Fantasy Football: Between The Chains: Top Plays For Week 13
By Shaun Evans
Welcome back to another article of “Between The Chains”! Week 13 is filled with 13 Fantasy Football games on Sunday so there is a lot of digging and researching to do! But here at FantasyCPR, we have you covered with multiple articles, covering every single game, giving you the upper hand…..FOR FREE! So lets dive in!
Fantasy Football Quarterback
The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Oakland to face the struggling Raiders on Sunday and it’s a nice Fantasy Football match-up for Patrick Mahomes. The Raiders suffer more in defending the running game as they rank 32nd in that category but rank 15th in pass defense, only allowing 237 yards per game. But we have seen that it is very hard to stop Mahomes and his powering offense. Mahomes has thrown for 37 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions this season. Mahomes and this offense puts up the second most point this season with 36 points per game, behind the New Orleans Saints who put up 37 per game. Mahomes has multiple weapons with Tyreke Hill, Sammy Watkins, Travis Kelce, and Kareem Hunt. Pick your poison on who to guard and Mahomes will find another one of his weapons open. Also another huge and fun stat is that Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid, is 16-3 after a bye with last season being just his third loss. Looks for Mahomes and the Chiefs to get back on track for Reid’s amazing stat.
The Joe Flacco era looks to be over in Baltimore due to an injury as the flashy feet and arm of Lamar Jackson has shown up to play. Jackson has yet to prove how dominate or how great he can be as his performances haven’t been over the top but he shows some bright spots. With two touchdowns and three interceptions on the season, Jackson has only thrown one of those touchdowns in his first two starts. But Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens get to face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, a team that ranks 26th in pass defense and allow 273 yards per game. This is a good match-up for Jackson to start as the Falcons allow 27 points per game. One positive sign for Lamar Jackson is that he plays for a team that has a stellar defense that only allows 18 points per game, taking all of the pressure off of him.
Case Keenum (Risk Play)
Case Keenum and the Denver Broncos get to march in to Cincinnati and face the struggling Bengals who are coming off a brutal loss to the Browns. While Keenum hasn’t been the most impressive quarterback or even decent at that, this could be a nice match for him. Keenum hasn’t thrown an interception the past three weeks, giving hope that he is finally turning it around. He has 13 touchdowns on the season, accompanied by 10 interceptions. The Bengals rank 31st against the pass, allowing 292 yards per game and rank 32nd in points against, as they allow 31 per game. Keenum is a salary relief, risk play that could exceed value against a struggling defense in Cincinnati.
Fantasy Football Running-back
Kareem Hunt
Sticking to the Kansas City Chiefs game versus the Oakland Raiders, Kareem Hunt could be in for a nice Holiday treat. The Oakland Raiders allow 151 rushing yards per game, ranking dead last in rush defense. The Raiders do stop the running-back in the passing game so that does hurt Hunts stock a little bit. But like previous said, Andy Reid is 16-3 after a bye so it’s hard to pass up any Chiefs player this Sunday. Hunt is averaging 16 carries per game with 74 yards and has 7 rushing touchdowns on the season. He is catching about 75% of what is thrown his way this season, allowing him to have 7 passing touchdowns already but only averaging 34 receiving yards per game. My main focus is pairing Hunt with his quarterback on this huge slate as they should make Reid proud and get his streak back on track.
Making an appearance in the “Five Things to Watch For” article, Aaron Jones is a top play this week. While the Green Bay Packers are having their ups and downs, Jones has had a solid three-week streak, scoring 35.2, 27.3, and 18.3 fantasy points. During those solid three weeks, he has found the end-zone 4 times but only has 7 on the season. The Arizona Cardinals rank 31st in rush defense allowing 144 yards per game. Arizona is allowing 26 points per game and even with the struggling look of the Green Bay Packers, Jones should be able to find his way into the end-zone. His carries are low, only averaging 11 per game, and 67 yards per game. Jones is a non-factor in the passing game as he is only averaging 18 yards per game with only week 11 being his “big” game with 67 receiving yards. Jones should be a factor on the ground during his Sunday game versus the Arizona Cardinals.
LeSean McCoy (Risk Play)
If you ever believe in on and off week hype like Tarik Cohan, then McCoy is your guy! The Buffalo Bills are facing the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, giving McCoy a nice match-up. McCoy is only averaging 12 carries and 42 yards per game and he only has 2 rushing touchdowns on the season. The Bills have had an up and down season just like McCoy. The Miami Dolphins rank 29th in rush defense, allowing 139 yards per game while allowing 26 points per game. McCoy is another major risk play as he has had up and down weeks but this screams a top play as the Dolphins fail to stop the run and struggle to stop some running-backs in the passing game.
Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
What looks to be appeared as being back on track, Adam Thielen looks to continue his hundred yard receiving streak once again. While having a couple of off weeks, Thielen dominated the Packers 125 yards off of 8 catches with one visit to the end-zone. The New England Patriots rank 25th in the pass defense category, allowing 270 yards per game. The Patriots have somewhat of a lock on the number one receiver, only allowing them 65 yards. But it’s hard to cover just Thielen when his teammates are Stefon Diggs, Kyle Rudolph and Dalvin Cook, who just returned from injury. It’s a pick your poison for the opposing team, allowing more usage out of Thielen.
Once again with the attacking of the Cincinnati Bengals, Emmanuel Sanders seems to be in a great spot and at a reasonable salary price. Emmanuel Sanders is averaging 12 targets a game, averaging 77 yards per game and he is catching about 73% of whatever is thrown at him. We already know the Bengals can’t do anything on defense correct as they are ranked 31st in the passing game, allowing 292 yards per game. Against the number one receiver, they allow for that receiver to gain 72 yards off of 9 receptions per game. On the very bright side, Sanders usage has skyrocketed since Demaryius Thomas was traded and Sutton’s can’t fill that role just yet.
Christian Kirk (Risk Play!)
Now there isn’t too much to enjoy when watching the Arizona Cardinals but Christian Kirk could be a small plus now. He’s another on and off player in DFS and he’s on his ‘on’ week this Sunday facing the Green Bay Packers. The Packers only allow 26 points per game, allowing just 232 yards. Green Bay does suffer a bit when facing the number one and two receivers, allowing both to record around 70 yards per game off of 7 receptions. Kirk is averaging 41 yards and just 4 receptions per game. While the numbers aren’t making this one of the favorite top plays, Kirk is a salary relief play that could easily pay off.
Fantasy Football Tight End
Now this is a very expensive play which could be used elsewhere but if you’re comfortable in roster with Travis Kelce in it, then play it. Kelce is averaging 83 yards per game off of 6 receptions which is impressive for a tight end. We know Oakland is weak in the passing game and allow 63 yards to tight ends.
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The Chiefs are a team to stack, if possible, just due to the fact that their offense is firing on all cylinders right now. We’ve already covered what Raiders do bad, but good for our guys that we roster. Raiders are ranked 30th in points allowed with 29.7 which makes this play even more intriguing. Also another positive is that Kelce hasn’t had a off week besides week 10. Just to look to pair Mahomes with either Kareem Hunt or Travis Kelce.
The newly named started due to Jack Doyle‘s injury, Eric Ebron makes his way onto another article. With a true test this weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguar, Ebron should be able to continue his consistent play. The Jaguars only allow 114 rushing yards per game, ranking 16th. They allow tight ends to have around 5 receptions for 46 receiving yards.
We have seen what Ebron can do as a starter and with Andrew Lucks amazing play, it’s hard to pass him up. Ebron is also tied for first in receiving touchdowns and he’s up there with some big names, Tyreke Hill and Antonio Brown. Look for Ebron to be the lock of Sunday as his salary allows for you to pair him with other big players.
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