Week 6 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Advice on Toughest Fantasy Football Decisions

You’ve made it to Week 6 of the fantasy football season, and you don’t need anyone telling you to start Peyton Manning or sit an injured journeyman who isn’t getting the ball this season.

Instead, you are looking for advice on some of the toughest calls. Which supposed fantasy star is going to have a bad game this week? Which running back is facing an incredibly favorable matchup that you simply must take advantage of this week? 

With that in mind, here is a look at the start ’em, sit ’em advice for quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers in Week 6.

Quarterbacks

Start: Eli Manning, New York Giants

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

It’s time to jump on the Eli Manning bandwagon, be it the actual version or the fantasy football version.

The New York Giants are rolling, and now Manning gets to sling it against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. In fact, the Eagles have allowed more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than anyone else in the league, and Manning himself has 20 touchdown passes in his last eight contests against Philadelphia. 

The Eagles are 29th in opposing passing yards allowed per game and just allowed 375 passing yards and three touchdowns to Austin Davis. Philadelphia may ultimately win the game against its NFC East rival, but Manning is going to put up big numbers in the process.

Sit: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

This is less about Cam Newton and more about where the Cincinnati Bengals (Newton’s opponent) are entering Week 6, but he still has the offensive line issues to deal with that may plague him all season.

What’s more, Cincinnati is coming off a blowout loss to the New England Patriots. Whenever one of the best teams in the NFL loses in embarrassing fashion, the thought here is that it will bounce back the next week. Just look at what the Patriots did to the Bengals after getting crushed by the Kansas City Chiefs or what the Green Bay Packers offense did to the Chicago Bears the week after being shut down by Detroit. 

The Bengals defense will be the ones looking to take frustration out this week, which is bad news for Newton owners. Carolina’s offensive line struggles will rear their ugly head, and Newton will be pressured all game.

Running Backs

Start: Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Michael Fabiano of NFL.com pointed out why fantasy owners should look to start Lamar Miller in Week 6:

"

Miller has been on a hot streak, scoring double-digit fantasy points in three of his four games on the season. He'll be a nice flex option against the Packers, who have surrendered an average of 22.32 fantasy points per game to running backs in 2014. Also, Green Bay has given up 12 rushing scores in their last eight road games.

"

As he mentioned, the Packers are terrible against the run (dead last in the league), which is good news for Miller owners. 

The only real hesitation is whether Knowshon Moreno returns to the Miami lineup, which would lead to fewer carries for Miller. Still, Miami should try to keep Aaron Rodgers and the high-octane Packers offense off the field by keeping the ball on the ground. There will be plenty of carries to go around for Miller against a poor defense, regardless of Moreno’s status.

Sit: C.J. Spiller, Buffalo Bills

Duane Burleson/Associated Press

You may think this is the week that owning C.J. Spiller finally pays off when he goes up against the Patriots’ 17th-ranked rushing defense.

You would be mistaken.

Spiller still doesn’t have a rushing touchdown and is only averaging 3.5 yards per carry. New England has also never allowed a rushing touchdown to the Clemson product in eight all-time matchups.

That is too large of a sample size to be seen as simply an anomaly. 

Unless you are getting points for his special teams work, it would be best if you bench Spiller.

Wide Receivers

Start: Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

We get it.

You’re frustrated that Brandon Marshall, who you in all likelihood used a very early pick on in the draft, has a combined 69 receiving yards the past three games. To make matters worse, he was only targeted 17 times in those three contests, which isn’t exactly a lot for a No. 1 receiver.

Yes, an ankle injury has slowed him down some, but this dominant Bears offense we heard about before the year has been hit-or-miss at best.

Apparently, Bears head coach Marc Trestman wants to see the ball in Marshall’s hands as much as fantasy owners if his comments were any indication, via Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com:

"

We want him to have more productivity. When he touches the ball good things happen. Over the last couple of weeks we haven’t been able to get that done. It’s certainly something we have to continue to work on to get him back involved where he can get more touches that will result in bigger plays. 

"

That is music to the ears of fantasy owners. You have to take the coach at his word, and the Falcons are also 24th in the league against the pass. If there was ever a time for Marshall to start producing, it is in Week 6.

Sit: Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Marshall is not the only highly touted wide receiver who has yet to live up to his preseason fantasy hype this season.

Cordarrelle Patterson had a big game in the season opener against the St. Louis Rams when he ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, but he has disappeared since. In fact, he has yet to top 61 receiving yards in a game and only had eight in Week 5. Patterson doesn’t even have a single receiving touchdown yet.

What’s more, Patterson only has one carry in his last four games combined, which is somewhat ridiculous considering how much success he had in Week 1 on the ground.

Playing the Lions defense in Week 6 is not the way for a wide receiver to snap out of a slump. Detroit is fifth against the pass and fourth against the run this year and held Jordy Nelson to 59 receiving yards, Randall Cobb to 29 receiving yards, Kelvin Benjamin to 46 receiving yards and Victor Cruz to 24 receiving yards. 

Detroit shut down those top-notch receivers and will do the same to Patterson. Make sure he is not in your starting lineup.

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