Week 12 proved to be a monster day for quarterbacks in fantasy football. And of the 13 players who tallied 20 or more fantasy points, six of those quarterbacks were likely sitting on fantasy benches.

It wasn’t just the week 12 leader, Colin Kaepernick, who was one of the biggest sleepers. Ryan Tannehill and Trevor Siemian finished in the top-five, while even Matt Barkley finished with a little more than 20 fantasy points.

The surprises show you that even with most of the season in the bag, you never exactly know what to expect late in the NFL season. Keep an open mind when selecting your quarterback in preparation of the fantasy football playoffs.

Here’s the week 13 quarterbacks start ’em, sit ’em guide for fantasy football.

Colin Kaepernick is a good play this past week. Flickr/http://bit.ly/1i8oaG8/Mike Morbeck
Colin Kaepernick is a good play this week. Flickr/http://bit.ly/1i8oaG8/Mike Morbeck

Start

Colin Kaepernick vs. Chicago Bears

Kaepernick needs to start getting more attention in fantasy football.

He’s been mostly ignored this season, despite showing some promise in recent weeks. He has at least 19 fantasy points in four consecutive weeks, with a league-high 33.14 fantasy points in week 12.

Much like Marcus Mariota last week against Chicago, Kaepernick can do it either with his legs or his arm. And lately, those legs have been as productive as any quarterback in the NFL.

In four of the last six games, he has at least 55 yards rushing, with a season-high 113 yards in week 12. And in this game, with a Bears team that has likely quit for the season, San Francisco may not only produce a high-value fantasy quarterback, it might actually win.

The Bears haven’t been very good in recent weeks against opposing quarterbacks and that will likely continue against a San Francisco team playing better.

Philip Rivers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ignore the week 12 domination against Seattle. Tampa Bay has been bad against the pass this season. And that will continue with a cross-country trip to San Diego in week 13.

Despite the big performance in week 12, Tampa Bay still allows the fifth-highest yards per completion at 7.8 yards and has allowed 20 touchdown passes this season, tied for the ninth-most in the NFL.

Tampa Bay has faced three offenses in recent weeks, Chicago, Kansas City and Seattle, that have struggled with the passing game this season. Before that, Tampa Bay looked underwhelming against teams, Atlanta and Oakland, that have passing offenses that resemble more of what they will see in week 13.

Rivers has at least two touchdown passes in the last four weeks. He’ll be right around the 20-point mark, so that’s worth a start.

Alex Smith vs. Atlanta Falcons

This is a stretch, but the last time I backed Smith, he finished in the top-six among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring.

Smith can still generate some volume. In week 12 against a stout Denver defense, he threw the ball 44 times. In fact, in the three games he’s played since being injured, his lowest amount of attempts is 31.

And if you can get some volume against the Falcons, good things seem to happen. Atlanta has allowed the most fantasy points against quarterbacks in fantasy football this season and it now owns the worst passing defense in the NFL.

Part of that is because the Falcons score a lot of points, allowing opposing teams to play catch-up, thus throwing the ball more. If you have some byes or bad matchups, Smith has one of the best matchups of the week.

Quarterback Blake Bortles has been a bad option this season. Flickr/http://bit.ly/1JdVVl7/Keith Allison
Quarterback Blake Bortles has been a bad option this season. Flickr/http://bit.ly/1JdVVl7/Keith Allison

Sit

Blake Bortles vs. Denver Broncos

Denver’s relentless with not allowing teams to complete passes. That’s a terrible sign for Bortles, who struggles to complete more than 60 percent of his passes.

The Broncos allow only a 56 percent completion rate, the best in the NFL. That will pay dividends this week against Bortles.

Somehow, some way, Bortles finished eighth among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring in week 12. He did that while throwing for 126 yards. That’s not just in the first half. That was for the entire game.

He added 81 yards rushing and two touchdown passes, so that’s where he generated the fantasy points. However, that’s not going to happen against Denver and it’s as unsustainable as his ability to gobble up garbage time points.

If you’re starting Bortles at this point, you’re likely not making a playoff push.

Matt Barkley vs. San Francisco 49ers

If you think Barkley will repeat his performance from week 12, you may be extremely surprised in week 13.

The 49ers are really bad, but that doesn’t mean the pass defense is among the worst in the NFL. The 49ers own the worst rushing defense in the NFL, but the pass defense is actually rated in the top-10. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s that great, considering Ryan Tannehill just went off against it in week 12, but it’s at least serviceable.

The rushing defense is not, meaning the Bears will have to focus on running the football to stay in this game. And that means Barkley and the rest of the receivers, who would be third receivers at best for the majority of NFL teams, will be fantasy duds in week 13.

Barkley’s 20.64 fantasy points in week 12 is a mirage anyway. The week 12 game against Tennessee was a blowout, before its secondary was decimated and Barkley threw the ball 54 times. That won’t happen against San Francisco, which is incapable of holding big leads.

Cam Newton vs. Seattle Seahawks

Should we assume Newton is an every week starter in fantasy football? Have you seen him play this season?

Newton’s completion percentage sometimes doesn’t creep over 50 percent and he just doesn’t hit even open receivers. And while he’s picked up the pace in recent weeks with rushing touchdowns, I don’t see much hope in him suddenly resurrecting his efforts from last season against a tough Seattle defense.

Seattle still owns a top-10 passing defense, and has forced as many interceptions as it’s allowed passing touchdowns this season.

This matchup just doesn’t work for Newton, who hasn’t found his stroke this season. He has 14 or fewer fantasy points in three of the last five games. He also has less than 250 passing yards in four of the last five games.

The other part of this game that should worry Newton owners is the fact that Carolina may see this season as a lost cause. With only five games left in the regular season, Carolina is three games back in the NFC South and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card.

With the loss in week 12 against Oakland, the Panthers may sense this season as being over. They’ve been playing with their backs against the wall in recent weeks, but that may be over in week 13. Either way, he’s a bad start.

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