God bless fantasy football. Only a power as strong as this can make meaningless football games like GB@DET and OAK@DAL absolutely exhilarating. As quoted in the awesome new FX series ‘The League’, “There are many things a man can do with his time. Fantasy football is better than those things.” I couldn’t agree more.
The fantasy football regular season is very close to coming to an end, and each game is becoming more and more meaningful. Teams are jockeying for playoff position and dreaming of championships and the endless gloating that goes along with it. I know I am.
With that being said, let’s take a closer look at the Thanksgiving Day slate of fantasy goodness…
Green Bay at Detroit
Green Bay
In Week 6 vs Detroit, Rodgers went off for 358 yards and 2 TDs on 29-37 passing. Is there any reason that he can’t put up big numbers again? For Christ’s sake, even Brady Quinn went off on Detroit’s lousy secondary last week! On top of that, Ko Simpson, the Lions’ starting strong safety, has been ruled out. The stars are aligned for Rodgers on Thursday.
Ryan Grant 
Although Grant hasn’t scored many touchdowns this year, he’s rushed for 75+ yards in 7 of 10 games this year, including 5 out of his last 6. Green Bay is likely to build an early lead in Detroit and focus on the run for much of the 2nd half. Look for Grant to post 100+ yards and at least 1 TD.
Donald Driver 
Does this man ever age? With 703 receiving yards through 10 games, Driver is primed to reach 1,000 yards for his 6th straight season. If he’s going to slow down, it’s not going to happen this week against Detroit’s last ranked pass defense.
Greg Jennings
Jennings finally turned things around last week against SF catching 5 balls for 126 yards and a touchdown. This was surely a sight for sore eyes for Jennings owners who used high round draft picks on him. Jennings should keep the show going this week against Detroit’s weak secondary.
Jermichael Finley
If Finley is sitting on your waiver wire, go get him! At 6′5″ and 250 pounds, the guy is an athletic freak. On top of that, he’s got some game. Last week against the 49ers, Finley posted one of his best stat lines of the year with 7 catches for 54 yards. Finley should fair even better against Detroit.
Green Bay Defense
Detroit’s offense has surely shown some potential this year, especially in last week’s shoot-out against the Browns. Unfortunately for Lions fans, the two key cogs in the Lions offense, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, look unlikely to play on Thanksgiving Day. Even without CB Al Harris (placed on IR), all signs point to a big day for Green Bay’s defense.
Detroit
Daunte Culpepper 
In Week 5 against the Steelers, Culpepper threw for 282 yards and a touchdown. The Lions lost the game but it was still interesting to see them compete with a team like the Steelers. I’m not recommending Culpepper by any means, but it should be interesting to see if the team rallies behind him. It doesn’t hurt that Packers starting CB Al Harris will not play. But it doesn’t help that star Lions WR Calvin Johnson will also be inactive. Bottom line: Play Culpepper at your peril.
Kevin Smith 
If anyone’s going to have a fantasy-worthy day for the Lions this week, it’s going to be Kevin Smith. But still, it’s not likely. With Culpepper in at QB, and Megatron out of the picture, the Packers defense will surely focus on the run. Smith had a decent game last week receiving with 4 catches for 104 yards and a TD, but hasn’t rushed for more than 67 yards in 7 weeks.
Bryant Johnson
Johnson really isn’t on the fantasy radar this season. He hasn’t caught more than 4 balls in a game so far and shouldn’t be on your team. Charles Woodson will be all over him.
Brandon Pettigrew
Pettigrew has a chance to step up in the Thanksgiving spotlight. The GB pass rush may not give the Lions WRs much time to separate, leaving Culpepper no choice but to look for his tight end. Pettigrew played well last week against the Browns with 6 catches for 72 yards and a TD. He has a ton of potential.
Detroit Defense
If there was an option for no mini-footballs at all, that’s what they’d get. Last week, I somehow convinced myself that they would be a good play against Cleveland. Classic over-thinking. I got -9 points. Stay away my friends. Stay faaaar away.
Oakland at Dallas
Oakland
Bruce Gradkowski
It took them 10 weeks to figure it out, but the Raiders finally realized that Jamarcus Russell completely sucks. Although Bruce Gradkowski isn’t much better, he at least shows a passion to win. Last week, he led the Raiders to a surprising victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He threw for 189 and 2 touchdowns, including the game-tying TD pass to Louis Murphy with :33 seconds left. Still, there’s not much upside against a Dallas defense that’s showed a pretty good pass rush recently. Use another option if at all possible.
Darren McFadden/Justin Fargas/Michael Bush
Yet again, Tom Cable has refused to name a starting running back. Michael Bush has received the start in the Raiders previous 2 games, but received only 4 carries last week. McFadden and Fargas received 9 carries and 10 carries, respectively. It’s probably best to avoid this RB situation completely.
Chaz Schilens
It’ll be tough for any wide receiver on the Raiders to get going this week. Schilens, who created a bit of fantasy buzz in the pre-season, but was injured before Week 1 of the regular season, will play in his 3rd game since coming back from injury. He’s been far from spectacular. Don’t expect much from Schilens this week.
Louis Murphy
Murphy’s lone catch last week was a 29-yard TD pass from Gradkowski to tie the game at 17 with :33 seconds remaining. It was arguably the biggest catch of the season thus far for the Raiders. But still not enough to warrant a fantasy start for the rookie from Florida.
Zach Miller 
At some point, you have to give credit to this man. The Raiders offense is bad. I mean, downright horrible. Somehow, someway, Zach Miller continues to put up solid stats at the tight end position. Miller had 5 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders’ stunning win over the Bengals last week. I think he can continue to put up solid stats with a more focused quarterback at the helm in Gradkowski.
Oakland Defense
Although the Dallas offense has sputtered as of late, they are explosive and have the talent to put up a lot of points. I’d expect Jason Garrett to have this offense ready to light the Oakland defense up in the Thanksgiving spotlight. It doesn’t help that the Oakland defense is ranked 30th against the run.
Dallas
Tony Romo
In the three Thanksgiving Day games that Romo has played in he has 2 300-yard games, 10 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He did get a bit dinged up during last week’s win over the Redskins, but seems to be healthy and ready to go. I expect the Cowboys to do their fair share of running. However, Jason Garrett does like to throw the ball, and given Romo’s success on Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys would be remiss to not let him sling it around a bit.
Marion Barber
Barber should have a big day against the Raiders’ 30th ranked run defense. He averaged 5-yards per carry last week against a tough Redskins defense. It’s likely that the Cowboys build an early lead and lean on Barber to run down the clock.
I expect both of these guys to be utilized on Thursday versus Oakland. Expect Choice to see a few carries from the Wildcat formation and Jones to line up on several 3rd down situations. Jerry Jones has made it a point to make comments suggesting that Jones get more touches.
Miles Austin
The Dallas Cowboys need Miles Austin to step up in order to turn things around for this offense. He’s had trouble getting separation from opposing cornerbacks the past few weeks. The good news is, he won’t be matched up with pro bowler Nnamdi Asomugha the entire game as Asomugha tends to play all over the field, rather than focusing on one receiver. Don’t be surprised to see Austin and Romo connect for a couple of long touchdowns on Thanksgiving Day.
Roy E. Williams
For a self-proclaimed #1 wideout, he sure isn’t acting like one. Williams did not record a single catch against the ‘Skins last week. He’s getting awfully close to waiver-wire material, but games like he had 2 weeks ago against the Packers (5-105-1) are keeping him on rosters.
Martellus Bennett
With Jason Witten looking unlikely to play on Thursday, this could be Bennett’s time to shine. The 2008 2nd round pick out of Texas A&M has the skills to be successful, but has not yet had the opportunity. Expect him to make the most of his opportunity.
Dallas Defense
DT Jay Ratliff has drastically stepped up his game and is making a presence. Expect him to be a key cog in stopping the Raiders running game and putting pressure on Gradkoski this week. The Dallas defense is a strong play this week as the Raiders rarely get anything going on the offensive side of the ball.
New York Giants at Denver Broncos
New York
Eli Manning
Manning has been hit or miss for fantasy owners all season long. He’s been fantastic the past two games for the Giants throwing for 5 touchdowns. But this week he’ll be facing a Denver team starving for a win after losing their last 4 games. With Brian Dawkins’ knowledge and experience playing the Giants for a number of years and Champ Bailey’s talent, it might be best to choose another option at quarterback this week for your fantasy team.
Brandon Jacobs
Expect to see a lot of Brandon Jacobs this Thursday night. Ahmad Bradshaw, who typically sees between 9-14 carries per game, has been ruled inactive due to a severely sprained ankle. Jacobs has not lived up to expectation so far this year and has a lot to prove. Expect a nice statistical outing from Jacobs as the Giants focus on getting the run game going.
Steve Smith
It is safe to say that Steve Smith is one of the nice surprises of the 2009 fantasy football season. The Giants had several questions at the wide receiver position as the year started and addressed the position with their 1st round pick in this year’s draft. Nobody thought Smith would step in and perform the way he has. Unfortunately, this might be a tough week for the Giants passing game. I don’t expect more than 4-5 catches out of Smith.
Mario Manningham
Maybe not as much as his counterpart Smith, Manningham has also been quite a surprise this season. Manningham has been slowed by a shoulder injury as of late, but returned to his early-season form last week versus Atlanta posting 6 catches for 126 yards. It’s tough to have enough confidence in him to start him against the tough Broncos defense.
Kevin Boss
Boss caught a season-high 5 passes for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns last week. It was the first multiple-touchdown game of Boss’ career. Look for Boss to have a solid game at Denver as the Giants WRs may have trouble gaining separation from the elite Broncos secondary. Additionally, Manning may not be provided with as much time to throw, forcing him to check down to his TE quicker than usual.
New York Defense
Expect the Broncos offense to have a hard time scoring against this defense. The Giants will pressure Orton all day and should have no problem stopping the running tandem of Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. The Giants will likely roll coverage to whichever side of the field Brandon Marshall lines up on. It should be a good week to start the Giants defense.
Broncos
Don’t expect a big day from Orton. He struggled to get going last week against a tough San Diego defense and will have his work cut out for him against New York. Although New York’s secondary is banged up, I don’t expect Orton to have the time to look downfield to connect with Marshall. Most of his completions will probably go to Royal and Moreno/Buckhalter.
With all the talent that Moreno has, he’s struggled to get things going this year. Maybe he’ll make an impact at some point this season, but it probably won’t be this week.
Correll Buckhalter
Buckhalter and Moreno seem to split carries week in and week out. Buckhalter is sure to get his share of carries, but don’t expect a large workload. There is not much upside with Buckhalter, unfortunately. Probably not even worth a flex play this week.
Eddie Royal
Royal looks primed for a solid day in PPR leagues. He typically grabs 4-5 balls, but should see more this week as Orton will look to get the ball out as quickly as possible. For leagues that provide points for return yardage, Royal might just be the sneaky play that helps you win this week.
Brandon Marshall
Marshall’s 3 catches last week were the least he’s recorded since week 2. Of course, it didn’t help that he was dealing with a banged up Kyle Orton. Things might not get much better against a tough Giants defense this week. Expect Marshall to see coverage rolled his way in order to take him out of the game. Look for something in the area of 5 catches for 65-75 yards for Marshall.
Tony Scheffler
Scheffler has recorded only 1 catch in 3 of the last 4 games for the Broncos. He looks to be turning it to more of a blocking TE than a receiving TE. This week, the Broncos will need him blocking more than ever as they face the ferocious New York Giants pass rush. Scheffler is barely a TE2 this week.
Denver Defense
The New York Giants offense finally came around last week. The passing game started to look like it did at the beginning of the season. Look for them to continue their success in Denver. The Denver defense might not be the smartest play, however, they may be able to rattle Manning into a turnover or two. Bottom line, they are a risky play.
Alright folks, those are your fantasy match-ups for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. For those of you that have players active on Thursday, congratulations, your Thanksgiving just got a lot more interesting.
God bless fantasy football.
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