RADIO
The San Francisco 49ers had a Week 14 performance they’d like to put behind them for the rest of eternity. The 49ers’ woeful offensive line allowed the abysmal Browns defense to sack Blaine Gabbert an unprecedented nine times in a 24-10 Cleveland victory, and you have to wonder how truly awful San Francisco’s offensive line is after a performance like that.
This week, the 49ers welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to town, a team that can clinch a playoff spot just by winning the game. The Bengals defense has been lights out for most of the year, and they’re just one of two teams that have more interceptions than touchdowns allowed.
Gabbert has had a couple of solid outings over the last few weeks, but if the Browns were able to get to Gabbert nine times, how many times will the Bengals get to him?
Even with Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman off the field, as well as a banged-up Danny Amendola on the field, Brandon LaFell struggled to gain any chemistry with Tom Brady, and his fantasy numbers were awful. LaFell has yet to score a touchdown this season, and he’s only totaled 26 fantasy points over his last five games.
Most fantasy experts thought he would thrive with most of New England’s receiving weapons on the shelf, but LaFell barely did anything with the exception of his 10.2-point performance in Week 9.
Now that Amendola and Gronowski are both back on the field, it’s hard to see LaFell’s production improving at all. Even against a generous Tennessee secondary, LaFell shouldn’t be taken as a serious fantasy option.
It’s been a disastrous season for the Indianapolis Colts, a team that many experts picked to reach the Super Bowl. But key injuries, especially to quarterback Andrew Luck, as well as an overall lack of production have Indianapolis sitting at 6-7.
Frank Gore was expected to do big things for the Colts this year, but he’s had more than his fair share of struggles. Gore has only notched double-digit fantasy points once in his last four weeks, and he hasn’t topped six points in any of those other three weeks.
Gore could see an extra workload since quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is banged up, but he’s yet to eclipse the 100-yard mark this season, so expecting one this week shouldn’t be realistic. Gore enjoyed a 15.8-point performance the last time he faced the Texans in Week 5, but the Texans will almost certainly be zoned in on Gore with a seriously-injured Hasselbeck taking the field.
