Week 6 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Final Review of Most Difficult Fantasy Matchups

Time to get those Week 6 fantasy football lineups in, folks.

With access to the most recent information and almost a full week to digest the ins and outs of matchup info, fantasy owners on a Sunday morning are armed to the teeth in the face of final start 'em, sit 'em decisions.

Those who procrastinated, though, can get all of the information in a succinct manner as well, although owners who do not excel working on a deadline may want to steer clear of such an approach.

Below is a summary of the toughest lineup calls of the week. Go forth to the lineup deadline with confidence, if nothing else.

Quarterbacks

Start 'Em: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (vs. DAL)

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

This one is tricky. Those who deeply analyze the realm of fantasy football are shocked to find out that the Dallas Cowboys actually surrender the 11th-fewest points to quarterbacks this season.

For an annually leaky defense, that is a jarring number. But let's take a closer look at what Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson has to deal with:

WK	OPP	ATT	YDS	TD	PTS
1	SF	23	201	2	17
2	@Ten	34	234	1	9
3	@StL	42	327	3	21
4	NO	44	340	2	19
5	Hou	25	154	0	4

Notice that competent quarterbacks still performed well against the unit. With all due respect to Jake Locker and Ryan Fitzpatrick, it is clear the numbers are exaggerated.

Wilson has scored a minimum of 17 points in each contest this year with a high of 34 coming last week on the road against Washington. Thanks to his ability to gain bundles of yardage at a time with his legs, he is a must-start option in all leagues in what is a favorable matchup.

Sometimes the numbers just lie.

Sit 'Em: Tom Brady, New England Patriots (at BUF)

Stephan Savoia/Associated Press

Slow the roll on Tom Brady.

A 20-point explosion against Cincinnati last week is great, but those used to be a common thing. Now it gets celebrated. See a problem?

Brady has scored 9, 9, 13, 4 and 20 points this season as his play has spiraled down the drain. He was fortunate to encounter a Cincinnati team that is notoriously weak against tight ends (more on that below). Otherwise, he may not even be worth mentioning here at all.

The Buffalo Bills, Brady's opponent this week, actually rank one spot above the Cowboys this year in terms of points allowed to the position. That schedule is no fluke, though—not after looking strong against Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers and Matthew Stafford.

Brady is just the next on the list.

Running Backs

Start 'Em: DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys (at SEA)

Tim Sharp/Associated Press

On one hand, it sounds a little too obvious to declare the No. 1 fantasy scoring back this season as a must-start option, right?

The problem is, DeMarco Murray heads into Sunday with a matchup against a Seattle defense that surrenders the fewest fantasy points to backs this season. NFL on ESPN visualizes this conundrum well:

Once again, though, the numbers emanating from this matchup in Seattle are a bit of a lie.

Seattle undoubtedly has a great rush defense, but the path has been easy. Green Bay does not prioritize the run. Neither does San Diego or Denver, the latter of which attempted just 20 rushes. Washington attempted just 17 last week.

As long as Dallas stays committed to the ground game, Murray will do right by owners. Provided he is on an historical pace that projects to be 464 total touches this season, that should not be something owners fret over.

Sit 'Em: Ben Tate, Cleveland Browns (vs. PIT)

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Deja vu time for Ben Tate owners. 

Way back in Week 1, the veteran who finally earned a starting gig of his own after years as a backup in Houston took just six carries before going down with yet another injury. The touches were productive, though, as Tate managed 41 yards, good for a 6.8 per-carry average.

Perhaps a more important takeaway from that contest was the 191 rushing yards and two scores on a 6.2 per-carry average the Browns were able to muster against Pittsburgh.

Tate returned last week and scored 12 points, but since yielding 29 points to Browns backs, the Steelers have allowed a maximum of 15, with two sets of backs held to seven points or fewer.

Not only is Tate a weekly injury risk, he next gets to encounter a defense that has already dealt with him and since cleaned up its act.

Wide Receivers

Start 'Em: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CLE)

Marc Serota/Associated Press

Antonio Brown is the No. 1 scorer at wideout so far this year, but owners may be a bit wary of him after an eight-point performance against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars last week.

Cleveland has a reputation as a strong pass defense that is mostly warranted thanks to the presence of Joe Haden at corner. Take away a very strange Week 5 performance in which Tennessee wideouts scored a total of 41 points on the defense, and Cleveland ranks among the best against the position.

Well, except for the whole Week 1 debacle in which Brown and Co. scored 29, Brown on his own scoring 17 before subsequently posting 10, 21 and 25 in the weeks after. Daryl Ruiter of Cleveland.com details Brown's dominance over the, well, Browns:

So feel confident in Brown this weekend, alright?

Sit 'Em: Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills (vs. NE)

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Outside of an explosive performance in Week 2 for 17 points, Buffalo Bills rookie Sammy Watkins has failed to post double-digit numbers this season, although recent outputs of nine and eight points are not horrific.

Watkins was targeted 13 times last week by new quarterback Kyle Orton, but that matters little this week as he heads into a matchup against Darrelle Revis and the Patriots.

In total, the Patriots give up the third-fewest points to wideouts this year, and even that number is a tad misleading, as the majority of the 21 points allowed to Cincinnati wide receivers such as A.J. Green last week came in garbage time.

If there is a time to sit a rookie, it would be now.

Tight Ends

Start 'Em: Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers (at CIN)

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Back to those Bengals and their poor defense of tight ends.

Cincinnati allows the third-most points to the position this year and is annually near the top of the list along with the likes of Dallas for one reason or another.

For Greg Olsen, this is nothing short of great news. The veteran is already on pace for a career year in the neighborhood of 1,000 yards and 13 scores, and owners who took the dive have enjoyed three double-digit outputs in five games.

A fourth is right around the corner.

Sit 'Em: Martellus Bennett, Chicago Bears (at ATL)

Martellus Bennett, despite being flanked by a pair of elite receivers, has done right by owners this year with as many double-digit outbursts as Olsen.

The only issue this week is that he not only enters Sunday after a one-point performance last week, he also has to deal with an Atlanta defense that ranks No. 1 overall against tight ends, allowing outputs of 8, 2, 4, 4 and 0 so far.

That eight-point output belonged to New Orleans' Jimmy Graham, so if that is all he is capable of doing against the Falcons, Bennett is an obvious sit.

Kansas City, New Orleans on bye. All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com.