Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em ... Playoff Style

Welcome to another installment of who to start and who to sit while making your weekly fantasy football lineup decisions for the first week of the playoffs.  Last week, we went 17-11 in the start ‘em portion and 9-5 in the sit ‘em portion, not too bad. Let's get to this week's list:

Start ‘Em

Nick Foles - Keep riding the hot hand.

Josh McCown- Same as above, but an even better matchup.

Alex Smith- He is another who has been a top eight quarterback over the past four weeks.

Joe Flacco- He has been middling, but if you are desperate he has a great opponent in the Vikings.

DeMarco Murray - The Bears may have the worst rush defense in football. Plus the Cowboys have a new commitment to the run.

Le'Veon Bell - He has been cleared to play, and should roll this week.

Ben Tate - He finally broke out last week, and the Jaguars, while playing better, still have run defense issues.

Giovanni Bernard - This is more about a matchup with the Colts, but he should be a solid RB2.

Ray Rice - He continues to get touches and has a fantastic matchup versus the Vikings.

Fred Jackson - He just plays and scores points each and every week. Trust him for your playoffs.

Bobby Rainey - He had a solid game and while the Bills have been better he will get plenty of chances.

Lamar Miller - He ran as well as I have ever seen him, plus he's getting almost all the carries, even inside the 10.

Andre Johnson - He spoke up and got more targets. Always play your guys vs the Jaguars.

DeSean Jackson - The Lions looked good against Flynn, but this will be a different world.

Alshon Jeffrey - He will continue to roll vs the Cowboys bottom 2 pass defense.

Torrey Smith - He has been as consistent as a receiver can be, and he should put a TD on top of his yards vs the awful Vikings secondary.

Larry Fitzgerald - The Rams continue to give up yards and scores to wide receivers.

Kendell Wright - He has been in the top 10 in targets since early in the year, and they should have to throw against the Broncos.

Michael Floyd - He is becoming a star and gets the awful Rams secondary.

Dwayne Bowe - He continues to get targeted, and the Redskins make all receivers look good.

Rueben Randle - They will have to throw vs the Chargers and he should get plenty of action.

Jared Cook - If you are feeling lucky, the Cardinals have made tight ends look good all year.

Bench ‘Em

Tony Romo- He has been better in real life than fantasy, and the Bears are pretty good versus the pass.

Philip Rivers - He has been very good, but in the last 6 weeks the Giants have been a top defense against QBs.

Ben Roethlisberger - I expect a ton of running and limited passing as Miami is tougher versus the pass.

Andrew Luck - He continues his slide and the Bengals are top eight against QBs.

LeSean McCoy - I know you have to start him, but the Lions have been nasty against running backs. Temper expectations.

Alfred Morris - He is just not getting the touches especially in the red zone.

Chris Johnson - Denver has been good against running backs, and I would not want my fantasy hopes in his hands.

Zac Stacy - The Cardinals at home, plus their very good run defense slows things up for the Rams rookie.

Frank Gore - Even with a good matchup, he is not producing, and the Seahawks are back in stride.

Demaryius Thomas - It would be very tough to bench a Bronco, but the Titans are #1 vs the pass in the fantasy world.

Vincent Jackson - He is way too up and down lately, plus he has a tough matchup and a lingering injury.

Eric Decker - Expect a huge crash back down to Earth this week.

Keenan Allen - The Giants have been very tough versus receivers; hopefully you have better options.

Roddy White - Sure, he broke out last week, but has way too many weeks where he is a non-factor.

T.Y Hilton - Still living off the big games early, a non-factor the past four weeks.

Marques Colston - Another guy who has had an awful season living off his name.

Steve Smith - He hasn't had more than 65 yards in forever.

Tony Gonzalez - Just not seeing enough in his last year. There are better options.

Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions.

Fantasy Mike