Mark Sanchez, Jordan Matthews, DeMarco Murray's Post-Week 12 Fantasy Advice

Thanksgiving wasn't so good for the Philadelphia Eagles after they were soundly beaten 45-14 at the hands of the Detroit Lions. 

Facing the 20th-ranked defense in the league, quarterback Mark Sanchez, wide receiver Jordan Matthews and running back DeMarco Murray looked set to have a solid afternoon. Unfortunately for fantasy owners who have these Eagles on their teams, the Lions defense held Philadelphia to just 227 yards of total offense. 

Let's take a look at how Philadelphia's trio performed on Thursday and what fantasy owners might want to do with them moving forward.   

Mark Sanchez 

Completions	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	INT
19	27	199	2	0

Having eight incompletions out of 27 attempts with two touchdowns and no interceptions isn't a bad outing for Sanchez. But a quarterback with just 13 fantasy points isn't going to be one who should crack your starting lineups anytime soon. 

Sanchez was constantly under pressure, getting sacked six times while losing 40 yards and a fumble in the process. That kind of outing from an offensive line would make any fantasy owner feel uneasy about starting a quarterback who is getting hit that much. 

Unless you are in a 12-team league and suddenly desperate for an arm, there should be no reason to look at Sanchez to start in your lineup.

Jordan Matthews

Targets	Receptions	Yards	TD
5	3	60	1

When Sanchez was able to get the ball off, his most trusted target was Matthews, who put together a nice day despite getting just five targets. 

With three receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown, Matthews recorded 12 fantasy points on Thursday. It's just the fourth time this season he has hit the double-digit mark in points in a single week, mostly thanks to the touchdown he scored with 2:56 left in the game. 

Though the performance came when the game was out of question, the points are just as big, as professional Madden player ZFarls pointed out:

Matthews has been inconsistent to say the least this year. While he's had four games of double-digit scoring outputs, he's also had six weeks in which he's recorded fewer than five fantasy points. 

That's too much of a risk for teams that are in a fantasy football playoff hunt. Play him at the flex if you're going to put him in the starting lineup at all. 

DeMarco Murray

Attempts	Yards	TD
14	30	0

The descent from a 21-point effort in Week 9 continued for Murray into Week 12, when he couldn't get a thing going against the Lions defense. The league's defending rushing champion followed up a six-point output in Week 11 with just three points on Thanksgiving. 

With 14 carries for 30 yards, Murray looked out of sorts with the offense. NFL Fantasy Football's Alex Gelhar thinks head coach Chip Kelly is using Murray wrong:

Murray is too good of a running back to keep out of your starting lineup, even if he hasn't lived up to his first- or second-round fantasy selection in 2015. As a rusher who is capable of breaking off a big performance in any given week, Murray should continue to be a staple on your team. 

The Eagles are going to need all of their big guns in Week 13 against the undefeated New England Patriots in Foxborough and should be looking at Murray to help carry the offense against one of the best teams in the league. 

Fantasy and game stats courtesy of ESPN.com.