Week 14 NFL Matchups Analysis: Start/Sit for Fantasy Football Playoffs (Part 2)

December 5, 2014

Adam Sabol analyzes the Week 14 NFL matchups, and provides fantasy football start/sit advice for the fantasy football playoffs games 9-16 Set you optimal lineups with quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends & running backs.

Welcome to Week 14 of NFL and fantasy football action, RotoBallers. It's time to get focused for the home stretch and your playoff runs.

Each week of the NFL season, we will be breaking down all of the NFL matchups and providing you with fantasy football advice and lineup recommendations based on matchups that we love, matchups that we hate, and some high-risk/high-reward players, as well.

Below, you will find our Week 14 NFL matchups & fantasy football start/sit analysis, which should help you prepare your lineups to win this week and in your playoff matchups. It’s essential to analyze the weekly NFL matchups to find lineup sleepers and gems, while also avoiding those players who may turn out to be busts.

To read about the rest of this week’s NFL matchups, check out Start/Sit &  Matchups Analysis for Games 1-8 and our Week 14 Standard and PPR Rankings. And of course you can always stop by the RotoBaller chat rooms for any live advice you may need.

Buccaneers @ Lions - Sunday 12/7 @ 1:00 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

Matthew Stafford: Stafford rebounded nicely from his slump when he played the Bears on Thanksgiving, and this week's matchup against the Buccaneers shouldn't present much more of a challenge.

Calvin Johnson: Megatron finally had one of his vintage Megatron performances, looking for all the world like that first-rounder right in time for the playoffs.

Golden Tate: He's certainly cooled off since Johnson's return, but Tate should still be worth a flex consideration with Detroit's primo playoff schedule.

Joique Bell: Bell won't be in danger of losing too much work to Reggie Bush this week.  He has a firm hold on the workhorse duties in Detroit.

Matchups We Hate:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Lions still have one of the best defenses in the league.  The only viable starter in this offense is Mike Evans, but against the secondary he'll be playing this week he's a risky option.

Texans @ Jaguars - Sunday 12/7 @ 1:00 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

Texans D/ST: There are good reasons to start the Texans this week like Blake Bortles' brutal TD:INT ratio and the injuries the Jags have suffered on offense.  There are better reasons to start the Texans' defense this week, like "it has J.J. Watt on it" and "J.J. Watt is almost certainly a prototype Terminator."

DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins is a top-10 WR in ESPN standard scoring, he's playing the Jaguars, and he just broke out in a big way.  He's worth a WR2 start, but has considerable upside.

Arian Foster: Foster's an RB1 as long as he's in the lineup.

Matchups We Hate:

The Jacksonville Jaguars: Denard Robinson is the only offensive threat left on that lineup, and the Texans have defended the run well this season.  There are better options to fill your RB slots this week.  Don't trust the playoffs to the Jaguars.

High Risk, High Reward:

Ryan Fitzpatrick: The probability that Fitzpatrick throws for 6 touchdowns again is probably about equal to the probability he goes for about 100 yards and three picks.  I don't have any math or anything on this, though.  I didn't go to Harvard.

Bills @ Broncos - Sunday 12/7 @ 4:05 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

All The Denver Broncos: Seriously, the Broncos are so good fantasy-wise it's not even fun to write about anymore.  Once you make one "[insert player here] is a football Terminator" joke, the rest just lose all their impact.

Matchups We Hate:

All The Buffalo Bills: Denver's defense is too good to start...whoever is running for the Bills, and Kyle Orton instantly puts a hard cap on any wide receiver's value.  If you're starting any Bills against the Broncos in the playoffs, congratulations on making at least one embittered owner this week say "how did this guy make it in starting Anthony freaking Dixon?"

Chiefs @ Cardinals - Sunday 12/7 @ 4:05 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

Jamaal Charles: The Cardinals' defense is reeling, and Charles is matchup-proof.  This will be a tougher game to get through, but he's still Jamaal Charles.

Chiefs D/ST: Arizona's offense without Carson Palmer is stagnating, which is the polite way of saying "sucking like a Hoover."  The Chiefs' D is definitely a valid streaming option this week.

Matchups We Hate:

The Cardinals, Across the Board: Andre Ellington, the lone consistent option in the desert, took a bad hip pointer last week and left the game, but his output had dropped since the Carson Palmer injury.  You're not winning starting Drew Stanton unless the rest of your lineup is so good, you're starting Stanton for maximum disrespect.  If so, kudos to you.  Put your playoff opponent in his place.

Chiefs WRs: Whoa, we said the Cardinals' D was reeling, not dead.

Alex Smith: Game manager points are not getting it done at this point in the season.  This is when you need your A-game, not your "eh, B-minus I guess" game.

Other Matchups:

Travis Kelce: He's about a season away from a breakout, but hopefully Andy Reid will realize what he has in Kelce soon.  Until then, hope for a touchdown.

Seahawks @ Eagles - Sunday 12/7 @ 4:25 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

Russell Wilson: Wilson may not put up mind-blowing stats, but he's out-rushed Andre Ellington on the season.  Points will come solely because of his rushing ability.

Marshawn Lynch: Along with Charles, Foster, DeMarco Murray, Le'Veon Bell and Matt Forte, he's one of the running backs you must start every week.

LeSean McCoy: Shady's coming back strong after a disappointing first half to the 2014 campaign, and he's such a dangerous player you can't ever justify sitting him.

Matchups We Hate:

Jeremy Maclin: Maclin's production has dropped since Mark Sanchez took over starting duties in Philly, and the word is most of his snaps will come against Richard Sherman.  There's just so much not to like about Maclin this week, despite his career year.

Mark Sanchez: While he may have had a fit of adequacy recently, you're not trusting Mark Sanchez against the Legion of Boom.  It's not happening.

Seahawks WRs: Too little upside against a decent defense.  Seattle doesn't win through the air.

49ers @ Raiders

Other Matchups:

This is one of those painful fantasy matchups that so often seem to involve Oakland these days.  The best we can say is that maybe Frank Gore will turn out a serviceable outing and Colin Kaepernick won't be the worst quarterback rostered this Sunday, but San Francisco's offense is broken and the Raiders just got smoked in St. Louis.  Pass on all of them unless you have no choice.

Patriots @ Chargers - Sunday 12/7 @ 8:30 PM EST

Matchups We Love:

Rob Gronkowski and the Guy Throwing It To Rob Gronkowski: There are no depths to which I will not sink to avoid endorsing Brady.  I'll endorse Gronk, but I won't like it even knowing that he's basically a Madden cheat code.

Matchups We Hate:

Chargers RBs: The running game has been God-awful in San Diego, and the Patriots are not a team which helps you recover from a slump.

High Risk, High Reward:

Any Patriots RB: Just ask Jonas Grey.

Brandon LaFell: He's capable of great games, but can also disappear.  He probably trends toward the former against the Chargers' D, though.

Philip Rivers: So do we get the -2.2 point Rivers from the Dolphins game, or do we get 30.2 point Rivers from the Baltimore game?  Good luck finding out.

Antonio Gates: But then again, so are most tight ends who don't spend time throwing dudes out of the club.

Falcons @ Packers - Monday 12/8 @ 8:30 PM EST

Matchups We Love: 

The Green Bay Packers: They're the NFC's answer to the Broncos, which I think makes them the liquid metal Terminators.

Julio Jones: He's actually on pace to post his career highs in receptions and yards this season, and the Packers' defense is sadly not as "killer robot-esque" as their offense.  He's a safe start this week.

Matchups We Hate:

Matt Ryan: I just don't trust Ryan at this point in the season.  The Packers' matchup isn't that great for him, and he's playing at Lambeau in December.  I've got a bad feeling this week.