RADIO
The reality of the NFL is that good players, sooner or later, are going to fall on hard times. From Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, nobody is exempt from the sporadic, on-field tragedy.
Now, your job as a fantasy football fanatic is to successfully identify these downward trends before they become public knowledge and respond accordingly. Based on Week 13, here’s a tip to keep you ahead of the curve: things aren’t looking too good for Philip Rivers and Todd Gurley.
Seriously, take a good hard look at what Rivers has been up to in recent weeks. Obviously, the Chargers are awful, but much of that has to do with Rivers’ inability to be consistent out on the field.
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Against Denver this past weekend, for example, Rivers fell flat on his face and brought in a measly six fantasy points for owners. With that smudge now on his season-long stat sheet, Rivers has scored 17 points or less in three of the Chargers’ past four games.
But wait, it gets even better—Rivers’ slump coincides perfectly with Keenan Allen, Steve Johnson and Dontrelle Inman all getting hurt. Believe it or not, due to inconsistent play, an awful offensive line and injuries, it’s probably time to cut ties with Rivers in most fantasy leagues for the rest of the year.
Pretty bleak stuff, huh? Well, to be honest, things aren’t much better for Gurley. There’s this idea out there that Gurley’s lack of yard production has been saved by his ability to find the end zone. Don’t believe it. That’s not true.
Not only has Gurley failed to score in his past two games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals, but his combined point output for both of those games is only six points in most standard fantasy leagues.
Furthermore, in each of his past four games, he’s failed to rush for more than 66 total yards. Though Gurley was very much considered a must-start option earlier this year, at best, he’s currently a No. 2 running back. So, entering Week 14 of the season, no matter how enticing Rivers and Gurley might seem, steer clear of them and find real point production elsewhere.
