- The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 3, 2014

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

As Meatloaf once sang, “One out of four ain’t bad.” OK, that’s not exactly what he said, but no one ever listened to Meatloaf that closely and the point is that I made the playoffs in 25 percent of the leagues I’m in!

A four-game winning streak secured the third seed in a 12-team standard league, and that more than makes up for a season spent cellar-dwelling in three other leagues.

My enthusiasm is tempered, though, because the matchups are not in my favor this week.

Matchups, man, matchups.

In competitive leagues, they’re often the deciding factor, and that is especially true in the playoffs, where every team is strong.

I giddily looked up my playoff opener when I got home from work late Monday night, only to see that my opponent has Aaron Rodgers, the guy I should have targeted in multiple leagues this year instead of Drew Brees, who spent two months playing like Jay Cutler. The likely NFL MVP is at home against the Falcons. Ouch! I’ll counter with Philip Rivers, who carried my team the first half of the season and came up huge last week against the Ravens. Unfortunately, he faces the Patriots this week. I don’t like my chances.

Julio Jones has been a difference-maker for me the past two weeks after two months of avoiding the end zone, and while I HAVE to play him (right?), his quarterback, Matt Ryan, is terrible outside in the cold. It’s cold outside in Green Bay in December.

I actually could sit Jones because I’m deep at receiver. Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans. One of them will sit, and I will start praying as soon as I’m done typing that I choose the right one.

Hopkins is coming off a career game (238 yards, 2 TDs) and he faces the Jaguars. Good matchup for me! Of course, I have enough time to convince myself that he’s due for a bad game, so

Allen, another member of the bad-until-late-November squad, is coming off his two best games. AHHHH, ALL MY PLAYERS PEAKED TOO EARLY!!! He draws the aforementioned Patriots. Allen was one of my most underrated heading into the season, so I want to play him just to stroke my ego.

That leaves Evans, the one player I can hang my hat on as far as predicting success no one saw coming. The rookie had scored in four straight games — including a 209-yard, 2-TD performance against the Redskins — until he was shut down by the Bengals last week. He’s on the road against a Lions defense that is one of the best in the league. The unit shut down Rodgers at Ford Field earlier this season. The Bucs are terrible. It should be tough for them to get near the end zone, much less into it. I’m leaning heavily toward benching Evans. Terrible matchup. Right move (right?). But, like Allen, Evans is an ego play each week.

What to do? What to do?

That is the question.

Week 13 Lineup Crime: I got away with one. Well, two. After Joique Bell spent the season taking up space as my RB2, I sat him against the hapless Bears. He scored twice, which tripled his season TD total. Worse, I sat Hopkins against the haplesser Titans. I left 329 yards and four scores on my bench and still won handily. I was lucky to overcome some terrible judgment.

Week 14 Lineup Time: After being ignored last week, you might be tempted to sit the Bears’ Matt Forte. Don’t. He’ll have a big game rushing and receiving Thursday night against the Cowboys. Kenny Stills should have another big game this week with the Saints at home against a Panthers team in freefall. He’s a solid Flex play. Matthew Stafford had a huge game last week against the Bears. This week, he faces the Bucs, who play a similar defense and are similarly bad. Seattles defense is capable of significantly slowing down the Eagles. Don’t be afraid to keep the unit in your lineup.

• Matt Pallister can be reached at mpallister@washingtontimes.com.

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