FanEx Sports Contest Tips: NFL Week 16

Week 16 of the NFL season is fast approaching and it’s time to take home some cash in the QB Throwdown, RB Rushing Roulette and WR Downfield Threat. Each EasyScore Pick’em game focuses on one position and gives you three tiers from each position to choose from. So in the end you’ll have three players on your team, either QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs or even Kickers!

Here are my three teams for this week: 

Downfield Threat 

Tier 1: Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers

Peyton Manning: So Manning needs to stick to his average of 343.6 yards passing and 3.36 touchdowns per game he breaks Tom Brady’s single season touchdown record and Drew Brees’ single season yardage record. At 37 years of age and a great appreciation for the history of the game I don’t see him letting off the gas until those records are broken.

Tier 2: Cam Newton, Philip Rivers, Nick Foles, Alex Smith, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson

Ben Roethlisberger: The Packers just gave up 358 yards passing to Tony Romo and 330 yards to Matthew Stafford while Roethlisberger has been playing well. On the season he is averaging 279.9 yards per game, sixth in the league.

Tier 3: Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler, Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Terrelle Pryor

Jay Cutler: Cutler returned from his ankle injury last week and played well against a tough Cleveland defense in windy and cold conditions. He’ll get some tough conditions again this week, but against an easier opponent. The Eagles just allowed 382 yards passing to Matt Cassel and 302 yards to Carson Palmer. I think Cutler will be good in the cold weather of Soldier Field.

Rushing Roulette

Tier 1: Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush

LeSean McCoy: There’s really no other pick here. The Bears have been getting killed by the run and even if Lance Briggs returns, this is LeSean McCoy we are talking about. He leads the league with 96 rushing yards per game and the Bears lead the league in giving up 131.4 rushing yards per game.

Tier 2: Eddie Lacy, Frank Gore, Chris Johnson, Knowshon Moreno, Giovani Bernard, Alfred Morris

Alfred Morris: Morris gets a great matchup with Dallas this week. Eddie Lacy ran over them last week for 141 yards and, well, most running games have smashed them down to a pulp, especially with Sean Lee out. Morris’ only drawback is usage, but he had 18 carries last week for 98 yards against the Falcons and I see that as his floor this week.

Tier 3: Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Le'Veon Bell, Danny Woodhead, Shane Vereen, Darren Sproles, Zac Stacy, Rashad Jennings

 Rashad Jennings: Jennings just keeps on keeping on. He didn’t have a ton of yards last week against the Chiefs, but still got in for two touchdowns and this week he gets a much easier matchup with San Diego who give up 90 yards rushing per game at 4.7 yards per carry. He is the Raiders best player right now and he’ll get his work.

Downfield Threat

Tier 1: Dez Bryant, Calvin Johnson, Josh Gordon, Eric Decker, Jordy Nelson, Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas A.J. Green

Calvin Johnson: Well, last week he had a couple of very bad drops, but this week he gets a better matchup and will be looking to make up for his poor play from his poor week 15.

Tier 2: Brandon Marshall, Vincent Jackson, DeSean Jackson, Keenan Allen, Riley Cooper, Alshon Jeffery, Larry Fitzgerald T.Y. Hilton

Brandon Marshall: The Eagles were just torched by Greg Jennings for 163 yards. On the season they give up a league high 213 yards receiving per game to wide receivers and now that Jay Cutler is back he is targeting Marshall much more than Josh McCown was.

Tier 3: Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Greg Jennings, Marques Colston, Brandon LaFell, Mike Wallace, Pierre Garcon, Roddy White

Pierre Garcon: With Kirk Cousins in for RG III last week Garcon caught seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons. He gets another great matchup this week against the Cowboys who give up the fourth most yards per game to opposing wide receivers.