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Thursday Night Football
The Saints are quickly fading out of the NFC playoff race, and they’ll be without three key offensive players with RB Alvin Kamara, RT Ryan Ramczyk, and LT Terron Armstead each declared out Thursday morning. I’m taking Mark Ingram (NO) over 38.5 rushing yards (100 pts) for my first prop since he’ll be thrust into a prominent role in this contest. He sat out last week with a knee issue with a short week to get ready, but he’s run for 43+ yards in each of his last three games, including 30/135 rushing in his last two games without Kamara. The Cowboys are giving up 4.4 YPC to RBs after Josh Jacobs went for 22/87/1 rushing against them last week. I’m also fading Ezekiel Elliott (Dal) under 70.5 rushing yards (100 pts) for my second prop. Zeke has been battling through a knee injury since he showed up on Dallas’ injury report before Week 10, and he’s averaging just 3.1 YPC on 32 carries and 5.0 YPR on 15 catches over his last three games. The Saints are giving up the second-fewest rushing yards per game (66.0) and just 3.2 YPC to RBs this season. Enjoy tonight’s game and good luck! — Tom Brolley
CeeDee Lamb is back after missing Week 12 due to a concussion. Fellow WR Amari Cooper may also be back vs the Saints, but there is an asterisk next to him due to still remaining questionable and possibly on a snap count if he does go after his spell with COVID-19. Lamb has had five games this season over five catches, along with some heavy targeted games such as 15 (Week 1) and 11 (Week 6) looks which may be the cae today as the WR1 heading into the matchup. For these reasons I am selecting CeeDee Lamb over 4.5 receptions (75 pts). On the other side of the ball, Tre’Quan Smith has been targeted the heaviest to the Saints’ WR room the last few games. Sounds good on paper, but it is not saying a ton as he has only been above four catches in a game once (Week 11) in his six appearances. Out of these six appearances, Smith’s targets have only been five twice. My second selection following some trends for the Saints’ WR will be Tre’Quan Smith under 4.5 receptions (75 pts). Enjoy the game.
- Nick Skrip
Sunday Football
Extending Thrive Fantasy picks here in December, my first selection involves Travis Kelce who is an easy player to bet in favor with his dominance over the years. Travis Kelce has totaled 821 receiving yards this season, with 8/11 of his games above 60 receiving yards and four of those being for 99 or more receiving yards. The opponent does not matter, I am smashing Travis Kelce over 60.5 receiving yards (70 pts). Kirk Cousins has a plus matchup vs. Detroit, and was one of my favorite fantasy plays for the week. Cousins has thrown for two or more TD’s in four straight games with eight multi-TD games on the year. Four of those multi-TD games have been three TD days for Cousins. Alexander Mattisson should see heavy volume filling in for Dalvin Cook, but I do not think the game-plan is relying on him to win the game. I am taking Kirk Cousins over 1.5 total passing TD’s (90 pts) for my second Thrive selection. Good luck!
- Nick Skrip
The games get a little more important when the calendars flip to December and there’s a chill in the air. Let’s get started with Jonathan Taylor (Ind) over 105.5 rushing yards against the lowly Texans. He’s posted 19+ FP in nine straight games thanks to 15 TDs in that span, but he fell below 100 scrimmage yards for the first time in his nine-game run against a stout Buccaneer’s front seven last week. The Texans’ defense isn’t in the same zip code as the Buccaneers’ defense, and JT ripped Houston for 14/145/2 rushing back in Week 6. I’m taking Zach Wilson (NYJ) under 226.5 passing yards for my second prop. Wilson took back the starting job in Week 12 after missing four games for a knee injury, and he looked like the same quarterback from before his injury. He completed 14/24 passes for 145 yards (6.0 YPA) and one INT. Wilson hasn’t thrown for a TD in five of his first seven starts and he’s averaging just 6.4 YPA. Daniel Jones managed just 201/1 passing for 15.1 FP in this matchup last week. I’m going with Antonio Gibson (Was) over 69.5 rushing yards for my final prop of Week 13. Gibson looks as healthy as he has all season since their Week 9 bye, averaging 24.0/90.0 rushing per game with two rushing scores over the last three weeks. The Raiders are giving up 140.9 scrimmage yards per game to RBs, and Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott combined for 33.7 FP last week. Good luck! — Tom Brolley
Monday Night Football
The Patriots and Bills have the most important game of the week on Monday Night Football. The NFL gods gave us perfect weather conditions for a December game in Buffalo with potential snow in the forecast and sustained winds in the 20-25 mph range. I’m going with Hunter Henry (NE) under 40.5 receiving yards (75 pts) for my first prop of this critical showdown. Henry hasn’t topped 40+ yards in seven consecutive games and in 10-of-12 contests, and he’s fallen below 10+ FP in four of his last five contests. For my second prop, I’m taking Devin Singletary (Buf) over 53.5 rushing and receiving yards (105 pts) for my second prop. With nasty weather conditions expected for MNF, these Bills’ RBs should be a little more active than usual. Devin Singletary led the backfield with a 68% snap share against the Saints with the Bills making Zack Moss a healthy scratch. The Patriots are giving up 4.6 YPC and a generous 160.4 scrimmage yards per game to RBs. Enjoy the game and good luck! — Tom Brolley
