Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 16: Last-Minute Fantasy Football Advice for Sunday

Relax, fantasy owners.

It is the Sunday of Week 16. The holiday rush sure took a large bite out of fantasy-prep time. Guess what? Roger Goodell and that pesky NFL offered no favors, either, as three games are already in the books this week.

Now for the good news, not that there was an option in the order the good-bad was delivered.

There is plenty of time for those still alive in the postseason race to throw a counterpunch. Resources aplenty exist, such as the lists below tailored toward the remainder of the week's toughest decisions.

Start 'Em

Pos.	Player	Opponent
QB	Matthew Stafford, DET	at CHI
RB	Fred Jackson, BUF	at OAK
WR	Torrey Smith, BAL	at HOU
TE	Dwayne Allen, IND	at DAL
D/ST	Panthers	vs. CLE
K	Shaun Suisham, PIT	vs. KC

When in doubt, roll with good matchups.

Look at Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions. The initial reaction may be to scoff and look for other names to start at quarterback. After all, the Georgia product has been a bit of a disappointment this year while names such as Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush have been in and out of the lineup.

A matchup against the Chicago Bears, though? Too great to pass on right now. Chicago allows the second-most points to quarterbacks this season. The last time Stafford met the downtrodden Bears, he posted 21 points. Anything less for the rematch will be a major disappointment.

Owners may turn away from Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson, too. In and out of the lineup this year due to injury, the veteran has not been the workhorse most figured he would be.

It does not matter with everything on the line, though. Jackson is healthy now and has nine or more points in three of his last four outings. A matchup against the Oakland Raiders is one of the best of the week overall, as Tony Sparano's team surrenders the second-most points to backs this year.

Jackson is in for a major day. Two of the unit's last three opposing backfields have found their way to a minimum of 32 points.

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Wide receiver has multiple dynamite matchups on the remaining schedule this week. One that may go overlooked is Torrey Smith of the Baltimore Ravens against the Houston Texans.

The oversight makes sense. Smith has one point over the course of his last two outings, although one saw him used in a limited role due to injury. That figures to change against the Texans, owners of a secondary that has allowed every opponent this season to score a minimum of 15 points.

A similar situation persists around Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen.

Allen exploded for seven points last week, but he posted goose eggs in the four games prior to that. As Kevin Bowen of Colts.com notes, though, Allen explodes when given the chance:

Chances will be bountiful Sunday against a Dallas Cowboys defense that is annually horrific against the position. This year, Jason Garrett's team allows the third-most points to tight ends, so Allen is all but surefire production at a shaky spot.

Sit 'Em

Pos.	Player	Opponent
QB	Tony Romo, DAL	vs. IND
RB	Chris Ivory, NYJ	vs. NE
WR	Josh Gordon, CLE	at CAR
TE	Charles Clay, MIA	vs. MIN
D/ST	Bengals	vs. DEN
K	Chandler Catanzaro, ARI	vs. SEA

One would think that a home game for Tony Romo this time of year would do wonders for fantasy owners. 

Think again.

Romo is the owner of 15 touchdowns over the course of his last five road games. At home, though, he has posted 12 points, missed a game with an injury and has three more points in his last three trips to friendly confines.

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For one reason or another, Romo cannot play well at home as of late. Now he stares a Colts defense in the face that has held opposing quarterbacks to five or fewer points in three of its last four contests.

Sometimes matchups lie, too.

New York Jets running back Chris Ivory is a good example of this. The veteran posted a season-high 17 points against the New England Patriots back in Week 7.

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Trends suggest not to expect anything near that number this time around. Ivory has three, six, five and eight points in his last four starts. Meanwhile, New England has flipped a switch against the run, holding four of the last five opposing backfields it encountered to single-digit production.

As of right now, Cleveland Browns wideout Josh Gordon is a matchup-based play.

Week 16 is a no-fly zone, then. Gordon's struggles are obvious at this point, as he has just 12 total points over the course of his last three games—a number that matches his lone trip to double digits this season back in Week 12.

Ron Rivera, coach of the Carolina Panthers and Gordon's next opponent, hits the nail on the head concerning the star wideout's issues, per Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan:

Rivera should feel comfortable overall. His defense may surrender the 11th-most points to wideouts this season, but it has been stringent as of late. The defense has surrendered a maximum of 18 points in its last three outings and now gets a rookie quarterback in Johnny Manziel making his second-career start one weekend removed from 80 passing yards and two interceptions.

Miami Dolphins tight end Charles Clay continues to be a week-by-week decision, with this one being a little too obvious.

Clay owns nine points over the course of his last two starts but figures to get much less than that against the Minnesota Vikings. Mike Zimmer's defense continues to improve as the season wears on and now surrenders just the third-fewest points to tight ends. Opponents have scored one total point over the course of the past two weeks.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of December 20 at 3 p.m. ET. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.