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Fantasy Football Week 12 Q&A

Looking for Internet Fantasy Predictions then look no further than Dave B’s week 12 fantasy football watch list…

Watchlist Q & A – Week 12

After all of the weekly games are finished be sure to check our waiver wire column, studs and duds, a who’s hot, and who’s not report plus more in our fantasy football guide.

Finally – Week 12 has started. The Thanksgiving games are mercifully over. Although they produced some good Fantasy days, the games were basically duds.

There are some interesting Story lines that I will bet watching this Week. There are some interesting injury situations, some key divisional matchups, and some disappointing individual players to consider when making lineup decisions for your Fantasy teams.

Here then is Dave B’s Week 12 Watchlist Q & A

1. How will the recent concussion epidemic in the NFL play out in Week 12?

Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh – Steelers fans’ hearts stopped last week when they saw Ben leave the game with yet another concussion. Word is that he will play against a tough Ravens team on Sunday night (his backup Charlie Batch is also injured). Roethlisberger has passed all concussion tests and it will be interesting to see how Ben’s play is affected by his cranium. I think he’ll be OK, but not spectacular against Ray Lewis and Company.

Kurt Warner – Arizona – Another player that has declared himself “good to Go” for this weekend. Warner’s departure from last Sunday’s game seemed to be more precautionary than anything else so expect Kurt to be active and productive against Tennessee.

Brian Westbrook – Philadelphia – OUT again this week, and it seems that he’s still at least a few weeks away from a return to action. Westbrook’s injury is nothing to play around with and it appears that the Eagles will take their time with this situation.

Clinton Portis – Washington – His season may be in jeopardy because of his concussion. Portis is still feeling affects (headaches and dizziness) and doesn’t figure to be active for a few more weeks at least.

2. Will the disappointing Running Backs’s get back on track this weekend?

Brandon Jacobs -NY Giants – Plays Thursday night and is going to get a lot more carries because of the injury to Ahmad Bradshaw. More to come later.

Fred Jackson/Marshawn Lynch – Buffalo – Marshawn Lynch should play this weekend after leaving last week’s game with an injury. Buffalo NEEDS to get their running game going in order to be competitive. I, like many, don’t have much faith in Lynch, or Fred Jackson and believe that it will be another sub-par outing against a pretty good Miami Defense.

Pierre Thomas – New Orleans – Does anyone else have the feeling that Thomas’s 15 minutes of fame have expired? The Saints seem to be going away from a feature back approach and are employing a more committee approach at Running Back. Mike Bell and Reggie Bush have emerged as weapons out of the backfield for New Orleans, leaving Thomas looking like an average player capable of OK, not spectacular games.

Julius Jones – Seattle – Will return this week from injury and I don’t know if the Seahawks are all that excited about it. He’s been a season long bust and with the emergence of Justin Forsett, his playing time could (and should) be limited. The Hawks are a better team without him. The only positive going into this week is the fact that Seattle plays St. Louis.

Marion Barber – Dallas – He doesn’t look like the same player as he did last year. The Cowboys play the Raiders on Thanksgiving – I will write about the outcome later.

3. What will the struggling Quarterbacks offer in their games?

Tony Romo – Dallas – Plays at home on Thanksgiving – more in him later.

Jay Cutler – Chicago – Plays at Minnesota this weekend – a tough assignment for even the hottest Quarterback. Cutler and his whole Bears team is playing BAD ball right now and a game against a stout Vikings team figures to continue that trend.

Matt Hasselbeck – Seattle – A Top 10 Quarterback coming into the season, Hasselbeck and his whole team for that matter have disappointed week in and week out. A game against a Kyle Boller led St. Louis team figures to be a recipe for a bounce back game this week. He might be good this week, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s a sign of things to come.

Kyle Orton – Denver – Ugh!! Sinking ship alert!! They play Thursday night against the Giants. More to come later.

Jason Campbell – Washington – Key divisional game this week against a very tough Philadelphia Defense. Campbell appears to be in for a LONG night. Without a true threat a Running Back, Campbell will be forced to be extraordinary in order to win the game. We all know that Campbell is far from extraordinary.

4. How will the backups become starters fare in Week 12?

Kyle Boller – St. Louis – Takes over for Marc Bulger who might be out for the season. The good news is that St. Louis hosts a struggling Seattle team that has been beaten up the last few weeks. The bad news is that he’s still Kyle Boller and he doesn’t have many weapons around him to be successful. He might be OK this week, but don’t expect much going forward.

Rock Cartwright – Washington – Unquestioned starter for the Redskins – unearned, but the starter nonetheless. He might find some success because of the amount of touches that he is certain to see, but if you are expecting starter caliber numbers against Philadelphia, you will probably be disappointed.

Jason Snelling – Atlanta – Had a good game last week in relief of Michael Turner, but Turner is practicing this week and threatens to retake his starting job. Monitor the situation. If Turner is forced to sit again this week, Snelling becomes an extremely attractive option this week against Tampa Bay.

LeSean McCoy – Philadelphia – Brian Westbrook is out again this week, and doesn’t seem close to a return to action. This leaves McCoy to handle the bulk of the work for the Eagles. He is a bonafide RB 2 and could be valuable in a game that the Eagles are almost certain to win.

Bernard Scott – Cincinnati – Another player that filled in admirably last weekend in relief of his starter. Cedric Benson is practicing this week and could very well return to handle the backfield duties for the Bengals. This is another situation to keep tabs on – if Scott is the starter, he could pay dividends against a terrible Cleveland team.

5. Will the key divisional games live up to the hype?

Washington @ Philadelphia – Washington has a habit of playing Philadelphia tough, but they’ve always had a semi-reliable Clinton Portis to keep the Eagles off balance. In Week 12, Washington will limp into Phili. with a struggling QB and an unproven RB. Phili. is playing good football right now and should handle the Skins on Offense and Defense.

Indianapolis @ Houston – Houston wants this game badly, especially after the debacle last week with Kris Brown’s missed field goal at the end of the game. Can they slow down an uber-hot Indy team? I don’t think they can. The Colts stay perfect and will increase an already obnoxious lead in their division.

Chicago @ Minnesota – Smells like a blowout doesn’t it? These teams are going it totally opposite directions. The Vikings are simply on fire and the Bears are Ice Cold. The Bears simply won’t be able to do anything against an amazing Defense and Farve – well…he’ll be Favre. Start all your Vikes (except Berrian of course).

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore – Both of these teams have lost their season series against division opponent Cincinnati so both need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. You can always count on Ray Rice and Derrick Mason, but the rest of the Ravens should find it tough sledding against a tough Pittsburgh D. Pittsburgh’s Offense should also struggle, but I still like the Steelers in a low scoring game.

6. Will the impressive winning streaks of some teams continue?

Arizona Cardinals On the road in Tennessee. Both of these teams are Hot right now. Kurt Warner returns to action and Arizona fans couldn’t be happier. You just can’t bet against a team that boasts the talents of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and an emerging running game. This should be a good game and the Cards should prevail.

Minnesota Vikings – At home to Chicago. Anyone have money on the Bears? Fools!!

New Orleans Saints – Home against New England. Game of the Week, possibly game of the year. This game promises to be a shootoutevery Offensive player should reward their owners. My hunch is that the Saints impressive winning streak will come to an end on Monday night.

Indianapolis Colts – At Houston. I already talked about this game – it’s safe to say that the Colts should remain perfect on the season.

Jacksonville Jaguars – At San Francisco. The Jags have put together a modest winning streak on the shoulders of Maurice Jones-Drew. It should be a close game this week, but I like the Jags to continue their streak because of Jones-Drew.

Tennessee Titans – Home to Arizona. They are playing a better team this week. Although Chris Johnson gives them a chance to win every week, The Tennessee Defense is going to have to hold a potent Arizona Offense down and I don’t think they can.. The Titans streak likely ends this week.

7. Which injuries will affect lineup decisions for Fantasy teams?

  • Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh – Passed all the concussion tests ans is going to start Sunday.
  • Kurt Warner – Arizona – Ditto.
  • Marc Bulger – St. Louis – Out of action for 3-6 weeks. Kyle Boller takes his place.
  • Cedric Benson – Cincinnati – Practicing this week and hopes to play – Keep tabs.
  • Michael Turner – Atlanta – Also practicing with the hopes of playing this weekend – Keep tabs too.
  • Steven Jackson – St. Louis – Back spasms are a concern but I bet he’ll play
  • Ladell Betts – Washington – Out for the season. Rock Cartwright will start in his place.
  • Clinton Portis – Washington – Out for a few more games at least.
  • Reggie Bush – New Orleans Inactive last week. Returned to practice this week and should be good to go – Keep tabs.
  • Julius Jones – Seattle – On schedule to return to action this week
  • Marshawn Lynch -Buffalo – Back at practice this week – all signs are pointing to him playing this week
  • Roddy White – Atlanta – Wonky knee – should play.
  • Reggie Wayne – Indianapolis – Bad foot – didn’t practice but my thought is he’ll play.
  • Vincent Jackson – San Diego – should be good to go.
  • Bernard Berrian – Minnesota – Hamstring still bothering him, but he should be fine for Sunday.
  • Anthony Gonzalez – Indianapolis – Still not practicing – Out at least 1 more week.
  • Kevin Curtis – Philadelphia – Not at practice – not going to play.

8. What are the ramifications of the Thanksgiving Day games?

Green Bay @ Detroit – This was a close game for the 1st 2 minutes. So much for Drew Stafford “turning a corner” and becoming Fantasy relevant. He was less than ordinary this week, and did nothing for Calvin Johnson and the rest of the Detroit Offense. Green Bay, on the other hand was all systems go. Rodgers was a Stud, Driver was a God, and Jennings and Grant were visible. The Packers absolutely dominated and keep their Wildcard leading position.

Oakland @ Dallas – Tony Romo had one of the quietest 300 yard games that I’ve ever seen. He was aided by LONG completions that padded his stats immensely. The Dallas running game was also aided by the big play – they looked OK, but are still far from the elite group that they want to be. Oakland was Oakland although the running game (Fargas in particular) looks to be rounding into form.

NY Giants @ Denver – Ugh! What the hell is wrong with the Giants? Brandon Jacobs rumbles for 27 yards? (Some dude named Danny Ware gained 27 yards too!!). Eli Manning threw for 230 yards – all bad for the New York Giants. I can’t figure out if the Giants were that bad or the Broncos were that good. Orton, Moreno, and Marshall all looked good. The Broncos could be back folks – they soundly beat a good football team

9. Has Braylon Edwards gained a fan in me yet?

There ya go folks. There is a lot of information to digest. I hope it helps – good luck this week!

By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.