You Can Get With This Or You Can Get With That Week 14

Get with Jon Kitna not with Eli Manning

History says to stay away from Eli Manning vs the Vikings (Newsday)

The Giants are getting healthier on offense, but they’re not all better yet. Diehl is set to come back and Steve Smith will be back in the mix at wide receiver, but the Giants are still missing a couple of O-lineman and their best receiver, Nicks, might play but will most certainly be limited. These injuries, as well as the resurgence of Brandon Jacobs has turned the G-Men into a running team, and I think that will continue in Minnesota this week. Minnesota is a tough place to play and the best way to take the crowd out of the game is to run the ball with success and control the clock. Also, Manning simply does not play well against the Vikings. His career QB rating against them is a measly 48. That’s a tough combination to expect fantasy brilliance from.

John Kitna has turned into a very reliable fantasy QB the past 4 weeks (7 TD’s and 2 INT’s) and the loss of Dez Bryant is getting overblown (4 receptions for 22 yards the past 3 weeks). Kitna still has his favorite target in Jason Witten and enough talent on the outside with Austin and Williams. This week he faces the Eagles who have been mediocre against the pass and their best corner, Asante Samuel, is coming back from injury and might not play. Start Kitna with confidence.

Get with LeGarrette Blount not with Fred Jackson

When the Bills offense was humming, Fred Jackson was their unsung hero, but now with several key injuries to their O-line, the Bills and Jackson did next to nothing against the Vikings last week. A banged up line means less time for Fitzpatrick to throw, which means less of a passing threat, which means less running lanes for Jackson. Throw in the mix that CJ Spiller is starting to get more carries and that they are playing a very physical Browns team, and I’m staying away from Jackson this week.

Did you see what Blount did to a tough Atlanta run defense last week? Did you see what the Giants running game did to the Redskins last week? The Redskins do not have the right players to play a 3-4 and suspending Fat Albert for the rest of the season certainly isn’t going to solve that problem. At this point Blount is one of the few starting backs not in a time share and he plays on a pretty good team, it’s time we start ranking him accordingly.

Get with Dwayne Bowe not with Sydney Rice

Sydney Rice showed us that he’s still the fantasy stud he proved to be last year with his first big game off of his injury. The Giants pass defense, however, is 2nd in the league and pose a much stiffer challenge this week than the Bills did last week. I don’t care who is playing QB for the Vikings, but the Giants are going to be all over him, limiting looks downfield to Rice. If Harvin is able to recover from his migraines this week, it will also eat into Rice’s looks.

Dwayne Bowe gets shut out one week and suddenly he plummets in the fantasy rankings? Receivers do this sometimes, it’s just a fact of fantasy life. I realize the Brodie Croyle might be his quarterback this week and that he’s playing a very good Chargers Defense, but Croyle is still going to throw the ball in Bowe’s general direction and Bowe has proven to be matchup proof this year. The man already had 14 TD’s and just had a Jerry Rice like stretch. I rescind my negative comments from weeks past. Bowe is a must start against anyone. His upside is just too high.

-Ben P