The Week 13 matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets features two struggling teams looking to get back in the win column. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback Andrew Luck was forced to miss the team’s Week 12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers due to being in the NFL’s concussion protocol. He returned to practice on Thursday afternoon, meaning he should be ready to play in Week 13. The Jets are one of the worst teams in football this season. Luck should be all over them on Monday Night Football. With the Jets playing for pride and the Colts needing to run the table in order to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs, everything will rest on Luck’s shoulders. He’s been a premier passer in the game for years now and the pressure of playing big games should have him and his fantasy stats rise to the occasion in Week 13. Fantasy owners can expect Luck to smoke his projections and make a splash in his return to the lineup.
That’s a big reason why owners of wide receiver T.Y. Hilton should certainly be more than optimistic. Hilton was held to just three catches and 54 receiving yards against the Steelers before leaving the game with a back injury. The good news is that like Luck, Indianapolis’ No. 1 receiver is back at practice and he should be in top form on Monday night. The Jets are one of the worst teams in football at defending opposing receivers. Fantasy owners shouldn’t be surprised to see Hilton catch seven passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in Week 13.
New York Jets
The 2016 season has been downright ugly for the Jets. At the least, the team still has one of the most consistently productive fantasy wide receivers of the current generation in Brandon Marshall. Marshall caught six passes for 67 yards and his third touchdown of the season against the New England Patriots in Week 12. The touchdown was his first since Week 5. Marshall has definitely had a subpar season, but he still has a chance to surpass 1,000 receiving yards. That’s quite an accomplishment given that the team’s quarterbacks have been Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith for most of the season. If the Jets have any hope of keeping what should be a high-scoring game close against Indianapolis, Marshall is probably going to need to put up some big numbers. It’s hard to expect him to go above 100 yards in Week 13, but he might get back into the end zone and that will be get enough to finish his evening right around his projected totals.
If Marshall struggles, the only other player in the Jets’ offense that is likely to help both him and fantasy owners is running back Matt Forte. His ability to remain consistent this season has been tested. It’s obvious that one of the most PPR-friendly running backs of the present day is on the downside of his career. That said, it’s hard to accumulate statistics out of the backfield when your team is trying to keep the Patriots close. The immediate future looks bright for Forte. The Colts have had trouble stopping running backs for years now. The team is giving up 116 rushing yards per game this season. Look for Forte to rack up a lot of those yards himself on Monday. Doing so will allow him to beat his projections in Week 13.