What we are talking about:
Jared Goff starting
Does this change anything?
Eli Manning
Continuing to crush dreams
AFC Championship
Adam's dream matchup ...
There is a change in the air. At least in Los Angeles. Well, not the actual air. The weather did finally dip below 70 degrees this week (good thing I still have my jacket from Super Bowl 48). But that's not the change I am talking about. I'm talking about the biggie.
That's right! I am self-centered enough to embed my own tweet at the top of this column. But isn't that what Twitter is all about anyway? We all have this desire to have our voices heard, deal with it. It's the most basic instinct that we have. I mean, what do you think cave paintings are all about? No disrespect to David Lewis-Williams, but I'm pretty sure those cave paintings were mostly (expletive) jokes and other attempts at comedy to their peers. Don't be so naïve. It was also used as a pickup line, too. Kind of like, "'Sup, girl. I just clubbed a Brontosaurus, so you should come over to my cave to check out these paintings that I'm working on.") Don't try to make our ancestors more sophisticated than they really were. (Which is probably good advice for future generations about us when they look back. Especially given recent events. And by recent events, I mean the cancellation of "CSI: Cyber" by CBS. Why, what were you thinking about?)
So if I sit here and repost my own tweets, then I am just harkening back to our forefathers and mothers. Sue me.
Now, let's get back to Jared Goff finally starting for the Rams. The real issue here is what does this mean for the Rams most viable fantasy player: Kenny Britt?
That's right, Kenny Britt.
Britt has scored more points than Todd Gurley this season. All right, that's not true. But the fact that you believed that for a moment speaks volumes.
The Rams have wasted the talent of Gurley. There hasn't been a waste of talent in Hollywood this severe since Nicolas Cage in "Windtalkers."
But there is hope. The Dolphins have spent a week in Southern California after playing in San Diego, and that can be exhausting. From Disneyland to Universal Studios, there is an awful lot to take in. Plus, there's the fact that the Dolphins rank 30th against the run and have allowed 128 rushing yards per game. Which might be Gurley's season total. I kid, I kid.
But I'm starting Gurley this week with arms wide open in hopes he can take my lineup higher. Otherwise, what's this life for? All right, I'll see myself out. (But don't blame me if you recognized all of those Creed songs.)
And without further ado ...
Said it last week, Russell Wilson is starting to look more like himself as he's able to move around the pocket better. Wilson's passer rating outside of the pocket is 112.2 in the past two games, up from 90.2 the previous eight weeks. The Eagles struggled with two quarterbacks who excel out of the pocket this season, Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford.
Marcus Mariota has scored at least 25 fantasy points in four of his last six games. Listen, go auto-pilot and enjoy the ride for the rest of the season.
I'm kind of bummed I didn't buy that Mariota Ducks jersey at Burlington Coat Factory. But it was bright yellow and when the hell was I going to wear it? But still.
Kirk Cousins has thrown for 720 yards and four touchdowns in his last two games. Cousins is currently tied for third in the league with five deep-ball touchdown passes (20-plus air yards).
The Lions have trailed in the fourth quarter of every game this season. EVERY. GAME. So how is Blake Bortles going to rack up all of those fourth-quarter garbage-time points?
But in all seriousness, I would play both Bortles and Matthew Stafford this week. I see points a plenty in this contest. The Jaguars haven't forced a turnover in their last five games.
Tom Brady is 11-3 with 34 touchdowns and eight picks after a loss. Just in case you weren't going to start him this week. I'm here for you. By the way, this is the first time Brady will play an NFL game in the Bay Area.
Tom Brady made a pretty great commercial for Footlocker this week. It's one thing to be a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. But you're now starting to beat him in commercials, too?
Image I didn't think I'd get here, but I'm officially excited for "Survivor Series" this weekend. I'm going to bench all of my Packers and Redskins so I'm not interrupted! (Kidding.) And it's actually because of the Undertaker, who hinted that he was not going to be defined only by WrestleMania. Which is great. Part of me thinks he could be involved in the Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg match to set up a WM bout. But the mark in me truly hopes the Undertaker gets involved in a feud with Bray Wyatt that ultimately leads to the Phenom putting over Bray convincingly at WrestleMania. Kind of like the way Tony Romo put over Dak Prescott this week. Bray deserves it.
C.J. Prosise has had 78 receiving yards when not lined up in the backfield, second-highest total among running backs from Weeks 7-10. He's averaged 19.5 yards per reception, the highest among running backs with 10 or more non-backfield lineups.
Let me tell you something -- start Thomas Rawls this week if you added him. What are you waiting for? I would have patience if Christine Michael was still in the mix. He's not. Which means Rawls is going to have a huge role starting this week. Don't be scurred.
LeGarrette Blount leads the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns and is on pace for 21, which would be a Patriots franchise record.
Ezekiel Elliott ranks third in most carries against eight-plus defenders in the box in non-red-zone plays. He ranks fifth in highest yards per carry against eight-plus defenders in the box (5.6).
Doug Martin made his return last week against the Bears and scored a touchdown. The Chiefs defense ranks 27th against the run.
How many of you were relieved when Jordan Howard practiced on Wednesday? Oh man, that was close. The Giants are tough against the run, but I'm still going with Howard this week. He's the future of the Bears right now. They have to run him.
James Starks is a pretty nice start against Washington this week. He out-touched Ty Montgomery both as a runner and a receiver last week.
Latavius Murray has a great matchup. The Texans rank 26th against the run this year. A high-altitude game means the defenses could be gassed in this one.
The Jaguars rank 29th against the run. It's time for the Dwayne Washington breakout game!
Image This might have been the biggest news to hit this week: Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford roleplayed Princess Leia and Han Solo in real life! I know a lot of actors really prefer method acting, but this has taken it to a whole new level. And as noted in that article, it really gives their relationship in Star Wars Episode VII a new perspective. And this is probably why they divorced and raised a terrible child. Oh man, just thinking about Ben Solo gives me all the feels. I'm going to watch that movie tonight.
Stefon Diggs has played more in the slot since Pat Shurmur took over as offensive coordinator and he's been targeted 21 times with 19 receptions for 207 yards in the slot the last two weeks.
Josh Norman has shadowed the top receiver this year, though he didn't follow Diggs into the slot last week. It will be interesting if Washington considers Jordy Nelson or Davante Adams as the top option on the team. Something to tuck away for future consideration after this week.
This could be a good week for DeAndre Hopkins to get back on track and potentially be targeted more down the field. The Raiders have allowed the fifth-most yards on deep passes.
Passes thrown to Doug Baldwin have resulted in a 132.1 passer rating, the highest mark among all players with at least 50 targets. Baldwin had three receiving touchdowns against the Patriots. He's followed up each of his two previous three-touchdown games with another multi-touchdown performance. Trends!
Terrelle Pryor leads the Browns in targets (91), receptions (51), receiving yards (627) and receiving touchdowns (four). The Steelers D is 28th against the pass.
My biggest dilemma this week as been Marvin Jones or Steve Smith Sr. in my LOR (League of Record). In a situation like this, I'm going with the quarterback (Stafford) and rolling with Jones even though he likely draws Jalen Ramsey.
I love A.J. Green. The Bengals are 3-0-1 when he tops 100 receiving yards. But the Bengals are 0-5 when he doesn't. Six different players have reached 100 receiving yards against the Bills. But three have been tight ends: Martellus Bennett, Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham. So you're starting Green (obv.) but Tyler Eifert is poised for a monster game. MONSTER.
The (Jack) Doyle rules: The Lions play host to the Jaguars this week so make sure you have Julius Thomas in your fantasy lineup. But he does have a receiving touchdown in three of his last four.
Zach Miller is another nice option. I expect him to be the top target this week for the Bears.
ImageI feel like I've jumped on the Kansas City Chiefs bandwagon a lot recently. Which is weird because Spencer Ware is the only must-start guy on this team. But seriously, this could be the year the Chiefs make it back to the Super Bowl. I love and defend Tom Brady. Maybe not in the same way Kate Upton defends Justin Verlander, but close. This season seems so murky without a truly dominant team. And maybe I'm overreacting because the Patriots lost on Sunday night (actually, I'm sure of it), but this just feels like one of those years where the Patriots are upset in the divisional round by like, the Raiders. And the Chiefs find themselves hosting the AFC Championship Game. Imagine that, Raiders vs. Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
Image Go Team SmackDown Live!
Carson Palmer has really struggled with the deep ball this season. Palmer ranks tied for 24th in the league with just eight deep ball completions and has also thrown four interceptions. He owns a 28.3 passer rating on deep passes, which is the third-worst mark of any quarterback in the league.
If there is one thing I fear about Mariota, it's that now everybody has started to jump on the bandwagon. Can't you people go back to talking about the quarterbacks you did draft?
I know this seems like the week to play Eli Manning against the Bears. But he's just as unreliable as Jay Cutler, with the same penchant for letting you down.
Joe Flacco has averaged 256 passing yards per game since the 2012 playoffs, with a 65-to-55 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Dalton is probably not super stoked to see the Bills this week. Buffalo leads the NFL with 30 sacks this season, and Dalton has been sacked 28 times, second-highest total.
Carson Wentz recorded a passer rating of at least 100 in three of his first four games. He's been below 100 in each of his past five games.
Derek Carr is one of the best on deep balls in the NFL with a 116.7 passer rating. However, the Texans have allowed just nine deep ball completions this season, fifth-fewest in the league.
Image And stop with the letters (or tweets, like people write letters any more). I would say that to David's face. And I know he was put in a no-win situation. I did look through the 2002 NFL Draft to see what would have happened if the Texans had selected Julius Peppers, where could Carr have landed? Oh, probably No. 3 to Detroit. He still would have been screwed. Although, he would have played for Steve Mariucci so it might not have been miserable. Let's go one spot deeper (let's say the Lions still went with Joey Harrington). The next team to take a passer was Washington, who picked Patrick Ramsey. Damn, that was Steve Spurrier's team. That doesn't work, either. Damn it. Let's say the Chicago Bears drafted him. He would have been the quarterback in the Super Bowl, not Rex Grossman and the Bears would have won! I'm now super bummed the Bears didn't end up with David Carr. This has now ruined my day. Seriously, I'm going to need to watch Episode VII to get me right again.
Melvin Gordon is on a bye week, but I'm going to continue to leave him in the dislike ledger. Just to keep the magic rolling.
The Ravens run defense is tops in the NFL. Which is something the 2000 Ravens can't even boast about. But is this going to influence your decision on Easy E -- Ezekiel Elliott -- in traditional leagues?
Ryan Mathews snapped an 18-game skid of games without 100 rushing yards last week against the Falcons. He gets to start a new one this week against the Seahawks.
If you were lazy this week and didn't get around to dropping Christine Michael, you're in luck! You should probably hang on to him now. But I wouldn't start him this week, even with a great matchup.
Image I wonder if John Cena watched Tony Romo's press conference this week and thought to himself, "What a stupid idiot." (You don't think Cena would snake Chris Jericho's catch phrase like that?) Because if Romo was anything like Cena, he would be there shaking Dak's hand after that huge win against the Steelers and then he'd drop a pallet full of chairs on top of him and end up taking back the starting gig. Because Cena always wins! (Which I guess is unlike Romo.)
Image This actually is tough to admit (not really, because I cop to just about everything), but I do watch "Total Divas" and "Total Bellas" on E!. And one of the things that struck me about Cena is that he has the same controlling personality as the bad guy in every college movie. Like Craig Kilborn's character in "Old School" or something. This is probably by design of the producers on that show, which is a weird choice. But the one thing that truly stands out is that he has the sense of humor of a 13-year old boy.
Johnathan Joseph has been one of the top corners this year. He has not allowed a touchdown pass dating back to Week 2 of the 2015 season. Joseph lines up on the left side of the defense 86.3 percent of the time. He will likely draw Michael Crabtree, who lines up wide right 50 percent of the time. Carr has hooked up with Crabtree on four deep balls this season (including two touchdowns) but could have a hard time making big plays on Monday night.
With Palmer's struggle with the deep ball, I'm going to have a hard time making a case for John Brown or J.J. Nelson.
I'm not sure if Jay Cutler is aware Cameron Meredith is on the team. I'd probably take Eddie Royal as the most viable wide receiver, but still behind Zach Miller in terms of targets.
I've said this many times before (and it's been repeated by others in the media) but Mike Tomlin is too risky, like a guy who hits on 19 in blackjack. Like the kid who never punts in Madden (which is pretty much everybody). I feel bad for all of those people who needed that Steelers and Cowboys game to go into overtime. Yep, that was my take away from that game. It was an amazing game, but sometimes these coaches get too carried away for their own good.
Image You are all lucky, the American League MVP vote was not released before I turned this in Thursday morning. But I'm already upset Mike Trout was not given his fifth-consecutive MVP award. This should at the very least be his third. I wish I could take credit for this thought but this sums up my feelings pretty well. If you don't think Trout should win because the Angels were lousy (they weren't, they were just stung by injuries), then don't vote for him at all. Jerks.
I understand the schedule makers have gone to great labor to make the schedule. But would anybody else be bummed if the NFL just came out and said the Patriots and Seahawks were going to compete in a best of seven series that will be played every Thursday night for the rest of the season? Because I know for a fact that's exactly what Mick Foley would do.
Image Oh yeah, Cris Collinsworth had the sickest takedown of Bill Simmons this week. Unfortunately, he quickly retracted it, too. Plus, Collinsworth ended up on Simmons' podcast this week in the aftermath. I'm not only disappointed Collinsworth took the tweet down (it lives on in screen grabs), but I like media feuds. I mean, it's like professional wrestlers with legit heat. I love that (expletive). The truth, however, is I worked with Collinsworth for about five years in a role here at NFL.com (before I started doing all of the fantasy/Madden stuff). He's a pretty great guy. So it doesn't surprise me that he took the high road here. Even if I'm bummed out about it.
Be sure to watch "Fantasy and Friends" at 6 p.m. ET on NFL Network, Monday-Wednesday and Friday. (Sorry, the Thursday night game preempts us. But you can be a part of the show by going to NFL.com/fantasyandfriends. Also follow Adam Rank on Twitter @adamrank.
