Fantasy Start/Sit Em’ in Baltimore vs Denver

Follow@cimini NFL football kickoff is just three days away. The return of America’s favorite sport features Baltimore vs Denver. The pair had one of the more dramatic finishes in the 2013 playoffs that catapulted the Ravens as eventual champs. It will be the third time since December that the teams have played against each other. Thursday games are always tricky for fantasy owners. It’s a fact that last year’s Thursday Night NFL games sailed under the total in eight of ten divisional games. Ones that featured non-divisional matchups—such as Thursday nights’ game will- were vice-versa. Totals ran past the number. That’s a shot of confidence for any Broncos and Ravens fantasy owners, as the total sits at 48. I’d expect that to keep climbing before Thursday’s kickoff. There are lingering questions about both defenses. What else is new? Joe Flacco carried the Ravens offense with a down defense last year and will look to do the same in 2013. Peyton Manning has been doing it his whole career. If preseason football is an indicator slightly of issues, I’d get the flag waving for the bull’s attention. Both defenses struggled against mediocre quarterbacks. That should only rise against the prolific quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Peyton Manning. Even with Flacco having to adjust without Dennis Pitta and Anquan Boldin. The hurry up offense is another variable to consider for Thursday’s game. Denver will run it and look to get the home crowd fired up early in the first quarter. With the hurry up offense, batted balls or quick reads can become troublesome. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Raven defender jump a route for a pick six. It won’t hinder Manning for the entire game, but veteran quarterbacks are always susceptible to the pick six. With skills diminishing what they’ve seen in the past and could do, is trickier to the eye early in the season (Manning struggled with this last year). Offensively this is a juggernaut game for fantasy owners. It’s an automatic to start all the core players at the quarterback and wide receiver positions on both teams. With Wes Welker getting his debut as a Bronco you can expect the Broncos to force feed him the ball early. Just re-tally Welker’s stats from New England and pencil them in. They’re as automatic as a free throw from Steve Kerr. One receiver may take a hit will be Eric Decker. Sit him this week if you have better options. If you’re willing to settle for around four catches for fifty to sixty yards than play him. An area Baltimore Ravens fans don’t want to admit but was there, is the Ravens ineffectiveness to stop the run. The Broncos do not have a top tier backfield, which makes things shaky for fantasy owners. At this point no one drafted Ronnie Hillman or Montee Ball as their RB1. Unless you’re in a flex conundrum I would not even think twice about inserting either. Stick with the first two backs you drafted for week one. Ball or Hillman can help fill cracks in your lineup if injuries come up. Furthermore, Hillman did not do anything to pad his stats in two games against Baltimore last year. He ran for thirty two yards on fifteen carries in December, and in the playoffs had a meager 3.8 yards per carry average. For Baltimore the fantasy questions linger on to start Flacco or not. He is typically a bubble starter like Eli Manning or Big Ben. Some fantasy owners choose to draft two quarterbacks late and work with a rotation each week, sort of like USC this year. If you’re an owner in that situation I think this a good week to start Flacco. The score is going to be high in this game, and Flacco is not going to want to back down. Champ Bailey just returned to the practice field Monday. I’m afraid the Broncos organization may be leaning on Bailey a bit to heavily, and did not have the guts to part ways like the Packers did with Charles Woodson. There will be opportunities for Flacco to utilize his great deep ball several times in this game. Torrey Smith will be the recipient of one, and do not count out Jacoby Jones. Both should be in your lineups this week. Smith your WR2 and Jones your WR3 or flex option. I’d even consider inserting Ed Dickson. The name on the back of the jersey does not mean anything to Flacco. He favors his tight ends and with the Broncos weak link in the secondary , they’ll be susceptible over the middle after a few deep ball connections from Flacco. Overall the only flaw of a non-starter would be the Broncos tight ends, running backs, and too much uncertainty on how the Broncos are going to spread the ball with all their weapons. That hurts Decker for this week. Have a go and give the green light to the Ravens and Broncos players in your fantasy lineups. Any fantasy questions or handicapping questions I can be reached instantly @cimini on twitter.