Weak Defenses and Favorable Week 12 Matchups

• Tweet

• Tweet

Looking to exploit favorable fantasy matchups in Week 12? In this article, I list the worst rushing and passing defenses in the league through the first eleven weeks of the season, their opponents, and who may benefit and produce great fantasy performances.

Worst Run Defenses

Rank	Team	Yds. Allowed	Yds/game	Rush TDs
26	Carolina Panthers	1,307	130.7	11
27	Kansas City Chiefs	1,386	138.6	9
28	St. Louis Rams	1,464	146.4	14
29	Cleveland Browns	1,549	154.9	13
30	Oakland Raiders	1,577	157.7	16
31	Buffalo Bills	1,659	165.9	15
32	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1,689	168.9	12

 

Matchups in Week 12

26 Carolina Panthers @ N.Y. Jets (Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene)
27 Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers (LaDainian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles)
28 St. Louis Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks (Justin Forsett, Julius Jones*)
29 Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals (Bernard Scott, Cedric Benson*)
30 Oakland Raiders @ Dallas Cowboys (Marion Barber, Felix Jones)
31 Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins (Ricky Williams)
32 Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Atlanta Falcons (Jason Snelling, Jerious Norwood*, Michael Turner*)

* watch injury reports

Worst Pass Defenses

Rank	Team	Yds. Allowed	Yds/game	Pass TDs
26	Cleveland Browns	2,471	247.1	15
27	Arizona Cardinals	2,472	247.2	15
28	Kansas City Chiefs	2,509	250.9	17
29	Atlanta Falcons	2,534	253.4	16
30	San Francisco 49ers	2,561	256.1	11
31	Tennessee Titans	2,717	271.7	25
32	Detroit Lions	2,753	275.3	24

 
Matchups in Week 12
26 Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals (Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Laveranues Coles, Andre Caldwell)
27 Arizona Cardinals @ Tennessee Titans (Vince Young, Kenny Britt, Nate Washington)
28 Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers (Philip Rivers, Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates, Malcom Floyd)
29 Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Josh Freeman, Antonio Bryant*, Kellen Winslow)
30 San Francisco 49ers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (David Garrard, Mike Sims-Walker, Torry Holt, Marcedes Lewis)
31 Tennessee Titans vs. Arizona Cardinals (Kurt Warner*, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Steve Breaston)
32 Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers (Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones)

Additional notes

With every NFL team having played exactly 10 games, it’s easy to look at the statistics this week and see where the worst rushing and passing defenses are in the league. It seems however that as compared to previous weeks there are more injury situations to watch. It would behoove the astute fantasy owner to check the injury reports on Sunday morning to confirm the status of these players.

Please note that this article was written after some Thanksgiving games have been contested; however the matchups are still listed.

 
<i>Jeff LaGrassa is a Steelers fan and a Cafe regular, and a proud new dad. In his free time (yeah right!) he enjoys disc golf, skiing, and playing the electric bass. You can catch him posting in the Cafe forums as</i> The Lung.
 

Want to write for the Cafe? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!