Rashard Mendenhall – RB – PIT (vs. CAR) – In a championship week dream matchup, Mendenhall should absolutely torch the Panthers at home on Thursday night.  There’s no reason to believe he won’t top 100 yards with at least one score.

Brandon Marshall – WR – MIA (vs. DET) – Finally showing some life after returning from a mid-season hamstring injury, Marshall gets a terrific matchup again this week against Detroit.  While he won’t reach 100+ receptions for the fourth consecutive season, he could very well tack on another ten this week.

Mike Williams – WR – TB (vs. SEA) – Williams had a very good week against Detroit last Sunday, with the coaching staff finding creative ways for the Bucs’ playmaker to find open space.  Look for the impressive rookie from Syracuse to keep It going this week against a well below-average Seahawks’ secondary.

Mike Williams – WR – SEA (@TB) – Championship week is the week of the Mike Williams’, apparently.  Big Mike Williams looked healthy last week while racking up eight catches in his return from a foot injury.  Williams has racked up 25 receptions in his last three games played and takes on a Bucs’ secondary ravaged by injury.

Ray Rice – RB – BAL (@CLE) – After a rededication to the running game resulting in 153 yards on the ground for Rice in Week 15, look for the Ravens to continue the trend against a Browns’ defense that was destroyed by Cedric Benson last Sunday. 

Matt Schaub – QB – HOU (@DEN) – Schaub has had three consecutive monster games to close out an otherwise inconsistent 2010 campaign.  We look for him to continue the momentum against a basement-dwelling Broncos’ team that looks much worse than the talent they’re putting out on the field every week. 

Jon Kitna – QB – DAL (@ARI) – For those of you who made it to championship week despite some quarterback issues, Jon Kitna could be your answer this week.  Sporting an 11:4 TD-to-INT ratio since Week 10, you could do much worse than Kitna against Arizona’s horrific pass defense.

Sit ‘Em

Percy Harvin – WR – MIN (@PHI) – With Joe Webb or Patrick Ramsey likely to start for Minnesota, we wouldn’t advise starting Harvin or Sidney Rice during championship week, but Rice remains a better bet than Harvin.

Fred Jackson – RB – BUF (vs. NE) – Jackson has been pretty hit-or-miss this season, but his receptions have tailed off considerably the last three weeks as he’s been asked to block more often on passing downs.  While Buffalo often plays New England tough, don’t expect a lot of production from Jackson this week.

Chad Ochocinco – WR – CIN (vs. SD) – Theoretically, Ocho should see an increase in targets against San Diego with T.O. out for the season.  But the Bengals appear to be moving on from #85 as well, as Ocho rotated snaps with Jerome Simpson last week.  With Ocho not expected back next season, expect the Bengals’ youth movement to be in full-force this week against the Chargers.

Peyton Hillis – RB – CLE (vs. BAL) – Despite posting 144 yards on the ground against Baltimore in Week 3, don’t expect a repeat performance now that the Ravens are in the middle of the stretch run.  Teams gearing up for the playoffs have a tendency to blowout teams out of the running late in the season.  Hillis will be lucky to top 80 total yards.

Matt Ryan – QB – ATL (vs. NO) – The Saints pass defense has performed quite well this season, despite numerous injuries.  We wouldn’t want our championship hopes riding on Matty Ice’s arm this week.  Ryan hasn’t topped 253 yards passing since Week 10.

Johnny Knox – WR – CHI (vs. NYJ) – Despite catching a long touchdown pass against the Vikings last week on a blown coverage, we’d look elsewhere for WR3 options in Week 16.  Knox figures to see quite a bit of Darrelle Revis in coverage. 

Featured Game Picks

Pittsburgh Steelers (-13.5) vs. CAR

Dallas Cowboys (-6) @ARI

Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) @CLE

Week 15 Results

Start ‘Em

Jonathon Stewart – CAR – 139 total yards, 1 fumble lost

Reggie Wayne – IND – 5 rec., 34 yards

Kenny Britt – TEN – 6 rec., 128 yards

Roddy White – ATL – 7 rec., 65 yards, TD

Rob Gronkowski – NE – 1 rec, 25 yards

Darren McFadden – OAK – 119 rush yards, 4 rec., 39 yards, 1 fumble lost

Knowshon Moreno – DEN – 6 total yards, left in 1^st quarter (ribs)

Results:  Not a bad week overall, although Wayne flopped in his worst performance against JAX in years…Gronkowski was overshadowed by Aaron Hernandez…Moreno left with an injury early…White had a solid performance against Seattle…Britt, McFadden, and Stewart all had dominating performances, but couldn’t reach paydirt.

Sit ‘Em

Carson Palmer – CIN – 14-23 for 209 yards

LaDanian Tomlinson – NYJ – 55 total yards

Marcedes Lewis – JAX – 6 rec., 63 yards

Matt Forte – CHI – 98 total yards

Ben Roethlisberger – PIT – 23-44 for 264 yards, 1TD, 25 rush yards

David Garrard – JAX – 24-38 for 294 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 INT

Results:  The Bengals took the ball out of Palmer’s hands and won the game, the exact opposite of the rest of their season…Tomlinson was bottled up against PIT…Lewis had a solid game, but didn’t score…Garrard was good against IND…Roethlisberger’s stats were average at best…Forte had a decent game rushing, but only had one catch and didn’t score.

Featured Game Picks

San Diego Chargers (-8.5) vs. SF (W)

Atlanta Falcons (-6) @SEA (W)       

Oakland Raiders (-6.5) vs. DEN (W)

Results: 3-0!!…first undefeated week in too long puts us at 19-26 for the year in features.

Also check out our week 15 fantasy picks.

Shaun Hill – QB – DET **will be 2nd string**
Matt Cassel – QB – KC **may not start**
Terrence McGee – CB – BUF **will not start**
David Garrard – QB – JAX
Austin Collie – WR – IND
Colt McCoy – QB – CLE
Asante Samuel – CB – PHI
DeSean Jackson – WR – PHI

Inactive:

Roy E. Williams – WR – DAL
Marion Barber – RB – DAL
Tony Romo – QB – DAL
James Davis – RB – WSH
Derek Anderson – QB – ARI
Gerald Hayes – LB – ARI
Matt Stafford – QB – DET
Donte Stallworth – WR – BAL
Todd Heap – TE – BAL
Joseph Addai – RB – IND
Mike Hart – RB – IND
Kelvin Hayden – CB – IND
Clint Session – LB – IND
Bo Scaife – TE – TEN
Jake Delhomme – QB – CLE
Scott Fujita – LB – CLE
Courtney Greene – S – JAX
Chris Gamble – CB – CAR
Stewart Bradley – LB – PHI
Chris Ivory – RB – NO

Jonathan Stewart – RB – CAR (vs. ARI) – This could be the first time we’ve recommended starting a Panthers’ player all season, but with Arizona’s swiss-cheese rush defense coming to Charlotte, we like Stewart to have his second-consecutive 100-yard rushing performance.

Reggie Wayne – WR – IND (vs. JAX) – Last time these two teams squared off, Wayne had 15 catches for 196 yards.  Enough said.

Kenny Britt – WR – TEN (vs. HOU) – Britt played a near full compliment of snaps last week against Indianapolis, looking fully recovered from his hamstring injury.  With an extra ten days to heal up, Britt should be fairly fresh against Houston’s terrible pass defense. 

Roddy White – WR – ATL (@SEA) – White has cooled off a little bit after a scorching start, but Seattle’s pass defense is atrocious and we expect White to put up between 125-150 yards, weather permitting. 

Rob Gronkowski – TE – NE (vs. GB) – With the Packers’ cornerback tandem of Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams playing exceptionally well, we expect the Patriots to attack the Packers with their secondary weapons, specifically Gronkowski.  He’s had exactly five receptions in three of the Pats’ last five games.

Darren McFadden – RB – OAK (vs. DEN) – The Raiders may very well have the softest fantasy playoff schedule for running backs, which obviously bodes well for McFadden.  Fresh off his domination of Jacksonville, look for Run DMC to keep it going against a Denver team that has all but given up. 

Knowshon Moreno – RB – DEN (@OAK) – With Kyle Orton imploding down the stretch again, Moreno has been the offense for the Broncos the past few weeks.  We look for that to continue against a Raiders’ defense that surrendered over 200 yards rushing last week to Jacksonville.

Sit ‘Em

Carson Palmer – QB – CIN (vs. CLE) – Palmer had his best game of 2010 in Cleveland earlier this season, but we’re betting on Mother Nature to win over Cincinnati’s noodle-armed quarterback this week.  Barring an unforeseen heat wave, the elements in Cincinnati will surely not be conducive to Palmer having a big day through the air.

LaDanian Tomlinson – RB – NYJ (@PIT) – Despite an over-hyped “resurgence” in 2010, Tomlinson has rushed for over 76 yards just twice this season, while being held under 60 yards rushing every week since Week 5.  Tomlinson’s real value is in PPR leagues, but he hasn’t topped two receptions the last three weeks either.  Tomlinson may very well have helped you get to the playoffs, but in a nightmare matchup against Pittsburgh, it’s time to plant LT on the bench.

Marcedes Lewis – TE – JAX (@IND) – Lewis has been a red-zone machine in 2010, racking up nine TD’s so far in 13 games.  While he did score in the Jags’ first meeting with Indy, Lewis only had 22 yards receiving.  We’re betting against Lewis scoring this week. 

Matt Forte – RB – CHI (@MIN) – As Forte owners in several leagues, we appreciate what he did early on this season, but that being said, we’re not going to risk our playoff lives on a guy who has topped three receptions one time in the last 11 weeks.  He just doesn’t get the ball enough on the ground (three 20+ carry games in 2010) to make up for his lack of receptions. 

Ben Roethlisberger – QB – PIT (vs. NYJ) – Since his return from suspension, Big Ben has had four above average games and five below average games, not the kind of consistency fantasy owners are looking for.  In a game that figures to feature poor playing conditions, look for other options at quarterback with your fantasy lives lying in the balance. 

David Garrard – QB – JAX (@IND) – Throw out Garrard’s poor Week 2 performance against San Diego, and his TD-to-INT ratio sits at a very solid 19:8 for the season.  But with the Colts on tap this week, we don’t expect Garrard to have a lot of opportunities throwing the ball.  We’d feel much more comfortable with Jon Kitna or Josh Freeman this week.

Featured Game Picks

San Diego Chargers (-8.5) vs. SF

Atlanta Falcons (-6) @SEA

Oakland Raiders (-6.5) vs. DEN

Week 14 Results

Start ‘Em

Santonio Holmes – NYJ – 2 rec., 57 yards

James Starks – GB – 8 rush yards

Michael Crabtree – SF – 1 rec., 1 yard

Michael Turner – ATL – 112 rush yards, 3 TD’s, 1 rec., 12 yards

Jason Witten – DAL – 7 rec., 69 yards, 2 TD’s

Brandon Lloyd – DEN – 3 rec., 32 yards

Eli Manning – NYG – 22-37 for 187 yards, TD, 2 INT’s

Results:  Eli was inexplicably terrible against the Vikings…Lloyd and Holmes suffered through terrible quarterback play…Turner and Witten had explosive performances…Green Bay’s offensive line was dominated by Detroit, leaving Starks with no room to run…Crabtree was an afterthought after SF jumped out to a big lead.

Sit ‘Em

Cedric Benson – CIN – 19 rush yards, 3 rec., 26 yards

Percy Harvin – MIN – DNP (migraines)

Danny Woodhead – NE – 22 total yards, TD

Larry Fitzgerald – ARI – 6 rec., 72 yards

Brandon Marshall – MIA – 2 rec., 16 yards, TD

Matt Cassel – KC – DNP (appendectomy)

Results:  Cassel underwent an appendectomy just after our column was posted…Harvin missed his second consecutive game after looking likely to return early in the week…Marshall and Woodhead salvaged poor days by finding the endzone…Fitzgerald was average…Benson predictably found nothing against the Steelers.

Featured Game Picks

Jacksonville Jaguars (-4.5) vs. OAK (W)

Cleveland Browns (+1.5) @BUF (L)

Green Bay Packers (-7) @DET (L)

Results:  GB was doomed after Aaron Rodgers went down…Jake Delhomme was terrible for CLE…Jacksonville pulled ahead late in a shootout against OAK…1-2 puts us at 16-26 for the year.