Paper Cranes | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #5 Reykjavik R... | |
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Winner |
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| #3 Maui Paniol... | |
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[TBD] | |
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| #6 WheresWare? | |
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[TBD] | |
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#2 StarBoys | |
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As always, feel free to use this thread to discuss your FF dilemmas as well as anything Cowboys, anything football.
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