The Game Plan For Week 16 (#FantasyFootball)

It’s @TheBLeagueSays here with this week’s ‘Game Plan’, where I give you plays to make for DFS roster construction, prop bets, and dynasty evaluations. Before you make any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings also.

Thank you, and enjoy!

***There’s an uber good chance that if you are reading this you are in your championship playoff – mazel tov – so advising you this week on waiver wire pickups or start/sits is just not going to happen. Trust your gut, and good luck!***

Slant Route

Snowflake, here Snowflake… I got a little snack for ya:

The Miami Dolphins are more and more looking like a playoff team and a way to cement that outlook is by getting a dub on the road to fellow playoff hopefuls in the Las Vegas Raiders, who after a loss to divisional rivals in the Chargers now seem to be more looking from the outside in. The Raiders have issues of their own with Derek Carr succumbing early last week to a groin injury leaving the door open for a mentor (Marcus Mariota) vs protegee (Tua Tagovailoa) matchup looming. The Dolphins, even when they lose look competitive, and I can see this one going to the air more often than not as their run game seems to be in limbo due to injuries most weeks, and if Tua gets to loosen up as he has in weeks past then I can see them covering the -3 they’ve been charged with while on the road and the overs currently set at 48.5 smashing also.

Flat Route

There’s a grey area here:

As Dwayne Haskins was hammered this week for not being able to contain himself as he was stripped (lol) of team captaincy and fined a fat stack of cash due to going to a strip club and violating leagues COVID-19 protocols by not wearing a mask, and not socially distancing and all the rest of it. Now what a person does in their own time is their business, and getting snapped in a public house as such is probably unfortunate but that comes part and parcel with being in the spotlight – he should have had the discipline to be smarter at least and ‘wrapped himself up’.

But Alex Smith is still hurt with a calf injury and Haskins is still in the doghouse but likely to get the nod which makes their matchup with Carolina ever so intriguing for the NFC South outfit, considering that the ‘Football Team’ are probably just one win away from taking the NFC East and being playoff-bound but instead of having laser focus are finding ways like this to go ‘full Plaxico’. Carolina last week made the Packers kind of falter as the game wore on, and considering the start that Aaron Rodgers got off to that’s a decent enough effort. What they have this week though is facing a team without a real starting running back, or a quarterback the ‘Team’ could trust, so I am liking the Panthers at $2700 as my cheap DST play of the week (Washington has an OPRK of 22nd against DST’s).

Comeback Route

This is why they hate us all when really they should just hate a few:

Because the amount of crap that these athletes of late are putting up from the general public is absolutely ridiculous. Now I’m not one to go on a rant (no, really), but 8 months ago there was no NFL Draft, no offseason, no preseason, and throughout it all it looked like there may not have been a season at all. We, as a fantasy community need to stay in our lane by not @’ing players and tagging them in abusive crap because they didn’t put up enough fantasy points for ‘your’ team. Damnit it’s a fake game, behave. Ok, there’s some money involved – so what. Did you gamble – I’m sorry but that’s always your risk, your problem – never theirs. They have gambled every time they have stepped on the field this year. And you are only worried about fantasy points? Really?

Now read all of this back again, and ask yourself if you have ever done this before. And realize that they are playing in a season that should probably never have happened for our enjoyment – yeah ok they get paid fat stacks to play but many players opted out because of the world we live in today. So this week, my comeback route is on the fantasy community to be better. Be better. With one more week to go, just enjoy the damn ride for once. And please think before you type.

Screen Route

It’s normally a trap:

It feels like every week has been a trap week for the Browns this year, purely because every week we can’t believe the incredible job that Kevin Stefanski and his boys are delivering week in, week out. Now, as you know, I’m a Giants guy – and last week on the road in terrible conditions and against backup quarterback Colt McCoy – that game screamed like a ‘trap’ game for the Browns. But unlike years past, they got the job done.

This week the Browns face the Jets who are coming off a win (lol) against the L.A. Rams which probably cost them Trevor Lawrence, and again a game like this screams ‘Browns trap game’. But with Quinnen Williams missing, I feel like there will be less pressure upfront for Baker Mayfield ($6100) to worry about, and I like him to have himself a game this week. Mayfield’s had over 30 fantasy points twice in the last three weeks and I think he can keep this form up against the Jets (OPRK 17th against quarterbacks).

Out Route

Yeah, Nah I’m not doing this again:

I’ll keep this short and sweet: a few weeks back everyone was on Jared Goff to go off over a then poor Seattle defense and instead of having himself a big week he bored us all to death and to be honest, Goff has felt like he has underperformed all season off the back of at times individual brilliance by guys like Cam Akers, Tyler Higbee, Cooper Kupp or Robert Woods. He’s facilitated them all in some capacity but never he’s steered the ship on his own will. So that ‘performance’ last week against the Jets, there is not a chance in hell I’m going back to Jared Goff or any of the Rams to do anything inspiring. I am so disappointed in them I’m jumping on Seattle who at home has the -1 favorites tag, and I’ll double down with the unders which is currently set at 47.5.

The Go Route

Don’t get cute:

Unless you can rock a sweet mustache like current starting Bengals running back Giovani Bernard who absolutely gashed the stout defense that was the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Everyone knows how good Bernard was, can be, and is, and has been a darling of the fantasy community for a few years now, and if there was ever a time for him to repay the faith it is this week.

Bernard, $4800, gets to face off against the worst run defense in the league in the Houston Texans who have given up nearly 140 rushing yards per game, over one touchdown per game, and about 45 receiving yards per game to the running back position per week. Again, he could be chalk, but that could be what helps you move up elsewhere.

Hail Mary

It’s a Giant task but this kind of plays into their hands:

This week the Giants go on the road to Baltimore who is in a must-win circumstance to see themselves into the playoffs, with how Cleveland has kicked on and Pittsburgh already cemented a spot it is hard to see how the Ravens can get in with another loss on their schedule. The Raven’s strength has been on the ground and the Giants are giving up the 10th fewest rushing yards, and are middle of the pack for points allowed to wide receivers, tight ends, and even quarterbacks. Rarely, do the Giants get blown out, and seeing them with the +10.5 start across multiple gambling sites has me scratching my head just a little bit and I think they can also do enough to see this go over the 44 point total that has been currently set as well – if Daniel Jones actually plays.

I want to thank you for checking this article out! As always you can follow me at @TheBLeagueSays and feel free to check out my @BackRowGiants podcast out (https://linktr.ee/TheBLeagueSays) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.

Let’s all get better together!

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