Week 12 Start/Sit: Carson Palmer Faces The Browns

Start

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.

Sit

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.