This Fantasy Football Start’em Sit’em could be one of the most important of the season for many of you. You could be one of the fringe owners looking to earn a spot in your leagues first round of playoffs next week. There is no room for error and its a loooooong offseason.

With that said you probably have a lot to go over before you finalize your starting roster, so lets get right to it. Here are this weeks picks:

Start’em if you got’em
Thomas Jones RB (NYJ) - Jones has been pretty inconsistent running the ball this year but I have a feeling he will get it going this weekend against Miami like he did in their last meeting (110 yards on the ground). The Dolphins are ranked 30th in the league because they are allowing 148 yards per game as well as allowing the second most rushing touchdowns in the league with 13. Hell, Willie Parker had to run through a swamp on Monday night and still posted 81 yards on them. Put Jones down for 125 and a at least 1 touchdown.

Final stats: 75 yards and a touchdown.
Final thoughts: Leon Washington was a factor in this one as well. Leon posted 68 yards and 2 touchdowns of his own.

Minnesota defense - These guys looked great last week when they shut down the Giants and took three of four picks to the house. Better yet they will be playing at home with a ton of confidence against a Lions team that has allowed a league high 47 sacks this season and likes to turn the ball over (14 picks and 11 lost fumbles). Not good when your playing a Vikes team that can make you pay for those turnovers. The last time these teams met they had three picks. Look for the Vikes to give up 20 points but get 4 sacks, 4 turnovers and at least 1 touchdown this week against the Lions.

Final stats: 10 points allowed, 3 sacks, 2 turnovers and, if your league counts special teams touchdowns, 1 TD.
Final thoughts: Solid performance for the Vikes. Their offense controlled the ball for a little over 37 minutes which kept the defense fresh.

Sit’em if you’ve got em
Shaun Alexander RB (SEA) - He practiced Wednesday and is most likely going to return from injury this week. But, the only thing he will be successful at is taking carries away from Maurice Morris. Not only did Coach Holmgren state that they will split carries but I just bet Morris will get the majority of the third down duties akeeping Alexander virtually dormant on the passing game. Combine all that with the fact that Phili is a top ten defense in the rushing category and he will be lucky to get more than 50 yards and as far as touchdowns go, look for Weaver to get the carries at the goal line.

Final stats: 20 carries for 65 yards and a TD.
Final thoughts: The touchdown had more to do with Phili turning the ball over deep in their territory than anything. Also, Morris had almost identical stats (64 yards and a TD) with 15 less carries.

Phillip Rivers QB (SD) - In the last meeting with the Chiefs he had 211 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 picks. And that was at home in his own stadium. This week expect to see a repeat performance of the his last game against the Chiefs top ten passing defense.

Final stats: 10 for 21 for 157 and a TD.
Final thoughts: It was all LT in this one.

Sleepers: don’t be surprised if…
…Travis Henry RB (DEN) plays and has a big game against the Raiders. I’m not sure he is a true sleeper but he’s been out for awhile and you might be leery of putting him in. Don’t be. Kolby Smith and Chester Taylor both posted 150 plus on Oakland the last two weeks. Even Ron Dayne put up a 122 on them four weekends ago. There is no reason a rested and healthy running back in a Broncos uniform can’t put up big numbers versus the Raiders. I’ll say 125+ and two touchdowns.

…Chad Johnson WR (CIN) gives a repeat of his last performance against the Steelers. Back in week eight the Steelers held him to 5 catches for 51 yards.

Be sure to check out my Fantasy Football Waiver Wire post because you may be able to pick out a sleeper or two on your own.

As always, that is not all my friend. There are a few other stops you should make before finalizing your starting lineup.

First, make sure you stop by and see how the Fantasy Football Librarian can help you. Every week she posts all of the start’em sit’em articles, player ranking posts and waiver wire lists that she can find so that you don’t have to hunt for them yourself. Check her out and tell her the Goat says hi.

Second, you can get more in-depth NFL player projections throughout the week by checking out the Bruno Boys website over on MVN.com.

Third, be on the lookout for the weekly fantasy football start’em sit’em podcast I co-host with Marc Caviglia.

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