Fantasy Football Week 15: Top 25 Matchup Related Performances

By Vincent Frank on Tuesday, December 18th 2012
Fantasy Football Week 15: Top 25 Matchup Related Performances

 

In a way, Week 15 of the NFL regular season was dominated by a single game that featured the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football. On that note, you will definitely see a lot of their names in this article as the two teams combined for 75 points and nine touchdowns. 

Other matchup related rankings are similar to the overall positional rankings we saw this week. A primary reason for this is that some individual players had some ridiculous fantasy performances. 

On that note, let's take a gander at eDraft's weekly matchup related fantasy performances. 

 

Quarterbacks
Player Team Yards TD INT PTS Opp. Ranking
Russell Wilson Seattle 297 4 0 39.4 Buffalo #15
Tom Brady New England 454 2 2 24.8 San Francisco #5
Aaron Rodgers Green Bay 305 3 0 24.9 Chicago #6
Colin Kaepernick San Francisco 244 4 1 25.4 New England #29
Drew Brees New Orleans 318 4 0 29.4 Tampa Bay #32

 

Russell Wilson continues to play at a level we have rarely seen from a rookie quarterback in the NFL. He has now tallied 24 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions after scoring four in the first half alone against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto on Sunday. At one point, Wilson was on pace for over 600 yards and nine touchdowns by himself. The alarming thing about his performance was that he was pretty much shutdown by head coach Pete Carroll and company after Seattle built a huge lead. 

Tom Brady did record the most passing yards of the week against what was the No. 2 overall pass defense coming in. That being said, it took him 67 passes and two interceptions to do so. In reality, Brady's performance was nothing special compared to what we have come to expect from the future Hall of Famer. 

While Aaron Rodgers has had somewhat of a down season compared to what he did last year, Green Bay's quarterback still ranks No. 5 at his position in fantasy points. He put up three scored and zero interceptions against a sixth ranked Bears' pass defense. Rodgers was in control of the game the entire time, showing us exactly why he is in a completely different world than Jay Cutler. The difference was ridiculous. 

What can I say about Colin Kaepernick that has not already been said? He is going to be a true QB1 option heading into the 2013 season and should be a first-round dynast league option. The future hasn't stopped Kaepernick from performing like a fantasy stud this season. He recorded four touchdown passes (the most for a 49ers' quarterback since 2003) en route to a dazzling 41-34 victory over the New England Patriots. While Kaepernick will not be a solid start next week against the Seattle Seahawks, he has shown us he can be counted on a near weekly basis. 

 

 

Running Backs
Player Team Rush Yards Total Yards TD PTS Opp. Ranking
Adrian Peterson Minnesota 212 212 1 27.2 St. Louis #16
Danny Woodhead New England 61 84 2 20.4 San Francisco #3
Michael Tolbert Carolina 40 64 2 18.4 San Diego #7
DeAngelo Williams Carolina 93 144 1 18.4 San Diego #7
Beanie Wells Arizona 67 67 3 24.7 Detroit #18

 

It doesn't matter who Adrian Peterson goes up against, he is a rock solid fantasy stud. The favorite to win the 2012 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award tallied another 200 yards performance, his second such performance in two weeks, against a 16th ranked St. Louis Rams rush defense. Peterson is now on pace for 2,070 rushing yards and has an outside shot at Eric Dickerson's single-season mark. 

Danny Woodhead's performance Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers was nothing more than a fluke. He saw extra playing time due to fumble issues from Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. Don't expect him to do much more as the season progresses. In fact, every running back on this list not named AP is probably nothing more than stop-gap fillers in standard leagues. 

 

Wide Receivers
Player Team REC Yards TD PTS  Opp. Ranking
James Jones Green Bay 5 60 3 24.0 Chicago #6
Brandon Lloyd New England 10 190 0 19.0 San Francisco #5
Andre Johnson Houston 11 151 1 21.1 Indianapolis #18
Michael Crabtree San Francisco 7 107 2 22.7 New England #29
Julio Jones Atlanta 6 74 2 21.2 New York (G) #28 

 

James Jones now leads the NFL in touchdown catches with 12 after recording three on Sunday alone against the Chicago Bears. In total, nearly one quarter of Jones' catches have gone for scores. That is just ridiculous. 

Andre Johnson continues to put up some stupid numbers for the Houston Texans and was able to add a touchdown to his resume' against the Indianapolis Colts. Johnson is fifth in receptions, third in yards and eighth in fantasy points among wide receivers. 

One of the most impressive wide receivers this season has been Michael Crabtree, who has caught a whopping 68 percent of the passes thrown in his direction. The former first-round pick tallied seven receptions for over 100 yards and two scores against the New England Patriots on Sunday night and has an outside shot at his first 1,000-yard receiving season. 

 

Tight Ends
Player Team REC Yards TD PTS Opp. Ranking
Dennis Pitta Baltimore 7 125 2 24.5 Denver #8
Aaron Hernandez New England 10 92 1 15.2 San Francisco #5
Heath Miller Pittsburgh 7 92 1 15.2 Dallas #14
Jason Witten Dallas 5 43 1 10.3 Pittsburgh #1
Dwayne Allen Indianapolis 3 36 1 9.9 Houston #18 

 

Normalcy finally took hold at the tight end position in Week 15. Four the top five players on this list are considered TE1 options, while the other (Dwayne Allen) is one of the most talented young players tight ends in the NFL. Dennis Pitta put up the best week, and it wasn't even close. He gained 125 yards and two scores against a No. 8 ranked Denver Broncos pass defense. That is mighty impressive if you ask me. 

 

Defense
Team Sacks INT Turnovers TD PTS Against Opp. Ranking
Arizona Cardinals 2 3 4 2 10 Detroit #2
Atlanta Falcons 1 2 3 0 0 New York (G) #10
Seattle Seahawks 3 2 3 1 17 Buffalo #20
San Francisco 49ers 3 2 5 0 34 New England #1
New Orleans Saints 2 4 5 0 0 Tampa Bay #17 

 

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