Cam Newton made us look prophetic last week with his big day against the Washington Redskins.
Newton outpaced all quarterbacks, even Jameis Winston, who tallied five touchdown passes, with 31.44 points. Newton is becoming a major fantasy football threat each week, as this is the third time he’s scored more than 29 points this season.
He has a more difficult game this week at Dallas, so don’t expect the same results. However, he should still be a quality start.
Here’s our week 12 start ’em, sit ’em guide for fantasy football quarterbacks.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Carson Palmer vs. San Francisco
There’s not a ton of options out there this week, so this could be an interesting week in the DFS world.
For our money, Palmer has been deadly recently, and that should continue against the 49ers.
In his last three games, Palmer has generated more than 20 points, and thrown for 11 touchdowns. Part of his problems have been turnovers, as he’s netted four interceptions in the previous three games.
Palmer is currently second in the NFL in passing yards and has the most touchdown passes in the NFL.
And he should have several opportunities against San Francisco this week.
The 49ers own the sixth-worst pass defense in yards allowed, giving up 277.8 yards per game. What’s worse is that San Francisco allows 8.3 yards per completion, the second-worst mark in the NFL, and the Cardinals employ a quality vertical passing game.
Don’t worry about a letdown from the Cardinals. Palmer will get DFS owners plenty of points in week 12.
Start
Matthew Stafford vs. Philadelphia
When did the Lions get this good? And when did the Eagles become this bad?
It will be tough for Philadelphia to bounce back on a short week after allowing five touchdown passes to Winston. We’ve been satisfied with his development so far this season, so we’re not surprised by his improvement.
However, we were a bit shocked with how he threaded Philadelphia’s defense with ease. That likely says more about the Eagles than about Winston.
Because of Philadelphia’s sudden inability to stop anyone, we’re backing Stafford and the Lions.
After a dismal performance in London against Kansas City, where Stafford generated less than 10 points, he’s been decent these past two weeks, going for 15.78 and 20.38 points, respectively.
Last week he reached more than 20 points with no passing touchdowns.
It appears Detroit has an extra step lately and that should show this week against the downward trending Eagles. Stafford should put up some numbers for fantasy owners this week.
Marcus Mariota vs. Oakland Raiders
Winston’s rookie counterpart Mariota also hasn’t been too shabby in his first season.
And against Oakland, pretty much every quarterback has a good day, so we’re going with Mariota during a week where there’s some tough matchups for other quality quarterbacks.
We believe Kendall Wright will return to the lineup, giving Mariota more weapons in a lineup void of many options.
There is an emerging relationship developing with tight end Delanie Walker, allowing Mariota to move the ball with more success. And against the Raiders this season, quarterbacks haven’t had a difficult time moving the ball.
The Raiders allow 290 yards passing per game, the third-worst mark in the NFL. The Titans don’t have a reliable running game, so expect plenty of passes from Mariota.
Because of the volume of passes expected to be attempted, Mariota provides a solid option for fantasy owners.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Drew Brees vs. Houston Texans
Somehow the Texans became a dominant defense in a matter of a month.
That doesn’t bode well for the Saints.
Brees has struggled in the past when teams rush the passer well. The Texans do just that, gobbling up 27 sacks this season, good enough to be a top-10 defense in that category.
The Texans also are all of sudden shutting down the pass game for opposing quarterbacks, and have limited offenses to less than 10 points in two of the last three games.
Brees has been really good at times, but he’s also shown to be pretty bad in other occasions. On the road this season, Brees has failed to generate 17 points or more, and against Houston, we don’t see him having much luck against a much improved defense.
Sit
Jay Cutler vs. Green Bay Packers
We’re not disparaging Cutler too bad, but he just doesn’t have the weapons.
Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffery and Eddie Royal all have injury issues and missed last week’s game against Denver. And with a short week this week against Green Bay, we’re not sure if those injuries will be healed in time to help Cutler.
Without those weapons, Cutler had difficulties moving the ball, other than a late fourth quarter rally, where multiple broken plays aided the drive.
To make matters worse, Green Bay rushed Teddy Bridgewater well last week, which could cause Cutler problems, especially if his security blanket Jeffery is ready to go.
We’re sidelining Cutler this week based on the matchup and his lack of skill players.
Ryan Tannehill vs. New York Jets
Tannehill’s development just isn’t going anywhere.
Since exploding against the Texans in week 7 with 27.58 points, Tannehill has yet to eclipse the 17-point mark in fantasy football.
He has four touchdown passes and three interceptions in the last four weeks and isn’t doing anything to help move the ball for the Dolphins.
Now he gets a road assignment against the Jets, which although has not been as dominant lately, can still stop opposing quarterbacks from having big fantasy days.
New York is still a top-10 pass defense and allows only 6.6 yards per completion. Quarterbacks register a QBR of 81.1 against the Jets, the fifth-lowest mark in the NFL.
There’s just not very many reliable wide receiving options for Tannehill and we don’t see the Dolphins going to New York and having an explosive offensive day. Keep Tannehill on your bench.
