Fantasy Playoffs - Should be Fine or Ride the Pine!

For most formats of fantasy football, this is the deciding week! It all gets started tonight with a high scoring affair in St. Louis. The Rams are really starting to turn it up in past weeks and the Steelers have been playing in bad conditions for the past month. This game really should be a shoot out as both defenses have really been letting opposing teams go to town on them.

Two players who will excel in this game are Torry Holt and Willie Parker. Each will get over 100 yards of total offense and each will have a score. With Steven Jackson running like a stallion, this will open up the passing game for the Rams as the Steelers will focus on shutting down Jackson and trying to put Mark Bulger on his back. The "Steel Curtain" has been humiliated in the past two weeks, with no sacks and only 1 pick. They will now be indoors and this will be the true test for the D if they can function without Aaron Smith, the glue to their defense! Willie Parker has been putting up great yardage every week and against a suspect Rams rush D, will break a big run for a TD.

Below you will find some players who should help your team just fine or should find their way on your fantasy roster pine!

MUST BE IN YOUR LINEUP (Top Starter of Week 16)
Earnest Graham - He has quietly been the one of the best backs in the NFL after taking over for the injured Cadillac Williams & Michael Pittman and will continue to shine against the 49ers on Sunday! The Niners will be hungry to hit their Ex-QB (Jeff Garcia) in the ear hole and Graham will slide right by with some nice runs. Yeah, he hasn't run for 100 yards since Week 13 against NO, but against Houston in Week 14 he had 2 TD's and last week against Atlanta he ran for 79 yards, 1 score and caught 5 passes for 40 yards!

PLAYERS THAT SHOULD BE FINE!
QB'S
Ben Roethlisberger - 3 TD's last week and no picks. The yardage wasn't stellar (146 yards) but Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes & Heath Miller will all have nice games!
Brodie Croyle - He's facing the dejected and almost ready to give up Lions, should I say anymore! This is the week he makes some highlight films.
Sage Rosenfels - Expect Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter each to have a TD! In the second half of this game, expect Indy to rest their starters; no matter what Dungy has said! Sage has something to prove, that he can be a reliable NFL Starter!

RB'S
Jamal Lewis - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!! Cleveland will be forcing the running game and Jamal will excel in this match up. Last week he was the workhorse for the Browns with 33 carries and 163 yards. No touchdowns, but this week will score at least once against the weak Cincinnati Defense who gave up 138 rushing yards to Frank Gore in Week 15. The snow will be coming down in Cinci and Lewis will pull the sleigh!
Fred Taylor - He has put up 100 yards each of the last 4 weeks and totaled 147 yards last week against the Steelers. This week he faces the Raiders and we all now how well they do against the run!!!
Kolby Smith - The Lions gave up 100 yards to two different Chargers running backs last week (one of them being Darren Sproles). They have thrown in the towel and expect KC to bounce back with a win this week and the Kolby/Brodie show will be the Sunday matinee.

WR'S
Andre Johnson - See Rosenfels above. Houston will have the Colts 2nd stringers to throw against in the second half.
Anthony Gonzalez - Manning needs to up his reps with his backup (now starter) Gonzalez, if he expects to go far in the playoffs. I see Anthony doing better than Reggie Wayne in this match up as Wayne will take it easy and let Dallas Clark and Gonzalez get hot!
Wes Welker - He's playing Miami. Brady will target him plenty! Wes also wants to show the Miami brass how stupid it was to let him go! Super High scoring affair, at least for NE! The weather will be frightful, but Brady and Co. will start prepping for the playoffs!

PLAYERS THAT SHOULD RIDE THE PINE!
QB'S
Jon Kitna - 5 picks last week & his team has quit on him except for Kevin Jones and Calvin Johnson. A very unmotivated team will show up this week and Kitna will try to force too many balls into tight coverage! He faces KC which is #8 against the pass and have 13 interceptions on the year. The Cheifs will pressure the Lions hard and should sack Kitna at least three times as Detroit will pass and pass some more and no receivers will be open.
Derek Anderson - Sit him if the weather is bad! It should be snowing and Jamal will carry the load. See above! However, if the weather turns out to be nice, start him!
Carson Palmer - Same as Anderson! Keep tabs on the weather! Palmer has been a disappointment in recent weeks! The last 5 weeks combined he has a 78 QB rating and has 6 TD's and 7 picks! He hasn't thrown for over 300 yards since Week 11 vs. AZ. With that being said, he murdered Cleveland in Week 2 with 401 yards, 6 TD's and 2 picks! The weather will decide how this game goes!

RB'S
Aaron Stecker - His last two games have been great for the Saints, but this week he faces the Philly D and they held the Cowboys running game in check Week 15. Dallas totalled a feeble 53 rushing yards against them last week and expect New Orleans to take to the air at home in Week 16.
Clinton Portis - Minnesota is stellar against the run! The #1 rush defense holds opposing backs to less than 70 yards per game and has only given up 6 TD's on the year!
Marshawn Lynch - He didn't fare well in the cold weather last week in Cleveland and only rushed for 82 yards against the Browns. The weather should be bad again and expect a sub par game!

WR'S
Roydell Williams - he finally showed up in Week 15, don't expect it again! His 2 scores last week will be his best game in 2007 and he hasn't caught more than 5 passes all year! The Jets rank 30th against stopping the run and the Titans will run, run, run in Week 16.
Brandon Marshall - His off the field play has been bad and now he faces the Chargers pass Defense who made Kitna look like he was a Chargers quarterback using the Defensive Backs as receivers. San Diego leads the NFL with interceptions and will be double covering Marshall all day. The Chargers are playing for seeding in the playoffs, and even if the offense gets some rest, the defense will not go lightly against their divisional nemesis! Last time Marshall faced a decent pass defense was the Raiders in Week 13 and he had 6 catches for 67 yards. The Broncos have been leaning strongly on him and the Chargers know this is how to shut down the Denver O!!
T.J. Houshmandzadeh - See Palmer! See weather! On top of that, he has one touchdown in his last 5 games and hasn't had a 100 yard game in that stretch as well. He only has three 100 yard games for the season and has only 2 TD's in his last nine games. If the weather miraculously clears, he could produce. But even if, it is a risk!

Here are a few key sites to visit for some extra help with your lineups:

ESPN Player Rankings
FOX Sports Player Projections
YAHOO Player Rankings
NFL Weather Updates - Weather.com

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PLAYOFFS!!! KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED THAT THE STUDS WILL ONCE AGAIN SHOW UP IN WEEK 16!