Weekend Watch

We have finally reached the end of a tremendous, but very long fantasy season. If you are playing in your fantasy championship this week I only have one question for you. Why? This is not the week that should be defining a fantasy league. With teams such as the Packers having nothing to play for, fantasy championships during week 17 just leave me scratching my head. However, if you are lucky or unlucky enough to be facing that challenge this week then don’t worry. Charch and the rest of us at Fantasy Victory are here for you.

Injury Notes:
These players are listed as game-time decisions. Most of the injured this week have already either been ruled out, or the teams have announced that they will play. This has to be the shortest list we have had all year. Check it out and make the appropriate changes to your lineups come Sunday. NFL teams will list their inactive players usually 1.5 hours before kickoff.

Roy Helu (knee) has been limited all week. Check his status prior to kick off. Evan Royster would get the start if Helu cannot go in this one.

Jackie Battle (ankle) hasn’t practiced much at all this week. Check his status prior to the start of the Chiefs game against the Broncos.

Andre Johnson (hamstring) will be a game-time decision. I think he will go, but his reps will be limited this week.

Tedd Ginn (ankle) and Kyle Williams are both on the questionable side for the 49ers. San Francisco is really short at the receiver position with the release of Braylon Edwards, and the injuries to Ginn and Williams. I think one if not both will go for them, but you will still want to check their status prior to the start of the game.

JerMichael Finley (knee) has been limited in practice for most of the week. I expect him to start this week, but his snap count will probably be lowered with the Packers having nothing to play for.

A Few Game Day Thoughts:

Carolina @ New Orleans: Don’t worry about your Saints starters in this game. The Saints are still playing for the #2 seed in the NFC. They will have plenty of motivation to jump all over Carolina early. This is a game that looks to have a lot of points put up on the board. Start all of your Saints and Panthers in this game, as both teams would like to finish the season with a win.

Buffalo @ New England : In Buffalo we have the classic goal-line vulture situation with C.J. Spiller and Tashard Choice. Last week Spiller did most of the heavy work from 5-yard line to 5-yard line. However, once the Bills fell inside the five, they turned to Choice as their goal-line option. Don’t let that situation scare you in playing Spiller. All of the Bills offensive starters will be active this week and look to have a very nice match up with a terrible Patriots defense.
For New England it is business as usual. The Patriots have been very good about limiting the practice reps of their starters throughout the week so that they can go at full speed on Sunday. The Patriots are trying to lock up the overall No. 1 seed in the AFC, so you can feel comfortable in playing all of your Patriot starters including Tom Brady who has been nursing a shoulder injury.

N.Y. Jets @ Miami: The Jets have to have this game as they try to make a third consecutive playoff appearance under Rex Ryan. All of the Jets starters will be needed in this game, as the Dolphins have been very good over the last five to six weeks.

San Francisco @ St. Louis: The 49ers travel to St. Louis this week and they are a team that has to win. That should mean a heavy dose of all their starters including Frank Gore. San Francisco needs a win to lock up the No. 2 seed in the NFC and secure a first round bye. The Rams look to be starting Kellen Clemens again in this game, so if you need a sneaky defense for the week, the 49ers may be your team.

Detroit @ Green Bay: This may be the most enjoyable game to watch this week. The Thanksgiving match up resembled a Hatfield’s vs. McCoy’s type of game, as these teams do not like each other. The result of that game was a Packers win, and an Ndamukong Suh two game suspension. Both teams have clinched a playoff berth, so don’t expect enough blows to be thrown to get someone ejected and potentially suspended in this game, but it still should be a little chippie. If you have Packers or Lions starters for your fantasy finals, you need to be a little concerned. This could be a game where you see them for maybe the first half of the game, but after that all bets are off for the rest of the game. If you have other options on your roster that you know for sure will play the entire game, I would suggest you use them.

Indianapolis @ Jacksonville: I try to keep most of the issues regarding a match up in the realm of fantasy relevance. However, this is too good to resist. Can the Colts sneak out a third win in a row and potentially hand the first overall pick over to the St. Louis Rams? For those of you that subscribe to the “Suck for Luck” theory, the Colts are blowing that out

of the water right now. The Colts over the last two weeks have shown that they don’t care about the draft position of the team, and that is the way it should be. Listen, these guys are playing for their careers each and every week. Just lying down and taking a loss so that the team can have the No. 1 pick in the coming draft is just ludicrous. Look for the Colts to come out playing to win in this game, and this along with the Packers vs. Lions game will be what glues me to the NFL Sunday ticket this week.

Tennessee @ Houston: If you have been an owner of Ben Tate, without the luxury of also owning Arian Foster than you may have hit a fantasy payday this weekend! Houston has nothing to play for, so while Foster may start the game for the Texans, expect Tate to do most of the heavy lifting. If your squad has been able to make a finals run with Tate on the bench, he needs to be in your starting lineup this week. Also it is believed that Andre Johnson will get anywhere from 15 to 20 snaps in this game. Look for Gary Kubiak to test Johnson’s hamstring a couple of times on some deep play-action plays this week just to make sure that No. 80 is ready for next week’s playoff game. That may mean he could be of use as a low end flex option for this game. If you are desperate, Johnson may be worth the risk.

Kansas City @ Denver: This will be one of the better late games as Kyle Orton makes his return to Denver. Orton has to be pumped for a chance to get back at his former team, and the Broncos have their playoff hopes hanging in the balance. Last week Tim Tebow was average at best, but he still got it done with a touchdown run and pass. So if you have made it this far with Tebow as your fantasy quarterback, then he has to be in your lineup this week. This is another game where the non-fantasy storyline carries some heavy weight and can keep fantasy owners not playing in a championship game very entertained.

Baltimore @ Cincinnati: This is a monster game for both teams. Both squads have things to play for in regards to the playoffs. The Ravens are looking for the No. 2 seed with a win, and the Bengals need a win just to get into the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if Jerome Simpson receives an increased amount of snaps in this game for the Bengals. Simpson has had some explosive moments even though they have been few and far between. If you are desperate, you may want to look his way as a low level flex this week.

Pittsburgh @ Cleveland: The Steelers will have all of their starters going in this one, as they need a win, combined with a Ravens loss to give them the AFC North title. Start all of your Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger is scheduled to start this week.
A more interesting sub-plot to this game is whether the Browns will be looking for payback on Steelers linebacker, Jerome Harrison. Harrison ended Browns quarterback, Colt McCoy’s season with a vicious hit just a few weeks ago. Cleveland has nothing to lose in this game and emotions should be a little tense, so Harrison may want to watch his back on some of those Peyton Hillis runs.

San Diego @ Oakland: All of your Raiders will be going this week as the “Silver and Black” look to secure a playoff spot with a win and a Bronco’s loss. As usual Darren McFadden will be out for this game and I feel that I need to extend an apology to all the readers for how I handled his injury. For weeks I listed him with a foot sprain. Only an idiot such as me would fall for that since he has been out since injuring it in week seven! Who misses 10 weeks with a foot sprain? It just goes to show that even with all the Internet sites, team reports, and expert analysis out there, we can still screw things up from time to time.

Dallas @ N.Y. Giants: The Cowboys and the Giants are playing for NFC East supremacy in this contest. Both teams are dealing with a ton of injuries to their offensive starters, but there should still be a ton of fantasy points to be had. Tony Romo has been nursing a hand injury, but will play for the Cowboys. Felix Jones also looks to be in the lineup in a full-time capacity. The question now is what does “full-time” even mean in regards to Dr. Jones. To say that he is fragile is a slight understatement. Meanwhile, the Giants will be without Jake Ballard as his knee injury is going to keep him out of this one. Whichever passing game can sustain drives and not turn the ball over will be the decider in this game. With all the injuries and possible final game benching’s that could occur you will need to have all of your Giants and Cowboys starting this week.

That is it for week 17 and more importantly a tremendous year of fantasy football. It has been a real honor to be working with a great group of fantasy experts. On behalf of the entire team of writers here at Fantasy Victory we would just like to thank you for checking in with us each week. It has been a great season and I am already looking forward to next year. Good luck this week, and just remember