Week 14 Fantasy Football Projections: Michael Turner and RBs Ready for Big Days

It’s playoff time for most fantasy football leagues. It’s put up or shut up. Here are a few running backs that will be able to put you over the edge in your fantasy league.

Michael Turner

Atlanta needs to get back to what made them so special last season—Michael Turner. When the Falcons hand the ball off to Turner for more than 20 times, they are tough to defeat. The Falcons are 5-1 in 2011 when he carries the ball 20 or more times.

When they establish Turner in the rushing game, that’s when we see the real Matt Ryan perform at a high level. Ryan has thrown for 10 touchdowns compared to four interceptions in those games when Turner gets the ball 20 more times.

When Turner doesn’t receive that many carries, Ryan has nine touchdowns to eight interceptions. You can most certainly see the difference.

If the Falcons want to stay in playoff contention, they must take care of business against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. There is absolutely no reason why Turner would receive less than 20 carries against the 27^th-ranked rush defense in the league.

No excuses if he doesn’t receive that many this week.

Ray Rice

Indianapolis’ rush defense has been historically bad in the past, and this year’s version is similar. They are allowing 144 yards rushing, 30^th in the NFL.  

Ray Rice can not only destroy teams on the ground, but he can gash you through the air as well. He has caught 56 passes on the season for 547 yards and two touchdowns. Combine his receiving and his rushing yards and he has 1,473 yards from scrimmage this season.

Baltimore has played down to their competition. They lost at Seattle and Jacksonville—both teams they should not only defeat but dominate. They won’t allow it to happen this week, and Rice is one of the biggest reasons why.

He had 26 carries combined in all three of their losses. Unacceptable from the Ravens. He is your best offensive weapon, and he’s getting less than 10 carries per game in your losses? You deserved to lose with that game plan.

Baltimore won’t allow Indianapolis to grab their first victory of the season at their place on Sunday. Rice carries the ball 17-20 times in a blowout.

Marshawn Lynch

Seattle has been one of the hottest teams in the NFL in the past four weeks. They have been led by Marshawn Lynch, who has rushed over 100 yards in three of their past four games. He has scored at least one touchdown in each of the past eight games. He has 884 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the season.

 Lynch has exceeded expectations in his brief career in Seattle. 

St. Louis provides an easy target for a quality running back. They own the worst rush defense in the league, allowing 157.8 yards per game. They are capable of getting gashed in any game. They were the team that allowed DeMarco Murray to rush for 253 yards in one game.

Lynch is going to have a double-digit scoring performance against the Rams.You better believe he will perform under the bright lights of Monday Night Football.