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Carson Palmer, QB CIN - Last week the Cleveland Browns gave up 5 TD passes to Matthew Stafford. With all due respect to the rookie, he is no Caron Palmer. The Bengals may be without Cedric Benson again, so this might be the week Palmer lays it all on his shoulders.
Justin Forsett, RB SEA- This is a somewhat self-indulgent pick. I watched Forsett in the pre-season and decided to burn my final pick in the draft on him. I came so very close to dropping him at a couple points this year, but now I find I am counting on him to get me to the playoffs. Against the woeful Rams, look for Forsett to get plenty of touches and to rack up the yards in both rushing and receiving categories.
Michael Crabtree, WR SF- A bit of a risky recommendation but I see this team making a concerted effort to get the ball to the rookie. Last week, the Jacksonville secondary gave up almost 200 yards to Terrell Owens. We know that the Bills try to get the ball to TO. So my confidence in the Jags' ability to stop what they know is coming is at a low. This will be the rookie's best day of the season.
Greg Olsen, TE CHI - I am very reluctant to pick one of Jay Cutler's receivers, but they play Minnesota this week, so you know that running the ball is going to be damn near impossible. Cutler and Olsen have probably the best chemistry of any combo on that offense and if they have any hope of clawing their way through this game, it will most likely have to be on underneath stuff to Olsen.
Baltimore Ravens, DEF- Even if Big Ben plays in this game, you know it is going to be a hard-hitting, low-scoring affair. Both of the defenses in this game might even be relied upon to score the points necessary to win. I give the edge to the Ravens since the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh is tenuous. If Baltimore is able to knock out Roethlisberger, they will be home-free.
Rock Cartwright, RB WAS - Philadelphia has a pretty decent run defense. The Redskins are out of options. Rock is a tough runner, but there is a reason he has not been given a lot of carries in D.C.--he is simply not better than anyone Washington has had on the depth chart for a long time. He will struggle mightily against the Eagles defense.
Devin Hester, WR CHI- I gave you Greg Olsen, but his production is going to cost the rest of the Bears' passing offense some points. Hester lost his pants against the Eagles last week. He has lost a lot of fantasy luster in the last month or so. Don't expect him to fare that well against the Vikings.
Heath Miller, TE PIT- Against the tough Ravens defense, you would think Heath Miller would be a primary target for a quarterback looking to get rid of the ball quickly. I worry that in this game, Miller will be well-covered and Big Ben will rarely have the time check all the way to Miller after looking for Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes.
Washington Redskins, DEF- The Redskins defense has fought hard all year, almost single-handedly keeping that team in games. This week DeAngelo Hall is added to the list of banged-up players that already includes Albert Haynesworth. The Redskins have a hard enough time generating a decent pass rush without being without their best defensive lineman, and call ill-afford to be without their best cover guy. You would be wise to consider a different defensive unit this week.
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Odds Shark 
More Start/Sit Advice For Week 12
Start Them!
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan: He's been hard to recommend with his schedule and his streak of interceptions, but Tampa Bay has been extremely bad as of late in pass defense, not that they were any good early either! Ryan had a decent game in New York and most importantly didn't throw any interceptions. At home in the Georgia Dome against the Bucs is a recipe for success.
Brett Favre: The Bears pass defense is ranked 8th overall, but in the last 5 games they are 25th in fantasy points given up to quarterbacks. They can be beat and the way Favre has been playing there is no reason to sit him at home against the Bears.
Running Backs
Laurence Maroney: Maroney has a critical fumble against the Colts, but he has been playing too well to worry much about Sammy Morris cutting a big a chunk out of his carries. Add to that Morris will probably be a game time decision. The Saints have given up an average of 139 yards rushing in the last five games and Maroney has had 6 touchdowns in the last five.
Bernard Scott: Of course a lot depends on Cedric Benson's status, but he doesn't look like he'll be 100 percent and the Bengals want to get him healthy for the stretch run. The Browns would be a good team to give Scott the start and let Benson rest. They would also be a good team to get Scott in there against so he can have another productive game.
Wide Receiver
Laveranues Coles: The Cleveland Browns just let Matt Stafford light them up. I think Carson Palmer can do the same and Coles has finally become the true #2 wide receiver on the team. I would feel good starting Coles for the first time this year.
Malcolm Floyd: I think this is the week Malcolm Floyd gets into the end zone again. He is not going to get the targets you want, but his only other touchdown came against KC in KC and that was when Chris Chambers was there. I'm looking for 4 receptions 50 yards and a TD.
Sit Down!
Quarterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger: Besides being worried about his concussion I'm worried about a Ravens pass defense that has given up the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks over the last 5 weeks. If you can help it I would stay far away.
Vince Young: He is winning games, but it will be hard for him to win you fantasy games. His value comes from his ability to run, but if his team gets down there's a good chance he'll have to force the ball and make bad decisions. The Cardinals pass defense isn't as bad as their numbers and they should be able contain him.
Running Backs
Matt Forte: The Vikings have been strong against the run all season, but even more so as of late. Forte will have to get all his yards through the air, but I think Minnesota will try to take the screen away and make Cutler show that he can throw an accurate mid-range or deep ball.
Pierre Thomas: He's still the Saints best running back, but trying to decipher who will get the bulk of the work in that offense is infuriating! The Patriots have only given up three rushing touchdowns all season and now Mike Bell is getting all of the goal line carries. It's not looking good.
Wide Receivers
Steve Smith: The Panthers are one dimensional in their passing offense and that is stare at Steve Smith and throw to him, stare at Steve Smith and then throw to him, so on and so forth. That wouldn't be bad at all for us fantasy folk, but Darelle Revis will probably be covering him and that's not good.
Robert Meachem: Yes, he has three touchdowns in the last two games, but he also only had three catches! Of course that means he is looked for in the red zone, but Bill Belichick knows that now. The Patriots have been tough on secondary receivers and I don't see Meachem's streak continuing.
- Article by Chet Gresham. Read more at Razzball.
Nov 27 12:03p by David Halprin - 0 comments