Weak Defenses and Favorable Week 13 Matchups

Looking to exploit favorable fantasy matchups in Week 13? In this article, I list the worst rushing and passing defenses in the league through the first ten 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
27	Kansas City Chiefs	1480	134.5	11
28	St. Louis Rams	1634	148.5	16
29	Cleveland Browns	1759	159.9	13
30	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1764	160.4	12
31	Oakland Raiders	1772	161.1	17
32	Buffalo Bills	1816	165.1	16

Matchups in Week 13

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos (Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter)
St. Louis Rams @ Chicago Bears (Matt Forte)
Cleveland Browns vs. San Diego Chargers (LaDainian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Carolina Panthers (DeAngelo Williams*, Jonathan Stewart*)
Oakland Raiders @ Pittsburgh Steelers (Rashard Mendenhall)
Buffalo Bills vs. N.Y. Jets (Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene)

* watch injury reports

Worst Pass Defenses

Rank	Team	Yds. Allowed	Yds/game	Pass TDs
26	Jacksonville Jaguars	2672	242.9	19
27	Atlanta Falcons	2779	252.6	18
28	San Francisco 49ers	2822	256.5	11
29	Arizona Cardinals	2841	258.3	16
30	Kansas City Chiefs	2842	258.4	19
31	Tennessee Titans	2934	266.7	25
32	Detroit Lions	3095	281.4	27

Matchups in Week 13

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans (Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter)
Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Donovan McNabb, DaBomb Jackson*, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, Jason Avant)
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks (Matt Hasselbeck, Nate Burleson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, John Carlson)
Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings (Brett Favre, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe, Bernard Berrian)
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos (Kyle Orton, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Tony Scheffler)
Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts (Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie)
Detroit Lions @ Cincinnati Bengals (Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Laveranues Coles, Andre Caldwell)

* watch injury reports

Additional notes

In the final week before most leagues’ playoffs begin, the matchups are as favorable as they’ve been the entire year — a lot of stud players face the weakest defenses in the league. About the only matchups I would feel less than confident about are the Denver passing attack and Matt Forte, who has disappointed most of this year. Even at home against the Rams, Forte does not inspire confidence.

Carson Palmer put up VERY pedestrian stats in the month of November, and if he doesn’t break out at home against the worst pass defense in the league, he never will. Personally, I am dropping Palmer outright if he doesn’t throw for at least 250 yards and two TDs against the Motor City Kitties this week.

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 The Lung.

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