If your fantasy team survived unlucky Week 13 (unlike many of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals), then you are gearing up for one of the biggest weeks of the fantasy football season.
This is the last week of the regular season or the opening week of the playoffs in most fantasy football leagues. If you and your fantasy squad have gotten this far and still have championship aspirations, you must have done a bang-up job picking the right booms and busts on a weekly basis. Now is not the time to stop, though.
Here are some under-the-radar booms and busts for the 14th week of NFL action to help you set a winning lineup. Good luck RotoBallers!
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Week 14 Under-the-Radar Booms
David Njoku (TE, CLE) vs. GB
Cleveland’s rookie tight end is coming off his best two games of the season as he had four-catch efforts in back-to-back contests and racked up 121 receiving yards and a touchdown. He is building chemistry with fellow rookie DeShone Kizer as the pair is connecting at a better target-percentage clip than they have at any point this year. The biggest help for Njoku, however, could be the return of Josh Gordon, who has remarkably wasted no time being a difference maker after not suiting up for almost three years. Gordon is distracting defenses (something Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman do not do) and will continue to keep Njoku from getting double-covered. Njoku should be primed for another good game against Green Bay’s 26th-ranked pass defense.
Marquise Goodwin (WR, SF) at HOU
Goodwin has taken over as San Francisco’s de facto No. 1 receiver in the wake of Pierre Garcon’s season-ending neck injury and has had the most consistent stretch of his five-year career, posting 68 receiving yards or more in four straight games. Goodwin should continue to keep the momentum rolling this weekend against a Houston defense that has remained stingy against the run in the wake of season-ending injuries to J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus but has fallen to 22nd against the pass due to the loss of its two best pass rushers. With Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm of the offense, Goodwin and the 49ers’ passing attack have the best quarterback they have had running the show all season. Goodwin topping the 100-yard mark and grabbing a touchdown toss this week would hardly be a surprise.
Marqise Lee (WR, JAX) vs. SEA
Jacksonville’s anemic passing offense looked the best it’s been this season last week in a victory over hapless division rival Indianapolis, a game that saw Lee have seven receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. Even though he was blanketed by Arizona’s Patrick Peterson a couple weeks back (one catch for 13 yards), Lee has fared well recently against a couple top pass defenses when he scored touchdowns against Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers. Lee is home this week against a sore Seattle secondary that is a shell of its former self without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor manning it. Quarterback Blake Bortles has been twice as good in home games this season than road games, so expect Lee and Bortles to connect often this weekend.
Week 14 Under-the-Radar Busts
Josh Doctson (WR, WAS) at LAC
Doctson has fared much better with Terrelle Pryor and Jordan Reed sidelined due to injuries, grabbing touchdown passes in back-to-back weeks coming into this week’s action. That trend will come to a sudden end this Sunday. The Chargers have not allowed one single solitary to have 100 receiving yards against them in a game this season, and only Denver’s Bernie Fowler III in Week 1 was able to catch multiple touchdown passes versus their staunch secondary. Even with Doctson playing the best ball of his short career, he is still only seeing four-to-seven targets per game since Washington spreads the ball around. He will not do much against the Chargers with that many targets.
Dwayne Allen (TE, NE) at MIA
Many fantasy pundits and players thought Allen would do well in a New England offense that has always elevated the fantasy values of its tight ends. Instead, Allen has been the walking advertisement of abysmal. He only has five receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown in a dozen games. Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown could do that in a dozen plays. Even though Rob Gronkowski is suspended and Martellus Bennett is injured, picking Allen up this week and using him as a cheap insurance option will probably be a bust move. Miami’s secondary has been god-awful covering tight ends over the past month, but Tom Brady and the Patriots offense has ignored Allen all season, so there is no reason to think Brady will start zoning in on him this week. I am not thinking we have another Ed Dickson on our hands with Allen.
Cincinnati Bengals defense vs. CHI
Cincinnati was lining up to be a decent play this weekend at home versus a stagnant Chicago Bears offense that is ranked dead last in total offense and 30th in points. The problem is the Pittsburgh Steelers decimated Cincinnati’s defenders in the most physical game of the football season this past Monday night. The battered Bengals will be missing five starters on defense this Sunday, including three in the secondary. This could actually be the week a Bears receiver finally tops the 100-yard mark in a game! That has not happened yet. Bench the Bengals if possible if you are in a fantasy league, or go in another direction if you were considering them in a one-day contest this Sunday afternoon.