Plays, Pests, and Prayers - Week 13
PLAYS
Quarterbacks:
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes vs. LV
The Chiefs offense has been on the up-and-up lately, and Mahomes deciding regular season football is worth it has been the main catalyst. As long as the #1 seed isn’t locked up Mahomes will produce for FF. Vegas also has all of their starting corners, thanks to slot Nate Hobbs going down.
Runningbacks:
Titans RB Tony Pollard vs. WAS
The Titans O-line might not know how to pass block, but they sure can run block. Pollard is coming off a few down games because TEN faced two of the best run defenses in the league, and then popped off a 100-yard game against Houston’s then top-10 run defense (dropped to 11 after Pollard/Levis)
Wide Receivers:
Bengals WR Tee Higgins vs. PIT
Chase is going to draw double coverage almost every play, especially if he can burn JPJ early in the game. Tee has been playing some of if not the best football of his career right now. Cincy needs to throw the ball a ton in order to make up for their terrible defense so Tee will get his number called often.
Chiefs WR DeAndre Hopkins
If Mahomes is going to do well it will most likely be threw Kelce and DeHop, and no Nate Hobbs in the slot should unleash DeHop to a great game against the “worst team in the league” – Raiders HC Antonio Pierce.
Tight Ends:
Saints TE Taysom Hill vs. LAR
Taysom Hill is finally getting the respect he deserves, and coach Darren Rizzi has been giving it to him too. He knows that when Taysom is involved this team wins… “I think our usage with him these last couple weeks is really what we’re kind of trying to trend towards,” Rizzi said Tuesday. “A little bit of everything, not too much of anything. He’s obviously a huge part of what we do… The more he’s on the field, the more effective we’ve been, in all the times I’ve been here.”
D/ST:
Buccaneers D/ST vs. CAR
Bryce Young at QB, I start that opposing defense.
PESTS
Quarterbacks:
Lions QB Jared Goff vs. CHI
The Bears have a very good defense that could give this offense some trouble. If they can lock down ARSB this passing game almost has to run through a prayer deep ball to Jameson Williams or short routes out of the backfield. This offense lacks WR depth.
Runningbacks:
Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt vs. LV
All signs point to Isiah Pacheco returning, and while I don’t expect Pacheco to have a huge workload, Hunt will be splitting carries and running into a D-line featuring Maxx Crosby.
Bears RB D’Andre Swift vs. DET
The Lions defense is really good, and they get up on teams early and don’t stop until the clock hits zero. While I think Detroit will have issues getting a 20+ point lead against Chicago’s defense, they will need to throw the ball just to try and keep up.
Wide Receivers:
Giants WR Malik Nabers vs. DAL
Drew Lock.
Tight Ends:
Chiefs TE Noah Gray vs. LV
The laws of football call for a down game after back-to-back games with 2 TDs… Kelce is also 1 TD away from breaking Tony Gonzalez’s receiving TD record for KC.
D/ST:
Browns D/ST vs. DEN
The Broncos offense has been on fire, they don’t turn the ball over much, and Nix doesn’t take a lot of sacks… this could be a game in the negatives for Cleveland
PRAYERS
Quarterbacks:
Titans QB Will Levis vs. WAS
Will Levis is a nuclear bomb waiting to explode in a good way… Levis has been playing like one of the best in the league and what he’s done IN SPITE of his offensive line is nothing short of incredible. The only QB more unflappable in the face of pressure is Joe Burrow.
Runningbacks:
Chargers RB Kimani Vidal vs. ATL
No JK Dobbins for the time being, Vidal is a nice young RB who has some JKD-like tendencies. I don’t think Vidal is any different than JKD, or better, if he was it would be Vidal playing that role in games because they are such similar backs. Regardless, Vidal would fill into that 2-yards and a cloud of dust role better than any back LAC has.
Wide Receivers:
Broncos WR Devaughn Vele vs. CLE
Vele has been coming along for weeks now, and if you follow my content you’ve been hearing about this rookie for weeks… I think this might be the week people finally start to respect Vele.
Titans WR Nick Westbrook Ikhine vs. WAS
NWI just keeps scoring TDs… I have no reason to not put him on here he’s almost a guaranteed 7 points in PPR.
Tight Ends:
Cowboys TE Luke Schoonmaker vs. NYG
With Jake Ferguson out again this could be money. Rush and Schoonmaker have a nice connection from being on the second team offense, and the Giants defense isn’t that great, especially at LB.
D/ST:
Commanders D/ST vs. TEN
While I think Levis, Pollard, and gang perform well for FF, Tennessee gives up sacks like that’s what they’re getting paid to do. 5+ sacks and a potential goofball play from Levis is a nice start to an improving defense.
Cardinals D/ST vs. MIN
The Cardinals defense is no longer improving… they have arrived. I’m not afraid of any offense except for Detroit with this unit.
Seattle D/ST vs. NYJ
I rarely do 3 of anything in any position group, but I’m mainly putting this as a reminder for myself… I think that Mike McDonald's ‘defensive guru’ label might be coming into play. I’m getting an inkling that the soft 2024 version of the Legion of Boom might be returning.
