Fantasy Football Playoffs: Who to start, who to sit in Week 15
Fantasy Football is in full gear as the NFL regular season heads into week 15. That can only mean one thing for fantasy owners everywhere — playoffs!
With the fantasy football playoffs upon us, the tension really starts to build. We’ve played all season long for these moments, these matchups. Now is not the time to make mistakes, but it’s also a time you start to second guess your decisions with it all on the line.
We’re going to go through some players and matchups that you may be unsure of. We won’t touch on the sure-fire players that have brought you this far. Guys like Patrick Mahomes, Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce have gotten you to this point and will be in your lineups, barring injury.
We’ll look at the next few “tiers” of players where there is at least some uncertainty on a week-to-week basis. Let’s dive in!
Quarterbacks – Start ‘Em
Ryan Tannehill, QB – TEN vs DET
Ryan Tannehill has had a solid season under center for the Tennessee Titans, having thrown for 3,209 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and five interceptions. In fact, his success really goes back to 2019, when he took over starting duties.
His success continued over to an average showing last week vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars. In turn, things should be on an upward trend this week when the Titans welcome the Detroit Lions into Nissan Stadium.
The Lions defense has allowed 36+ points to quarterbacks in each of their last two starts and an average of 23 points per game. Tannehill possesses a solid floor in Week 15, with the upside to break the 30 point mark.
Jalen Hurts, QB – PHI vs AZ
Jalen Hurts took over for the NFL’s 2020 turnover leader, Carson Wentz, in Week 14 and had immediate success. He defeated the New Orleans Saints in his first start of the season, throwing for 167 yards and a score but doing most of his damage on the ground rushing for 106 yards. The Arizona defense is much stingier but has allowed solid numbers to opposing quarterbacks as of late, and Hurts multi-dimensional scoring ability makes him a start in Week 15.
Quarterbacks – Sit ‘Em
DeShaun Watson, QB – HOU vs IND
It is hard even to write this, truthfully, but it’s tough to trust DeShaun Watson with your season on the line. Some of it’s not even his fault. The injuries and suspensions of Will Fuller V and Brandin Cooks, two of his top two receiving threats, has had an understandably negative effect on Watson and the Texans’ offense, having scored only 27 points over the past two weeks.
To further complicate things, Houston goes up against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15. The Colts have performed quite well against opposing quarterbacks this year, as they are tied for the third-fewest passing touchdowns allowed and the third-most interceptions.
Matt Ryan, QB – ATL vs TB
Logically, most fantasy owners that are still in contention are probably not regularly starting Matt Ryan at this point. The Atlanta Falcons opponent for Week 15 is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the defense that has single-handedly allowed the most points to opposing signal-callers in 2020 but do not let the matchup bait you. Ryan has been really bad, and there are better options out there — even with the shootout potential in this game.