Week 15 Start 'Em / Sit 'Em - Early Games Primer

Alright everyone, you know the drill by now. Good luck in your playoff game if you've made it this far. There aren't a lot of signifcant fantasy players in the two early games, so this should be pretty easy...

Denver @ Houston

As a rule of thumb, you are probably going to want to stay way from Texans not named Andre or Owen in general, and the rule is especially true this week. It looks like Sage Rosenfels will be the starting QB while Darius Walker and Adimchinobi Echemandu will be splitting touches at RB. Denver is not a shutdown defense but has improved of late, and it would be a serious stretch to give any of those people playing time on your playoff team this week. If I had to pick one, it would be Walker with his receiving potential. Andre Johnson will be shadowed all game by Champ Bailey. He will still get his looks but probably won't have a huge game. The best play in this group is definitely Owen Daniels. The best pass catcher against the Broncos each of the last three weeks has been the TE, and Daniels has been hot as well and should have a very good game. Kris Brown and the Texans defense would also be solid starts. The Broncos have allowed the 2nd most points to opposing fantasy defenses over the last six weeks.

The picking is not much prettier on Denver's side. Don't buy into last week's performance by Jay Cutler. He had 4 TDs but just 13 in the other 12 weeks combined and simply isn't dependable enough yet -- a stretch as a starter again this week. Houston is a poor run defense, and you know the Broncos will get theirs... but who? Selvin Young has been a bigger yardage threat while Travis Henry has been scoring the TDs. Against an offense as tattered as the Texans, here's guessing the Broncos just play it safe all game and run the ball and that makes both of those guys solid RB2 starts with potential for so much more. You're probably not going to bench Brandon Marshall with how hot he's been lately, but be ready for just an average game against a good corner. Tony Scheffler could be a long shot play at TE against a team that has struggled in that area, if you need one. Stay away from Jason Elam this week against a team that doens't seem to give up many field goals lately.

Cincinnati @ San Francisco

Well so much for a matchup of two potential playoff teams, huh NFL Network? The Cincinnati Bengals have killed a lot of fantasy teams this season. You've got less than you hoped for from pretty much everyone one of them except TJ and even he has fizzled out some of late. Still, if you have survived this long and still have a valuable Bengal on your team, you've got to play them now and hope for the best. Carson Palmer killed a lot of teams last weekend but looks like a fabulous start against a wretched defense. Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh are must starts as always. One of them should have a huge game, and the other should be very good as well. Rudi Johnson should actually be a good play as well. He has averaged 70 yards and a TD each of the last three games and is back to his usual 4 yards and a cloud of dust with a good smattering of TDs style. Shayne Graham will be a good choice at kicker, cleaning up the scraps, and the Cincy defense is even usable against an abysmal offense.

As for San Francisco, what is there to say? Alex Smith is now officially out for the year, and Trent Dilfer is doubtful as well, which means Shaun Hill looks to make his first start ever this weekend. Hopefully that's the only game he will be starting in, if you catch my drift. The Bengals have a better run defense than you think, but Frank Gore's dual threat ability should at least make him a solid RB2 start. Arnaz Battle is actually a sneaky start. He's scored between 7 and 11 fantasy points for five straight weeks with a TD in three straight. He may not be at his best with Hill under center but can still be a usable WR3. Vernon Davis is a longshot at TE as usual. Ditto anyone else I haven't mentioned here.