Matthew Berry reaches into the Star Wars universe to give you the advice and encouragement you need to win in Week 15.
I was 7 years old when the original “Star Wars” was released and, as often is the case, what was important to me at age 7 became really important to me — beloved, even — now that I’m… older. I’ve made all my kids watch “A New Hope,” and while there are varying degrees of appreciation from them (it can move a bit slow for the Snapchat generation) they all enjoyed it much more than you’d think they would for a movie that came out in 1977. I can’t tell you how much joy I felt the other night when I came home and my wife and 6-year-old twins were watching the last 20 minutes of “The Empire Strikes Back,” which was on cable somewhere.
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Fantasy football rankings from Matthew Berry, Field Yates, Mike Clay, Eric Karabell and Tristan Cockcroft for Week 15 of the NFL season.
Matchups are a driving force behind weekly lineup decisions in fantasy football. Here are the most and least favorable matchups at QB, RB, WR and TE for Week 15 in the NFL.
The guys at the line of scrimmage have a huge impact on every play, and that means your fantasy fate often rests in their hands. Check out the best and worst matchups along the lines in Week 15.
“Daddy, I love R2-D2!” one of the girls screamed.
It’s an interesting phenomenon. We discussed this on the podcast earlier this year and it was discovered that “Thirsty” Kyle Soppe, our show’s mid-20s researcher, had never seen “Star Wars.” We assigned him a written report on the movie right then and there (which he aced with flying colors.)
There are more people who haven’t seen any of the “Star Wars” movies. I know of at least one, my friend DJ, who is a writer and producer on The Fantasy Show. He is oddly and hilariously proud of it. So for those people like DJ — or Kyle three months ago — hopefully you will enjoy this column and it will encourage you to watch them all. And if, like me, you’ve seen them all way too many times to count and you’re super-hyped for “The Last Jedi,” hopefully you will enjoy an ode to a galaxy far, far away with some of my favorite “Star Wars” quotes and what they can teach us (well, loosely; let’s not get crazy here) about prospering in a fantasy football playoffs universe fraught with danger.
“Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don’t care what you smell!” — Han Solo
That’s right. Dive into this column. I don’t care that, after a quick Google search of “Star Wars quotes” I discovered a ton of other people who have written about their favorite Star Wars quotes. I don’t care that the “take a bunch of quotes from something in popular culture and relate them to something else” premise has also been done to death. I don’t care that these aren’t all the “best” quotes from the movies but rather just moments I really liked, browsed from StarWars.com and ShortList.com, so if any of the words are wrong, send your complaints there. I don’t care that I wrote a baseball column with this exact same premise and some of the same quotes (including this one) five years ago. I also don’t care that they are somewhat out of order; save your nerd fight for someone who does. In short, this is my column, there’s a brand new “Star Wars” movie out, Luke is in it, I’m geeked up, so I don’t care what you smell, you big furry oaf. Get in there.
“Great, kid! Don’t get cocky!” — Han Solo
It’s the fantasy playoffs. But every week is a new battle. Your team might be full of rock stars, but ask anyone who had Tom Brady, Alvin Kamara, Mike Evans and Jimmy Graham how they did last week. If you’re still alive this week, that’s awesome. But nothing is guaranteed. Scour that wire, even if it’s done defensively, to take someone away from your opponent. Do the research. Grind the numbers. You’re not done yet, kid. Don’t get cocky.
“When 900 years old, you reach… Look as good, you will not.” — Yoda
It has been a tough two weeks, I get it. And yes, the past few years have seen a slight dip for Tom Brady’s numbers in the fantasy playoffs compared to what he was doing in the regular season. But he gets Gronk back this week, a second week of Chris Hogan and a matchup with the Steelers with playoff seeding implications coming off a loss in which his Patriots were embarrassed. Maybe you don’t put any stock in the old “chip on the shoulder” game, but in the past three seasons, Brady has averaged almost four points more per game coming off a loss (24.52 PPG) than a win (20.55 PPG), eclipsing 28 PPG 60 percent of the time. You’re starting ticked-off 40-year-old Tom Brady.
“You can’t win, Darth. Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.” Obi-Wan Kenobi
Damien Williams. Ty Montgomery. Terrance West. Ezekiel Elliott. Rob Kelley. All of them, for one reason or another, were struck down and in their places have come players who are more powerful than some of the guys you drafted. Yeah, it’s a stretch to use this quote for this, but whatever. It’s a Week 15 column and two lines ago, I quoted a 900-year-old puppet. Just go with it. Kenyan Drake, Jamaal Williams and Alex Collins are legit must-start studs, and, in a flex sort of way, Alfred Morris and Samaje Perine will be helpful to you.
The Fantasy Show with Matthew Berry airs at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 every weekday. We will, however, be on ESPN on Mondays during the season. There are also late night re-airs (check your listings and set those DVRs) and replays are always available on WatchESPN by clicking on the NFL tab.
“It’s a trap!” — Admiral Ackbar
You knew this one was coming. But worrying about DeAndre Hopkins because he is facing Jacksonville is silly. Yes, a very tough matchup and Houston’s down to its third-string QB, but remember that he went 7 for 55 and a score in Week 1 versus those Jags, he’s an elite talent and gets such a huge target share that I can’t imagine getting cute and benching him.
“Fear is the path to the dark side” — Yoda
Playoffs baby. Not the time for the timid. Winners are decisive. You’ve gotten this far, baby, you got this. Own it.
“I find your lack of faith disturbing” — Darth Vader
Look, I get it. Totally. But for the QB desperate among you, Blake Bortles — you heard me, Blake Bortles — now has three straight games with 18 fantasy points. He’s the fifth-highest scoring QB in that span. He has at least 16 fantasy points in six of his past seven games (No. 12 in that span). He’s averaging 18.2 points at home this year and now he gets a Texans defense that gives up the fourth-most points to opposing quarterbacks this season. Bortles is a legit high-end QB2 streamer this week.
“Charming to the last. You don’t know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your life.” — Governor Tarkin
I wanted it to work out, Marcus Mariota. I really did.
“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda
Forget Star Wars. That’s just one of my favorite quotes of all time, period.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan. Now that’s a name I have not heard in a long time. A long time.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi
It has been a long eight weeks, Aaron Rodgers. A long eight weeks. But man is it good to see you.
“I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let the Wookiee win.” — C-3P0
Hey, they don’t all have to be about fantasy football. That’s just good life advice.
Let’s get to it. As always, the Force is strong with Kyle Soppe and Jacob Nitzberg, who helped at various parts of this column. Reminder, please check my rankings Sunday morning for the latest as news and value changes throughout this week. Here we go.
Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers: Yes, no doubt, the Patriots’ defense is legit these days but so is #HomeBen, who, since that disaster against the Jags in Week 5, has now completed 67 percent of his passes at Heinz Field, averaged 345 yards a game and has 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions in those games. He’s averaging more than 26 fantasy points a game in that home stretch, and it’s no surprise Vegas has this as the highest over/under on the board this week. Gimme #HomeBen as a top-five play this week in a potential shootout with the Patriots.
Aaron Rodgers, Packers: Think a lot of people see Carolina and go, hmm, that’s a tough matchup. I humbly submit: not so much. The Panthers have allowed multiple passing touchdowns in four of the past five games (and eight of the past 11) and given up the fourth-most passing yards per game the past four weeks. Do I really need to give you “Aaron Rodgers is good” stats? I get it, he’s rusty, but I don’t care. I’d have to have a pretty good option to leave A-Rod on the bench. When things are desperate, A-Rod delivers, as he was the best QB in terms of fantasy points in the final six weeks of 2016 (the “R-E-L-A-X” run). He’s a top-five play for me.
Others receiving votes: Case Keenum is averaging 276 passing yards a game since Week 8, and should deliver low-end QB1 numbers against a Bengals squad that has coughed up more than 250 passing yards in six straight games, including against the likes of Brock Osweiler, Mitchell Trubisky and the currently awful Marcus Mariota…. Don’t look now but Blake Bortles has bortled his way to at least 16 points in six of his past seven games (QB11 in that span) and has three straight games with at least 18 points. He’s the fifth-best QB in fantasy the past three weeks and faces a Texans team that allows the fourth-most points to opposing QBs…. Speaking of good matchups, the Giants have allowed six QBs to reach 20 fantasy points in a game, tied for most in the league. They are 28th vs. the pass the past four weeks, giving Nick Foles some streamer appeal for the desperate.
Kirk Cousins, Redskins: Look, you know I love Kirk long term. Please, Washington, pay this man. I believe he is a true franchise QB worthy of being paid as one of the top QBs in the NFL. But behind that beat-up offensive line (the entire offense is so beat-up), I have a hard time trusting him this week in 10-team leagues. Since Week 13 he’s merely QB24, averaging just 10.7 points a game in that span. Facing an Arizona squad that is top 10 in fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs since Week 10 and the third-best passing defense during the past four weeks, I have Cousins outside my top 12.
