Week 15 Rankings Update

The Jets are the last team Michael Vick wants to see. The Eagles won last week, but the offense looked worse than ever.

Vick was rusty against Miami after his time off. He was inaccurate and didn’t recognize what Dolphins blitzers were coming. Philly’s interior offensive line caved and Jeremy Maclin pulled up lame at receiver. Vick didn’t look comfortable, leaving the pocket too early like the old Vick. He’s regressed.

Rex Ryan defenses devour confused quarterbacks. Darrelle Revis will take away DeSean Jackson and Vick won’t know where the pressure is coming from.

I’m worried as a LeSean McCoy owner because the Eagles line looked so bad last week, but I’m not going to outsmart myself. McCoy plays.

If you made it this far despite drafting Vick, try making it another week without him. A wildly disappointing fantasy season from the lefty is likely to get worse.


Week 15 Quarterbacks

QB Notes: This should be the week Drew Brees makes damn sure he gets that yardage record. Enjoy. Last week was all about dump offs and a conservative approach because the game dictated that. The Vikings secondary will dictate deep shots. … I said last week was Tim Tebow’s toughest test yet and would bench him in a lot of formats. This week is the opposite. The Patriots defense is the king of soft zones. They aren’t physical and they don’t confuse quarterbacks. They will probably limit Tebow’s running, but this should be a great game for Tebow’s passing numbers.

Philip Rivers is back. His performance against Buffalo was almost flawless. I only charted three bad passes in the game, and two were underthrown deep shots. He was in rhythm and had pinpoint accuracy on his intermediate throws. The opponents have helped a lot the last two weeks, but Rivers also made some tough throws into tight windows. The key has been protection. Will it hold up against Baltimore? I doubt it, but Rivers has played well enough lately to give him the edge over other shaky QB1 options like Carson Palmer and Michael Vick.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is on tilt. He’s missing routine throws. The quality of his wideouts and timing is a factor, but he’s also very erratic, struggling with some basic stuff, and forcing throws. … The Texans are a tough matchup, but it’s hard to imagine benching Cam Newton. I struggled with where to rank him this week. You could make an argument for Stafford over Newton, but no lower than that. … Ben Roethlisberger’s injury doesn’t really scare me. And you can throw some on the 49ers. They will spread San Francisco out.

Joe Flacco and Rex Grossman would both make for sneaky plays if you are desperate this week. … Carson Palmer may get Denarius Moore back this week, but that’s only worth a small bump in his value.

The Jets are the last team Michael Vick wants to see. The Eagles won last week, but the offense looked worse than ever.

Vick was rusty against Miami after his time off. He was inaccurate and didn’t recognize what Dolphins blitzers were coming. Philly’s interior offensive line caved and Jeremy Maclin pulled up lame at receiver. Vick didn’t look comfortable, leaving the pocket too early like the old Vick. He’s regressed.

Rex Ryan defenses devour confused quarterbacks. Darrelle Revis will take away DeSean Jackson and Vick won’t know where the pressure is coming from.

I’m worried as a LeSean McCoy owner because the Eagles line looked so bad last week, but I’m not going to outsmart myself. McCoy plays.

If you made it this far despite drafting Vick, try making it another week without him. A wildly disappointing fantasy season from the lefty is likely to get worse.


Week 15 Quarterbacks

QB Notes: This should be the week Drew Brees makes damn sure he gets that yardage record. Enjoy. Last week was all about dump offs and a conservative approach because the game dictated that. The Vikings secondary will dictate deep shots. … I said last week was Tim Tebow’s toughest test yet and would bench him in a lot of formats. This week is the opposite. The Patriots defense is the king of soft zones. They aren’t physical and they don’t confuse quarterbacks. They will probably limit Tebow’s running, but this should be a great game for Tebow’s passing numbers.

Philip Rivers is back. His performance against Buffalo was almost flawless. I only charted three bad passes in the game, and two were underthrown deep shots. He was in rhythm and had pinpoint accuracy on his intermediate throws. The opponents have helped a lot the last two weeks, but Rivers also made some tough throws into tight windows. The key has been protection. Will it hold up against Baltimore? I doubt it, but Rivers has played well enough lately to give him the edge over other shaky QB1 options like Carson Palmer and Michael Vick.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is on tilt. He’s missing routine throws. The quality of his wideouts and timing is a factor, but he’s also very erratic, struggling with some basic stuff, and forcing throws. … The Texans are a tough matchup, but it’s hard to imagine benching Cam Newton. I struggled with where to rank him this week. You could make an argument for Stafford over Newton, but no lower than that. … Ben Roethlisberger’s injury doesn’t really scare me. And you can throw some on the 49ers. They will spread San Francisco out.

Joe Flacco and Rex Grossman would both make for sneaky plays if you are desperate this week. … Carson Palmer may get Denarius Moore back this week, but that’s only worth a small bump in his value.

Week 15 Running Backs

RB Notes: Just when you think Chris Johnson has turned it around, he pulls out an epic stinkbomb. He also cost the Titans a chance to win by not making Malcolm Jenkins miss with a ton of open field room on one fourth quarter play. Johnson came up a yard short of a first down, and the Titans never converted. I’m tired of the rollercoaster, but you just can’t sit him on turf against the Colts. Play him and hope.

Tough call with Ryan Mathews this week. I liked him a lot more than Wesseling. It’s a case of taking a talented player at the top of his game despite a tough matchup. And the matchup is very tough. Mathews is running with great decisiveness. When he sees a hole, he hits it hard. He’s good in short yardage. The Chargers are giving him the ball a ton. Mathews had 10 carries in the first quarter last week. Mike Tolbert probably only vultured a score because Mathews had so many carries on that drive. … C.J. Spiller really didn’t run that poorly last week, but the opportunities were scarce because of the score. Life probably won’t get better against a strong Dolphins front.

I couldn’t believe my eyes watching Reggie Bush run last week. Everything was decisive and one cut. Almost all of his yards came between the tackles. He even ran a defender or two over during the game. He’s a great option against Buffalo. … Mike Shanahan hasn’t tricked us. Roy Helu really is reliable. … Kevin Smith has earned the right to be in most lineups as long as he’s on the field. It’s a good matchup. … Steven Jackson showed last week he can still get some yards against a tough defense. He’s a decent RB2.

Ben Tate isn’t a bad option this week. Houston should be able to run all over Carolina and Tate is playing better than ever right now. … Willis McGahee’s off week doesn’t scare me. The Broncos should rack up plenty of yards and points against the Patriots. … I agree with Silva that Michael Turner could struggle this week, but it’s also a game I see the Falcons scoring in the 30s. That should lead to some goal-line tries for Turner.

Week 15 Wide Receivers

WR Notes: J.P. Losman played as frenetic as you’d expect last week. If Losman is in, Brandon Marshall is a shaky option. … The Titans figure to go with a run-based approach against the Colts. Jake Locker made some very nice passes last week, but he leaves the pocket too quickly. He’s looked promising, but the Titans will play things conservatively. … Vincent Jackson isn’t getting his usual separation on the deep ball and Philip Rivers is underthrowing him. It makes Jackson a bit of a dicey play against Baltimore, but he’s hard to sit.

Stevie Johnson has a small margin for error because he doesn’t have great speed or a great quarterback. When he catches a deep ball, Johnson gets caught from behind. He also has a drop or two a week. I don’t love him this week, and it’s not because of his injury situation. … Kyle Orton will help out Dwayne Bowe a great deal compared to Tyler Palko. … The Bucs defense ends slumps. I’m not sure which Cowboys wideout to place the highest, but I’d feel good about playing any one of them.

Santana Moss got his big score on a gimmick play, but he’s getting a ton of targets and is a worth WR2/3. … Johnathan Joseph is good, but I still wouldn’t sit Steve Smith. A.J. Green beat Joseph a number of times last week and could have had a bigger day in the box score. Darrelle Revis is the only cornerback that truly scares me as a fantasy owner. … The Bucs should be playing from behind, which means a lot of pass attempts and targets for Mike Williams.

Week 15 Tight Ends

TE Notes: Aaron Hernandez is so close, but can’t get over the hump. He doesn’t make defenders pay for one-on-one coverage enough and drops too many passes, especially around the goal line. A big game should be coming. I’d stay patient with him. The Broncos safeties can be exploited. … I knew Antonio Gates was back when he started hopping on his aching heel while running backwards after scoring a touchdown last week. He’s making sharp cuts again and looking comfortable. … Brent Celek got plenty of targets last week and fought for yardage. He’s not a bad option.


Week 15 Team Defense

Week 15 Kickers