Happy Thanksgiving! There are three games to celebrate the holiday on Thanksgiving and a game on Black Friday. The Bears take on the Lions, the Giants play the Cowboys, the Dolphins visit the Packers, and the Raiders match up with the Chiefs on Friday. With two weeks left in the fantasy football season, it is a must-win mode for fantasy managers. Here is a breakdown of what to expect from the holiday games.
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Fantasy Football on Thanksgiving Preview
Bears at Lions
The Bears travel to Detroit to open up the Thanksgiving slate. This will be a tough matchup for both quarterbacks. The Bears and the Lions are in the top five for the least fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. Jared Goff and Caleb Williams should be left on benches in one-QB leagues.
Amon-Ra St. Brown is the only obvious must-start wide receiver for this game. Jameson Williams is a FLEX play, while D.J Moore has been trending up in the last two weeks and is a WR3. Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are FLEX plays as well. Both Sam LaPorta and Cole Kmet are mid-range TE2s.
Moving onto the running backs, David Montgomery is questionable after leaving Week 12 with a shoulder injury. If he doesn’t play, Jahmyr Gibbs becomes a top-five RB for the week. Even if Montgomery does play, both are must-starts. D’Andre Swift has been struggling recently, and the Lions have given up the second-fewest points to opposing running backs this year. Swift downgrades to an RB3 for this week in a tough matchup.
Giants at Cowboys
The Giants travel to Dallas in the middle game of the slate. This is a game between two disappointing, underperforming teams. Tommy DeVito replaced the benched Daniel Jones last week, but now DeVito is dealing with a forearm injury. Drew Lock will start if DeVito can’t go. Either way, it is not a good situation for the Giants. Malik Nabers is the only Giants pass catcher that can be started. The Cowboys’ run defense has not been good, giving up the fourth most fantasy points to running backs this year. Tyrone Tracy Jr. has a good matchup but lost touches last week after fumbling in the red zone. Tracy is an RB2 if he gets his normal workload of touches.
On the Cowboys side, Cooper Rush has looked better in the last two weeks after struggling in his first start. Lamb is a top-ten wide receiver this week due to his high target share. Jake Ferguson is still dealing with a concussion, but if he can play, he can be started. Rico Dowdle has taken over the backfield and is an RB2.
This Thanksgiving Day matchup is meaningless for the NFL Playoff Push, but there are still a few fantasy football stars to watch.
Dolphins at Packers
The Dolphins travel to Green Bay on what will be a cold night at Lambeau Field. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 0-7 all-time in games played at 40 degrees or less. Tagovailoa has finished as a top-ten quarterback in two straight weeks, but it will be much tougher to make that three in a row. Not only will there be cold weather, but the Packers are allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this year. Look for better options at the quarterback position this week. On the other hand, the Dolphins have a great defense as well, allowing the third-fewest points to quarterbacks on the year. Love is a borderline QB1/QB2 this week.
It has been hard to trust any of the Packers wide receivers this season. Romeo Doubs left last week’s game with a concussion, and he is unlikely to clear protocol in time for the game on Thanksgiving night. If he does miss, Jayden Reed and Christian Watson get a bump. Reed is the only one worth starting, as Watson is more of a boom-or-bust player. For the Dolphins, Hill has been struggling and is a high-end WR2 on the week. Jaylen Waddle is a good sell-high candidate after his big game last week. Jonnu Smith is a must-start tight end, while Tucker Kraft is a desperation start.
For the running backs, Josh Jacobs and De’Von Achane are both top ten running backs this week, as neither team is strong against stopping the run.
Raiders at Chiefs
The Raiders travel to Kansas City to play on Black Friday. This could be a rough game for the Raiders as Gardner Minshew is out for the season. Aidan O’Connell is in line to start. This is a downgrade for everyone on the Raiders offense. Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers are the only two Raiders that can be started. The running back situation is one to avoid. Both Zamir White and Alexander Mattison missed the Week 12 game, leaving Ameer Abdullah for the start. Regardless of who plays, the Chiefs are the best fantasy run defense.
Patrick Mahomes rebounded last week with his best fantasy performance of the game. He upgrades back to a low-end QB1. DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy are both borderline FLEX plays in a week with no wide receivers on a bye. Travis Kelce is a must-start tight end even though Noah Gray has stolen two touchdowns in each of the last two games. Isiah Pacheco could return for this week’s game, which makes the RB room for Kansas City difficult to predict. Kareem Hunt has been great for the Chiefs, but if Pacheco returns, they will split carries. Both are low-end RB2s in what should be a favorable game script for the Chiefs.
Thanksgiving & Football 🦃🏈
📺: NFL Schedule Release on NFLN/ESPN2
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/qeoT6fsJUB— NFL (@NFL) May 16, 2024
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, food, and football which includes rooting for your players on your fantasy team as you make a push to the playoffs.
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