RaiderDamus' Fantasy Foretelling Week 15: Raiders vs. Lions

by RDreamer on Dec 16, 2011 2:54 PM PST

Ahoy, Raider fans! RaiderDamus here with another exciting edition of the Fantasy Foretelling. The last few weeks RaiderDamus has been somewhat down on the Raiders from a fantasy perspective, which was wise as they have scored a total of 30 points in the last two games- if you started any Raiders during that span you probably shouldn't have. The Raiders are a team in turmoil right now with their poor play and massive injury troubles. This week they face a pretty good, but inconsistent, Lions team with plenty of weapons on offense. After the break, as usual, I will tell you what to do with the real-life players on your make-believe team.

We all know how the Raiders are playing, so there's no real time to pontificate here about them. That's what the 'RaiderDamus Sees The Future' column is for and that is coming very soon. Let's just get straight into the fantasy projections. As usual we start with the opponents.

QB Matt Stafford- Start. He's had some down weeks lately, and this is tied to Calvin Johnson's recent mediocrity, but he is still a really good QB who is worthy of a starting spot this week against a team that has just been carved up lately through the air. Stafford can be erratic, but he can also be deadly good. 345 pass yds, 2 TD, INT, fumble lost.

WR Calvin Johnson- Must start every week. He sits, deservedly, at the very top of the WR ranks and with Andre Johnson's hamstring issues has no real competition there. With Michael Huff on the shelf this week, Megatron is an uncoverable nightmare and will give the Raiders fits. 120 rec yds, TD.

WR Titus Young- Bench. Stafford is going to try to force the ball to Johnson. Young may get the scraps of the passing game but won't make much of an impact. 60 rec yds.

WR Nate Burleson- Bench. May catch one or two long passes that will make him seem better than he really is. 70 rec yds.

TE Brandon Pettigrew- Start. He's really underrated because he is underutilized. He will be a red zone terror and will catch a TD pass because the Raiders will cover him with a linebacker. 50 rec yds, TD.

RB Lions- Bench any of them. They are all hurt and they all suck. One of them might score, but God knows which one.

Lions defense: Start. Until Palmer gets his weapons back, he is going to be forced to chuck the ball into dangerous places and he can be taken advantage of. The Lions' defensive line gets Ndamukong Suh back this week and even without him is a top-5 unit.

And now, our heroes, the Oakland Raiders.

QB Carson Palmer- Bench. Meh. He's going up against a pretty good defense here, and I don't trust him not to throw the ball to them. Denarius Moore is back, which should help him, but the Raiders' inability to establish the run makes them one dimensional and limits Palmer's effectiveness. He can score in garbage time but that's about it at this point until the Raiders get healthy. 250 pass yds, TD, 2 INT.

RB Michael Bush- Start. I think the offensive line will step up their game this week and really try to bully the Lions defensive line, whose main weakness is overeagerness. They want so badly to get to the QB they often overrun the draw or the off-guard runs and are out of position to make the tackle. Bush is a good bet this week to score at least once and rack up some yardage. 120 rush yds, TD.

Don't bother starting any other Raiders unless you have to. Even Denarius Moore isn't a good play this week. And please no more "I started Marcel Reece" comments, that's just asinine. When a RB/FB touches the ball at most five times a game he isn't worth starting. Reece is great and all in real life but not in fantasy. Just stop it.

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Well... in the spirit of a Raider fans only fantasy league, I started all the Raiders on my roster in my first playoff game last week

one of whom, is named Marcel Reece. I don’t get the harsh feelings, because I know of a few weeks no one in the world started Marcel this year when a certain few league leaders last year were doing shit early in the season and he’d have been an excellent start, and though he’d not receive a lot of “touches”, he’d remain one of the only viable threats in our pass game at times and get lots of ‘targets’ instead… enough said on that.

The other Raider, was CP, who though very much an interception machine was avging 15 fantasy points going into the week. I think we all suspected he’d chuck a bunch to GB, but we also thought he’d get a TD or two and three hundred plus yards on a defense nearly topping the league in yards allowed to fantasy QBs.

Long story short… despite horrible performances from both Raiders, I still was within less than three points down, and had Lloyd made a TD catch on that final drive or one or two that got away from him I still would’ve won. But, bottom line, even though I seemed one of the only ones willing to say WTF and go Raiders in a Raider fan only league, had I truly wanted to win, starting any other guy than Reece would’ve won the game. Starting Roethlisberger in place of CP and still starting Reece would’ve won it too.

Such is how my playing the Raiders in fantasy goes… I sometimes suffer too because I refuse to start guys playing against us despite knowing they’ll do well. If Kevin Smith is a full go this week which looks like he will be, smart money says he’s a great start too, set to get 100+ and a TD or two. Didn’t we give up that to Ryan Grant, who sucks?

I’d say stay away from Detroit D. Yeah, they get an Int or two, but can’t stop the scorefest either, whether they outscore us or not.

""The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled."--Hunter S. Thompson
"In football, I root for the Oakland Raiders because they hire castoffs, outlaws, malcontents, and fuck -ups, they have lots of penalties, fights, and paybacks, and because Al Davis told the rest of the pig NFL owners to go get fucked. Someday, the Raiders will be strong again, and they will dip the ball in shit and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, white, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." - George Carlin.

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by brhynno on Dec 16, 2011 3:51 PM PST reply actions

Considering the Raiders horrible run defense

And their penchant for giving up huge runs to nearly every single RB they face (no matter how good or bad they are), I wouldn’t be so quick to say bench any Detroit RBs.

I also might have to start Burleson thanks to the Raiders injuring Jennings last week. Or Jennings hurting his leg due to kicking the Raiders ass so hard last week. It’s either Burleson or James Jones. Not really sure which way to go on that one.

by Chris2814 on Dec 16, 2011 4:31 PM PST reply actions

jones is a much better play.

These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others. -Groucho Marx

by RDreamer on Dec 16, 2011 4:48 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

I was leaning that direction.

Hoping he’ll get more targets now that Jennings is out. I only picked him up because Jennings is out, actually.

by Chris2814 on Dec 16, 2011 6:41 PM PST up reply actions

Johnson?

Who’s gonna cover Calvin Johnson? Hope they keep a safety over the top on him ALL day or there’s gonna b trouble

by bigjon22 on Dec 16, 2011 4:50 PM PST via mobile reply actions

I'd think as good as Tyvon did against Jennings and his speed and size make him the guy to put on Johnson all day

when its not Stanford Routt.

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by brhynno on Dec 16, 2011 7:32 PM PST up reply actions

Stan has to play a great game. No doubt about it.

You are right in that Tyvon can do a good job as well, but they are going to need him to help with Burleson and Young—especially since it look unlikely that Huff will play.

They charged me 15 dollars. That's how much it costs to only have 20 dollars.

by Rich Langford on Dec 16, 2011 9:12 PM PST up reply actions