IDP Matchups, Living the Stream: Week 14

This may seem like an odd thing to write, but it's true nonetheless.

You don't want to read this article. Or, more appropriately, you don’t want to need to read this article.

As the fantasy football regular season nears its conclusion, there are three types of fantasy managers. There are the lucky ducks who have already locked up a playoff spot and seed. They are insufferable with their smiling and happiness. It's gross.

There are the folks who are just playing out the string. It's a rotten place to be, although in this writer's experience, one way to lessen the sting is to take as many opponents with you as possible. Misery really does love company.

Then there's the largest group—the managers for whom Week 14 is the biggest week of the season so far. Want to earn a first-round bye? Gotta win this week. Want to make the playoffs at all? Gotta win this week.

And if you're heading into a must-win week, the last thing you want is to be forced into relying on a matchup play.

With that said, overcoming adversity is a big part of success in fantasy football. Players get hurt. Players fail to meet expectations. The NFL, in its infinite wisdom, decides to schedule a six-team bye in Week 14. All are hurdles that IDP managers must clear to realize their goal of playing on into Week 15.

Now let's show adversity who's boss.

EDGE Josh Allen, Jacksonville (at Tennessee)

Allen entered the season with lofty expectations—playing opposite Travon Walker, the hope was that Allen would return to the heights that saw him log 10.5 sacks as a rookie. Instead, after three sacks over the first month of the season, Allen is mired in the longest sackless stretch of his career. It's a slump that head coach Doug Pederson said Allen knows full well has to come to a stop—now.

“He understands that he needs to get going; he knows that,” Pederson said via Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union. “Conversations that he’s had with the staff, on defense, and knowing that he’s a big part of that rush. He’s talented, too talented not to get there, and just got to make sure that he stays focused in and locked in on the rush plan and sticking to the technique that has made him a good pass rusher in this league.”

It's not that Allen hasn't been getting pressures and QB hits—his production in the latter is actually better than in 2021 when he had 7.5 sacks. For whatever reason, he just hasn't been getting home. The dam is bound to burst at some point, though, and Sunday's meeting with a Titans team surrendering the third-most fantasy points per game to defensive ends this season is as good a spot as any.

DE Chandler Jones, Las Vegas (at Los Angeles Rams)

When the Raiders gave Jones $17 million a season in the offseason, the plan was for the veteran to combine with Maxx Crosby for a formidable one-two punch up front. Crosby certainly held up his end, but over the first 12 weeks of the season, Jones managed just half a sack. However, per Vic Tafur of the Athletic, after his first huge game of the season, Jones said that he never lost confidence that the sacks would come.

“I’ve been having fun all season; it’s just that the quarterback is just starting to fall now,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we can make that a weekly thing. There was no sigh of relief. Honestly, I feel like earlier in my career, stats were a huge thing, but where I am now, it’s about winning. If I had zero sacks on the season and we went deep in the playoffs, that would be huge for me. The sacks are good to have, don’t get me wrong,” Jones said. “To walk off the field with three sacks … I could have had five.”

Those three sacks all came in the first half against the Chargers, making Jones the highest-scoring defensive lineman of Week 13. Chasing last week's stats can be problematic for IDP managers, but Jones has been known to go on multi-week hot streaks. He also faces a Rams team Thursday that leads the NFC in sacks allowed and leads the league in fantasy points per game allowed to defensive ends.

EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Miami (at Los Angeles Chargers)

When veteran edge-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah went down with a season-ending injury, the torch was officially passed to Phillips—it fell to him to carry Miami's pass rush the rest of the season. That means rarely leaving the field, but as Joe Schad wrote for the Palm Beach Post, Phillips made it clear to get him off the field you'll have to drag him off.

"You have that mental toughness because it's easy to quit," Phillips said. "It's easy when you're tired to tap out, say, 'Coach, replacement' or whatever it is, when the game's on the line. I feel like I need to be out there for my teammates. And so that's when you really just got to go to a dark place and just dig deep. That's where the passion and the love that I have from our teammates comes in moments where you know everything, your whole physiological being, is telling you to quit like your body is telling you to quit, but your mind you got to be stronger than that."

Phillips has only tallied five sacks for the season, but his pressure numbers have been outstanding. He's also been on something of a roll of late, with 12 total tackles and two sacks over the past three games. Add in a matchup with a Los Angeles Chargers team that had no answer at all for Chandler Jones last week, and Phillips appears set to keep rolling in Week 14.

LB Tony Fields, Cleveland (at Cincinnati)

The hit parade of injuries at linebacker for the Cleveland Browns continued in last week's win over the Houston Texans, with Sione Takitaki going down with an ACL tear. That injury thrust second-year pro Tony Fields into the largest role defensively of his young career, but the fifth-round pick out of West Virginia told Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon-Journal that it was a role he knew he was ready for.

"It's all about staying ready when your number's called," Fields said. "I mean, NFL is, you don't know, this next-man-up league. So I mean, I was ready. I was always in my playbook. I was always showing up every day consistently ready to work and working my hardest, and it showed. Every game is about playing complementary football. Sometimes another man has to step up, next man up, and today was my day. I took that chance.”

That Fields out-snapped Deion Jones by a wide margin in the game tells you just about everything you need to know about how the Browns staff apparently feels about Jones. Given how wildly the snap shares among the Browns linebackers have varied this year, trusting any of them carries at least some risk. But the Bengals have spent most of the season at the top of the league in fantasy points per game allowed to linebackers. If Fields plays full-time (or close to it), the opportunities will be there.

LB Chad Muma, Jacksonville (at Tennessee)

The Jaguars drafted Utah's Devin Lloyd in the first round of April's draft to be the future of the franchise at inside linebacker. But of late, Lloyd has spent most of the game watching another rookie in Wyoming's Chad Muma make plays. As Muma told reporters, relative to back in the preseason he feels like the game is really slowing down for him.

“Reflecting back on that first preseason game, the Hall of Fame game, it felt really fast compared to the last game,” Muma said. “It really slowed down for me. I was able to see plays quicker, react faster, and so I'm feeling more confident now. I feel much more confident in my coverage skills, whether it's in the past game, and also just using my hands. When an offensive lineman would come up to me I can engage them better and get off and make a play."

Last week against the Lions, Muma played a 76 percent snap share, piling up 11 total tackles (seven solo) and 1.5 sacks on the way to a sixth-place finish among linebackers for the week. This week's matchup with Derrick Henry and the Titans isn't especially favorable, but Muma's per-snap production of late can't be ignored.

LB Jaylon Smith, NY Giants (vs. Philadelphia)

Despite last week's tie against the Commanders and a three-game winless streak, the Giants have still exceeded expectations in 2022. So has veteran linebacker Jaylon Smith, who has gone from street free agent to leader of the team's linebacker corps. As Michael Eisen wrote for the Giants' website, Smith credited his experience and versatility with helping him to quickly make an impact for his new team.

"I've had success at Mike and Will in my career," said Smith. "Easy transition, it doesn't matter. Anything the coaches want from me, I'm going to do. Being a linebacker, it's your job to lead that charge in making sure that everybody's locked and loaded. The D-line knows what they're supposed to do; the back seven know what they're supposed to do. Playing that Mike position, you're kind of the quarterback of the defense. I take pride in it."

Smith is making an appearance in this column for the second week in a row, and last week's results were less than impressive—five total tackles in 63 snaps against the Washington Commanders. But against the Eagles and their fifth-ranked rushing attack, Smith should have enough of an opportunity for redemption to make him worth a look in a week where the matchup LB options aren't great.

S Reed Blankenship, Philadelphia (at NY Giants)

The Philadelphia Eagles are rolling defensively, but injuries have started taking a toll. That includes the loss of safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who was having a career year before a lacerated kidney landed him on injured reserve. That injury moved rookie Reed Blankenship into the starting lineup, and he told Bob Grotz of the Trentonian that he's chomping at the bit to help the team any way he can.

“I’m just glad I’m playing football again,” Blankenship said. “Whatever my role is I want to do it 110 percent. If it’s special teams, I want to do special teams 110 percent. I just love playing football. And I love helping this team. I believe we have a good team. We have great role models of leadership in here. It kind of just rubs off on us younger guys, too. We know not to let the older guys down. The standard’s in place. Just go out there have fun and make plays.”

Blankenship was quiet last week against the Titans, but he played 100 percent of the team's defensive snaps. That modest three-stop stat line came in one of the worst fantasy matchups for safeties. This week in New York, Blankenship will play in one of the best. There's DB2 upside to be had here—and Blankenship should be available just about everywhere.

S Camryn Bynum, Minnesota (at Detroit)

The Vikings have made a habit of living dangerously this season. Of Minnesota's 10 wins, nine have been by single digits. There have been close calls and late-game heroics galore on both sides of the ball, including the game-sealing interception by Bynum in last week's win over the New York Jets. Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, Bynum said that the Vikings have become accustomed to the late-game pressure cooker.

"In the fourth quarter, it feels normal," said Bynum, "It feels like any other play. I know pressure is on us. We're in the red zone. Fourth down. One play to lose the game or win the game. To us, that's normal football."

Bynum hasn't just been making big plays, either. His tackle numbers have ticked up in recent weeks—at least seven in two of the last three weeks. Sunday's meeting between the Vikings and Lions in Detroit has the highest Over/Under at DraftKings of any game on the Week 14 slate. That high O/U implies plenty of passing. Plenty of passing means opportunities for Bynum.

CB Nick McCloud, NY Giants (vs. Philadelphia)

A second-year undrafted free agent from Notre Dame, McCloud has played more snaps over the past two games with the Giants than in his entire career before that. That included a whopping 85 snaps in last week's tie with Washington, and safety Jordan Love told reporters after the game that he was impressed by how McCloud fared after being pressed into service.

"Nick's a good player," Love said. "I think when we brought him in and gave him a few opportunities early on, everybody quickly realized how good of a player he is. He's a guy that's definitely on the rise; he's physical when he needs to be. He's good in coverage. He's fast. He has a lot of ability to him. I think going into the game, we felt, I felt extremely confident in him because I know the type of competitor he is. He has that way about him that gives people confidence. We're looking to build off of his abilities because right now, we need it."

With Adoree Jackson out with a hand injury, McCloud has played every single defensive snap each of the past two games. He has been productive in both, logging eight total tackles in each contest. And with Jackson out at least one more week and the high-flying Eagles offense next on the schedule, a third straight solid IDP effort is not only possible but likely.