Week 14 Start 'Em / Sit 'Em - Thursday Primer

Just a few quick notes on this Thursday's matchup between the Bears and Redskins in the nation's capital. It's a loser-out game really in a wide open NFC where about 8 teams still have a legitimate shot at the wild card. The winner moves to 6-7 and stays within shouting distance of the payoffs, and the loser falls to 5-8 and can start making offseason plan.

It has been an unbelievable last 10 days for the Redskins at this point as they continue to deal with all of the Sean Taylor aftermath. Our thoughts and prayers should truly be with the players and families above everything else.

As for the football game, it just seems like there is no way around Washington being completely flat and out of this game. They have too many emotions on their plate, they're coming off a short week where they didn't really even have time to practice because they all flew to Miami for the funeral, and they're coming off a devastating last second loss to the Bills due largely to a terrible coaching mistake by Joe Gibbs. You just can't recover from all that in four days, and you can't play off of that emotion any longer either.

For the Redskins, the only players I'd be too interested in starting are Clinton Portis and Santana Moss. Both of them have known Taylor for years and should be playing with heavy hearts, and we saw how former Miami players McGahee, Reed, and Lewis stepped it up on MNF. Portis should have a big game against a bad run defense, and Moss should be a decent WR2 or WR3 type start especially with PPR.

For the Bears on the other hand, I think you'll want to get most of your normally playable Bears into the lineup. Berrian and Muhammad should be solid as always against a pass defense that is in disarray, and that should also make Rex Grossman a solid plug and play if you need a QB. Greg Olsen and Adrian Peterson (the other one) are usable fillers if you don't have better options, borderline starter types. And the Bears defense should be a good start just as they pretty much always are.

Enjoy the game, and good luck in your fantasy playoffs this week, but most of all, remember to keep some perspective in all of this and keep praying for the Taylor family and for the entire Redskins and Miami family as well.