Fantasy Football Week 15: Complete Thursday Night Preview
Let’s be honest: If your fantasy football team is depending on an offensive outburst from either the Arizona Cardinals or St. Louis Rams, it could be a long night.
Then again, if you have one of these defensive units, you could be on your way to building an early lead this week as you try and advance through the playoffs.
As we enter Week 15 of the 2014 NFL season, there’s plenty on the line when it comes to both reality and fantasy around the league.
So if you’re hoping for a 300-yard passing performance from a quarterback or a 100-yard rushing game from a running back on Thursday night in St. Louis, Missouri, be prepared for a bit of a letdown.
However, when it comes to this NFC West clash, let’s talk about sacks…
Starting Quarterbacks
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Arizona Cardinals: Drew Stanton
When these teams met earlier this season in Week 10, Stanton wound up replacing injured starter Carson Palmer. He would complete three of his five throws for 85 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver John Brown that gave Arizona the lead in a game it would win, 31-14.
In eight appearances this season, including seven starts, Stanton has thrown seven touchdown passes and five interceptions. His only 300-yard passing performance in 2014 came in Week 11, when he threw for 306 yards in a 14-6 victory over the Detroit Lions.
Fantasy Prediction: 19-of-32, 201 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. 4 carries, 21 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams: Shaun Hill
The well-traveled quarterback was the team’s opening-day quarterback this season but was injured in the 34-6 loss to the Vikings.
Hill returned in Week 11 and led the Rams to a surprising 22-7 victory over the Denver Broncos. In his last four starts since coming back, he’s thrown six touchdown passes compared to only two interceptions.
Like Stanton, Hill will be trying to avoid a hot pass rush on Thursday night.
Fantasy Prediction: 25-of-37, 267 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT. 0 carries.
Running Backs
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Arizona Cardinals Starter: Stepfan Taylor
With versatile Andre Ellington out for the remainder of the season, the Cardinals are scrambling in this area. Arizona already ranks just 30th in the NFL in rushing offense this season.
Taylor got the start last week against the Kansas City Chiefs and totaled just six carries for 19 yards in the contest. For the season, he’s run for 102 yards and a score, but it’s worth noting that three of his nine receptions in 2014 have resulted in touchdowns.
Fantasy Prediction: 11 carries, 51 yards, 0 TD. 2 receptions, 11 yards, 0 TD.
Arizona Cardinals Backup: Kerwynn Williams
Want to find out where this guy came from?
Ask Kerwynn Williams.
Better yet, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com has the skinny on the young runner who came off the practice squad and carried 19 times for 100 yards in last Sunday’s victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Will we see Williams on Thursday night? It’s truly a guessing game at this point, but we will do our best.
Fantasy Prediction: 8 carries, 39 yards, 0 TD. 2 receptions, 9 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams Starter: Tre Mason
Inactive for the first four weeks of the season, the 2014 third-round pick from Auburn University has made up for lost time ever since.
Mason leads the team with 628 yards rushing but has totaled just three touchdowns on the ground. Two of those scores came in the 52-0 win over the Oakland Raiders in Week 13, when he ran for a season-high 117 yards.
Mason has rushed for 100-plus yards in two of the last four games.
Fantasy Prediction: 12 carries, 33 yards, 0 TD. 2 receptions, 13 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams Backup: Zac Stacy
As it turned out, the second-year running back wound up not picking up where he left off last season.
In his last nine games a year ago, Stacy totaled at least 26 carries in five games and ran for 100-plus yards in four of those outings.
In 2014, he ranks second on the team with 284 yards rushing and one touchdown. But it’s also worth noting that in his last seven appearances, Stacy has totaled just 61 yards on the ground on only 19 carries.
Not listed is running back Benny Cunningham, who figures to catch a few passes in this matchup.
Fantasy Prediction: 9 carries, 41 yards, 0 TD. 3 receptions, 18 yards, 0 TD.
Wide Receivers
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Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald
Due to injuries, it has been an up-and-down season for one of the most productive wide receivers in NFL history.
Fitzgerald is four catches short of 900 career receptions, and his 89 touchdown grabs during his career rank 12th in league annals. This season, he’s caught a team-high 50 passes for 692 yards and two touchdowns but just returned last week after missing two straight games.
Fantasy Prediction: 4 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TD.
Arizona Cardinals: Michael Floyd
Last season, the one-time first-round pick caught 65 passes for a team-high 1,041 yards and five touchdowns.
Be it better coverage or the numerous changes at quarterback, Floyd still remains a deep threat, but his catches this season are down. Still, he’s totaled 592 yards on 35 receptions and has scored four touchdowns.
Fantasy Prediction: 5 receptions, 58 yards, 0 TD.
Arizona Cardinals: Ted Ginn
One year ago, Ginn caught 36 passes for 556 yards and five touchdowns with the Carolina Panthers.
The 2014 offseason pickup continues to lead the Cardinals on special teams. He’s the only player on the team this season to return a punt or a kickoff.
In terms of pass-catching, Ginn has totaled just 12 receptions for 180 yards this season, and his lone touchdown came on a 71-yard punt return in a Week 2 win over the New York Giants.
Fantasy Prediction: 0 receptions.
Arizona Cardinals: John Brown
There was a lot of excitement surrounding the third-round pick from Pittsburg State due to his play during the summer, and he hasn’t disappointed.
Brown ranks third on the team with 39 catches, good for 569 yards and a team-best five touchdowns. Last week vs. Kansas City, he was targeted four times and did not catch a pass. Don’t look for that to happen again.
Fantasy Prediction: 3 receptions, 51 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams: Kenny Britt
Rams head coach Jeff Fisher had Britt with the Tennessee Titans, and the talented wideout had his ups and downs during his tenure in Nashville.
This season in the Gateway City, the former first-round pick ranks third on the team with 30 catches, good for a team-high 542 yards and three touchdowns.
While Britt has played in all 13 games this season, he’s totaled at least five receptions in only one contest in 2014.
Fantasy Prediction: 3 receptions, 30 yards, 1 TD.
St. Louis Rams: Tavon Austin
A bit of an overall disappointment as a rookie last season, save for a few electrifying flashes, we are still waiting for Austin to wow us.
One of those big-play moments came in last week’s 24-0 win at Washington. Austin returned a punt 78 yards for a score. But the fact remains that the eighth overall pick in 2013 has done more running the football than catching it as a receiver.
Austin ranks fourth on the Rams with 26 catches, good for only 200 yards and zero scores. Meanwhile, the speedster has totaled 30 rushing attempts for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
Fantasy Prediction: 2 receptions, 32 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams: Chris Givens
Givens has caught eight passes for 94 yards without a score this season. He has not been targeted in the team’s last four games. That doesn’t look likely to change this week.
Fantasy Prediction: 0 receptions.
St. Louis Rams: Stedman Bailey
Austin’s teammate at the University of West Virginia had his moment earlier this season when he returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown in the Week 7 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Bailey has totaled 22 catches for 322 yards and one score. But in his last three games, he’s caught 14 passes for 236 yards and that aforementioned touchdown.
Fantasy Prediction: 6 receptions, 55 yards, 0 TD.
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Tight Ends
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Arizona Cardinals Starter: John Carlson
The free-agent addition this offseason hasn’t done much in the touchdown department but has been a nice safety valve for the Cardinals’ various quarterbacks.
Carlson ranks fifth on the team with 29 catches, good for 318 yards and one touchdown.
Fantasy Prediction: 2 receptions, 7 yards, 0 TD.
Arizona Cardinals Backup: Rob Housler
As we alluded to with Carlson, tight ends have not been a big part of the Arizona passing attack this season. Housler has totaled seven catches for 96 yards in 2014 and has been targeted only 14 times in his 12 appearances this season.
Fantasy Prediction: 1 reception, 4 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams Starter: Jared Cook
A year ago, in his first season with the Rams, Cook led the club with 51 receptions for 671 yards and five touchdowns.
He’s at it again this year, totaling a team-high 41 catches for 534 yards and three scores. Two of those touchdowns came in last week’s 24-0 victory at Washington, a game in which Cook caught four passes for 61 yards.
Fantasy Prediction: 7 receptions, 84 yards, 0 TD.
St. Louis Rams Backup: Lance Kendricks
A year ago, he totaled 32 catches, and four went for touchdowns. This season Kendricks ranks just sixth on the team in receptions (23), but it may surprise some to know that he leads the Rams with four touchdown catches.
Unfortunately, you don’t get a lot of real estate with Kendricks, who has totaled only 197 receiving yards and is averaging a mere 8.6 yards per grab in 2014.
Fantasy Prediction: 2 receptions, 12 yards, 0 TD.
Defense/Special Teams
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Arizona Cardinals Defense/Special Teams
Coordinator Todd Bowles has done a great job with this unit despite all the changes this offseason.
The Cardinals have totaled 23 takeaways in 13 games. And you may remember they returned two Rams turnovers for touchdowns in this year’s first meeting.
And a once-dormant pass rush has awoken as well. The Cards have totaled 23 sacks in their last five games.
On returns, Ted Ginn is always a threat to do something big.
Fantasy Prediction: 13 points allowed, 8 sacks, 3 INT, 2 FF.
St. Louis Rams Defense/Special Teams
There have been six shutouts in 208 games this season in the NFL.
The Rams have two of those performances—both in the last two weeks.
Why the turnaround? The pass is looking healthy once again. St. Louis’ defenders have picked up 29 sacks in their last six games after managing only six in the first seven outings in 2014. The Rams have also allowed only six offensive touchdowns in their last six contests.
All told, these combined units have scored five touchdowns (three interception returns, two punt returns) in 13 games.
Fantasy Prediction: 14 points allowed, 5 sacks, 1 INT, 0 FF.
Best Sleeper Adds
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A couple of these performers may not be on your team and could be worth adding in case you are in a pinch. With the way both the Cardinals and Rams play defense, both offenses could use all the help they can get.
1. Kerwynn Williams, Running Back, Arizona Cardinals (Owned in 15.7 percent of ESPN leagues)
He burst onto the scene last week with his 100-yard performance against the Chiefs. He could emerge as the team’s running back for the remainder of the season.
2. Jaron Brown, Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals (Owned in 0.1 percent of ESPN leagues)
It’s the other Brown who has garnered the headlines with the team. Last week, Jaron Brown scored Arizona’s lone touchdown in the win over the Chiefs. He’s caught 21 passes for 223 yards and a pair of scores this year.
3. Stedman Bailey, Wide Receiver, St. Louis Rams (Owned in 27.4 percent of ESPN leagues)
In a pinch? The Rams don’t really have a go-to wide receiver this season. Perhaps this is Bailey’s night to shine.
Injury Report
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Based on the injury report, the Rams seem to have the health edge over the visiting Cardinals. Here is our look at the key injuries regarding both clubs. The entire slate can be found at NFL.com.
Arizona Cardinals | ||
Player | Status | |
Paul Fanaika | G | Out |
Tyrann Mathieu | S | Out |
Antonio Cromartie | CB | Questionable |
Drew Stanton | QB | Probable |
Larry Fitzgerald | WR | Probable |
Jared Veldheer | T | Probable |
Larry Foote | LB | Probable |
Lorenzo Alexander | LB | Probable |
Matt Shaughnessy | LB | Probable |
The biggest concern for the Cardinals is the secondary, where Mathieu is out and Cromartie’s availability is up in the air. The question is whether the Rams can take advantage of this area.
St. Louis Rams | ||
Player | Status | |
Chris Long | DE | Questionable |
Rodger Saffold | G | Probable |
Scott Wells | C | Probable |
James Laurinaitis | LB | Probable |
Jeff Fisher’s team is healthy, and Long figures to be ready for this tilt. All four players on this list were full participants in Wednesday’s practice.
Sit or Start
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We know who the stars are when it comes to this contest. But is there a pivotal player or two who may be on your roster that you can’t decide whether to start or not? And what about both starting quarterbacks on Thursday night?
QB Drew Stanton (Cardinals): You just don’t get a lot of production from Stanton, which is not exactly breaking news. Being on the road against the Rams’ revitalized pass rush won’t help his cause.
Verdict: Sit
RB Stepfan Taylor (Cardinals): It seems risky to take a chance on playing any Arizona Cardinals running back with Andre Ellington out.
Verdict: Sit
QB Shaun Hill (Rams): Hill could get his share of yards but may also wind up making his share of mistakes. Like Stanton, he’s a risky option.
Verdict: Sit
WR Kenny Britt (Rams): We are not expecting a lot of offensive points in this game, but we are forecasting Britt to have the Rams’ lone touchdown of the evening.
Verdict: Start
Some statistical support provided by Pro-Football-Reference, NFL.com and ESPN.com. Depth chart info provided by Ourlads.
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