Who to Start, Who to Sit: Week 13

Quarterbacks

Start: Brett Favre, New York Jets vs. Denver Broncos. The Jets are the second highest scoring team in the NFL, and are lighting up the scoreboard. How can you sit any of their players? 

He might not be playing the risk taking, long pass game that made him an icon in Green Bay, but this conservative, short pass system that they play in New York has been suiting Brett Favre just fine.

He has completed over 70 percent of his passes for three straight weeks and has five TD passes over that span. The Broncos defense just made the Raiders look good, so Favre should be able to pick them apart.

Start: Chad Pennington, Miami Dolphins vs. St. Louis Rams. The man that Favre replaced in New York is having a pretty damn impressive season in his new home in Miami. 

Pennington is coming off of one of the best games of his career against the Patriots last week, and now he gets a very favorable matchup against the Rams. He is never among the leaders in yards or touchdowns, but as a play this week as you head into the playoffs, you can do far worse.

Sit: Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers vs. Green Bay Packers. His yardage total was far better in Week 12 than it had been the two weeks before that, but Delhomme is just not putting up the touchdown numbers needed to be a solid fantasy quarterback. 

In Week 13, he has a matchup against the Packers, who have been one of the best pass defenses in the league (forget last Monday's night's game against the Saints). 

I have found from watching this game that if a team gets embarrassed one week, they seem to come back the next week excelling at that facet of the game. 

Well, Green Bay got embarrassed on Monday night by Drew Brees and the Saints; look for the pass defense to be awesome this week.

Sit: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots. This has not been the kind of season that Big Ben envisioned when the season started. 

He has been beaten to death and has a myriad of nagging injuries, some more serious than others. His offensive line has really struggled and he has paid the price. 

The Steelers will face that Pats, who have gotten torched by the Jets and Dolphins in back to back weeks through the air. However, I don’t think that will happen a third time. 

Even with giving up over 700 passing yards in the last two games, the Pats still give up about 210 passing yards a game. Big Ben has one touchdown pass in the last four games and shouldn’t be trusted in Week 13.

Running Backs

Start: Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans vs. Detroit Lions. It seems that the juggernaut that was the Titans ground game has struggled over the past couple of weeks. 

Johnson hasn’t scored in three weeks and his best game over that span is 64 yards. However, LenDale White made some pretty stupid comments after last week’s game. That has a chance of affecting his playing time.

Plus, the Titans get the Lions on Thanksgiving. Is there a better remedy for a struggling offense? Look for Johnson to go for over 100 yards and score a touchdown.

Start: Warrick Dunn, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints. Now that he is the every down back in Tampa, Dunn could be a great find for fantasy owners down the stretch. 

He has never been a prolific scorer, but should get you a good amount of yards and even catch three or four passes out of the backfield. Although the Saints have a better defense than the Lions, Dunn should be a good play.

Sit: Ryan Grant, Green Bay Packers vs. Carolina Panthers. Grant has had an incredibly up and down season. For the first four or five weeks, he couldn’t find a running lane to save his life. In the next four or five, he looked like back that we saw at the end of last season. 

He was decent on Monday night, but the Packers fell so far behind in the second half that they had to abandon the run. 

This week, he faces Carolina Panthers, who are of the best against the run. Well, that was before Michael Turner got a hold of them. Expect the Panthers to go regain their dominating self and keep Grant under wraps.

Sit: Tim Hightower, Arizona Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Eagles. After an impressive first game as a starter, Hightower has struggled mightily.

He may have scored twice against the Giants, but Hightower hasn’t ran for more than 35 yards since that first game as a starter and now J.J. Arrington is really starting to contribute to the offense. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a real share in carries between the two in the upcoming weeks. Put that all together with the fact that the Eagles defense is really good against the run, and Tim Hightower isn’t a good play this week.

Wide Receivers

Start: Randy Moss, New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers defense may be good, but with the way the Pats are playing, you have to keep Moss in your lineup.

It is obvious that Matt Cassel is now a quarterback that you can count on, and Moss’ numbers should continue to be impressive. The offense doesn’t include a bunch of long bombs to Moss, but he is dangerous when he gets the ball in his hands in space, and he is fully capable of taking seven yard slant all the way to the house.

Start: Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons vs.  San Diego Chargers. San Diego has the worst defense against the pass, and has allowed the second most touchdowns through the air in the league. 

Quarterback Matt Ryan has had one of the best seasons for a rookie quarterback in recent memory and his relationship with Roddy White is obviously solid. White is definitely the number one receiver in Atlanta and should have another great game this week.

Sit: Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts. After a nightmare beginning to the season, Edwards had been better over the last six weeks or so.  All the same considering the year he had in 2007, Edwards has been a major disappointment. 

The quarterback during the beginning of the season for Cleveland, Derek Anderson, will be back under center this week with the news that Brady Quinn will miss the rest of the season with that broken finger.

Also, no team has allowed fewer passing touchdowns than the Indianapolis Colts, with only four in eleven games. This is not a good week to have Braylon in your lineup.

Sit: DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Arizona Cardinals. It has been a tough two weeks for Donovan McNabb and the Philly offense. They both have been stagnant and ineffective. 

Until they get Brian Westbrook healthy and get consistent play from the quarterback, it doesn’t make sense to start any Eagles’ offensive player. It is obvious that Westbrook is the straw that stirs the drink in Philly; without him, the offense plays like hot garbage (thanks to Scott Van Pelt). Keep ‘em on the bench.

Tight End

Start: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks. Now that Tony Romo is back, it is looking like the Cowboys will go back to the solid offensive team that they were in the beginning of the season. 

If you look at the beginning of the season, Witten was off to an amazing start before Romo’s injury. He had 35 catches over the first five weeks and was on his way to another Pro Bowl season. 

Now that the team is back intact and relatively healthy, look for Witten to get back on track. Witten’s owners have something to be thankful for on Thursday, because the Cowboys are playing the Seahawks, who might have the worst pass defense in the league.

Sit: Owen Daniels, Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars. Since his 11 catch game in Week nine against Minnesota, Daniels hasn’t had more than three catches or 28 yards.

I don’t think he will be that bad against this week against the Jags, but the Texans' offense has been sputtering lately. Although Sage Rosenfels is a pretty competent backup, the offense just doesn’t run the same without Matt Schaub behind center.

As always, your comments and questions (adds/drops, lineup advice, etc.) are welcome at [e-mail]. I guarantee a response within 18 hours.