by Russ Bliss (11/13/12)


Week 10 is over and by now you're most likely looking ahead to your fantasy playoffs! Knowing the fantasy football rankings for each defense and the amount of fantasy points they allow per game vs. both the run and through the air is important so you not only know which of your players have favorable, or unfavorable matchups, but also it's a great guide to know who to target for acquisition from both your free agent wire, and also from other teams in your league via trades.

Below is a graph showing all 32 NFL teams and their rushing matchups in weeks 14-16. These are usually the fantasy playoffs weeks in most leagues. I have also included off the right, the matchups for weeks 13 and 17 for those whose leagues either start their playoffs early, or end them in the dreaded week 17, when so many teams with important fantasy players have determined their playoff seeding and will likely be resting their players. Some leagues still go thru week 17 despite this and therefore I have included them for you to see how each team's matchup is thru then if yours does.

Now just because a team has very favorable matchups does not mean you should definitely go out and get the RB's from that team. As you can see from the graph, Miami has the best rushing matchups in weeks 15 and 16 facing the bottom two fantasy run defenses those weeks. But will Reggie Bush still be in his time share with Daniel Thomas? Will Daniel Thomas take over, or will he fade back to obscurity? Conversely, both Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Baltimore's Ray Rice have really bad matchups during weeks 14-16. You aren't going to trade them away to acquire guys like Bush and Willis McGahee just because of the disparity in their matchups.

What it does mean is that if you have guys like BenJarvus Green-Ellis or Michael Turner (RB's who have poor matchups those weeks) you trade them for Bush and McGahee if you can.

You'll never sit your studs like AP and Rice, but you want to make sure that if they get injured, you have quality RB's with superior matchups you can plug into their spots those weeks. It's almost a two-prong affect as it also makes sure your potential opponents cannot be using these RB's with great matchups against you.

I have ranked them by the total amount of fantasy points the 3 opponents they face in weeks 14-16 have allowed. I've also included the rankings of those defenses.

Knowing the matchups and being prepared can help you beat the guys with the studs, or help the guys with the studs prevent others from beating him.

By examining this list, you'll be able to figure out who you should be trading for, and who you should be avoiding. And remember, this list uses the simple generic fantasy points allowed per game formula of 1 point for every 10 rushing yards allowed, 6 points for rushing TD allowed divided by the number of games each defense has played. Italics represent road games.
 

Overall	Rushing matchups	14	15	16	Totals		13	17
1	Miami Dolphins
	opponent	SF	JAC	BUF			NE	NE
	FP/PG	11.53	23.08	27.03	61.64		13.01	13.01
	Rank	4	31	32	67		7	7
2	New York Giants
	opponent	NO	ATL	BAL			WAS	PHI
	FP/PG	22.2	18.98	19.2	60.38		14.29	13.6
	Rank	30	26	27	83		14	12
3	Denver Broncos
	opponent	OAK	BAL	CLE			TB	KC
	FP/PG	20.57	19.2	17.89	57.66		12.01	15.59
	Rank	28	27	21	76		5	18
4	Kansas City Chiefs
	opponent	CLE	OAK	IND			CAR	DEN
	FP/PG	17.89	20.57	18.03	56.49		15.97	13.17
	Rank	21	28	22	71		20	9
5	St. Louis Rams
	opponent	BUF	MIN	TB			SF	SEA
	FP/PG	27.03	15.36	12.01	54.4		11.53	13.06
	Rank	32	17	5	54		4	8
6	Dallas Cowboys
	opponent	CIN	PIT	NO			PHI	WAS
	FP/PG	18.5	13.46	22.2	54.16		13.6	14.29
	Rank	24	10	30	64		12	14
7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
	opponent	PHI	NO	STL			DEN	ATL
	FP/PG	13.6	22.2	18.08	53.88		13.17	18.98
	Rank	12	30	23	65		9	26
8	Seattle Seahawks
	opponent	AZ	BUF	SF			CHI	STL
	FP/PG	15.28	27.03	11.53	53.84		10.57	18.08
	Rank	16	32	4	52		2	23
9	Tennessee Titans
	opponent	IND	NYJ	GB			HOU	JAC
	FP/PG	18.03	21.17	13.83	53.03		8.56	23.08
	Rank	22	29	13	64		1	31
10	New York Jets
	opponent	JAC	TEN	SD			AZ	BUF
	FP/PG	23.08	18.68	10.96	52.72		15.28	27.03
	Rank	31	25	3	59		16	32
11	Washington Redskins
	opponent	BAL	CLE	PHI			NYG	DAL
	FP/PG	19.2	17.89	13.6	50.69		14.98	15.86
	Rank	27	21	12	60		15	19
12	San Diego Chargers
	opponent	PIT	CAR	NYJ			CIN	OAK
	FP/PG	13.46	15.97	21.17	50.6		18.5	20.57
	Rank	10	20	29	59		24	28
13	Carolina Panthers
	opponent	ATL	SD	OAK			KC	NO
	FP/PG	18.98	10.96	20.57	50.51		15.59	22.2
	Rank	26	3	28	57		18	30
14	Detroit Lions
	opponent	GB	AZ	ATL			IND	CHI
	FP/PG	13.83	15.28	18.98	48.09		18.03	10.57
	Rank	13	16	26	55		22	2
15	Houston Texans
	opponent	NE	IND	MIN			TEN	IND
	FP/PG	13.01	18.03	15.36	46.4		18.68	18.03
	Rank	7	22	17	46		25	22
16	Jacksonville Jaguars
	opponent	NYJ	MIA	NE			BUF	TEN
	FP/PG	21.17	12.09	13.01	46.27		27.03	18.68
	Rank	29	6	7	42		32	25
17	Pittsburgh Steelers
	opponent	SD	DAL	CIN			BAL	CLE
	FP/PG	10.96	15.86	18.5	45.32		19.2	17.89
	Rank	3	19	24	46		27	21
18	Philadelphia Eagles
	opponent	TB	CIN	WAS			DAL	NYG
	FP/PG	12.01	18.5	14.29	44.8		15.86	14.98
	Rank	5	24	14	43		19	15
19	Oakland Raiders
	opponent	DEN	KC	CAR			CLE	SD
	FP/PG	13.17	15.59	15.97	44.73		17.89	10.96
	Rank	9	18	20	47		21	3
20	Atlanta Falcons
	opponent	CAR	NYG	DET			NO	TB
	FP/PG	15.97	14.98	13.54	44.49		22.2	12.01
	Rank	20	15	11	46		30	5
21	Chicago Bears
	opponent	MIN	GB	AZ			SEA	DET
	FP/PG	15.36	13.83	15.28	44.47		13.06	13.54
	Rank	17	13	16	46		8	11
22	Buffalo Bills
	opponent	STL	SEA	MIA			JAC	NYJ
	FP/PG	18.08	13.06	12.09	43.23		23.08	21.17
	Rank	23	8	6	37		31	29
23	New England Patriots
	opponent	HOU	SF	JAC			MIA	MIA
	FP/PG	8.56	11.53	23.08	43.17		12.09	12.09
	Rank	1	4	31	36		6	6
24	Cleveland Browns
	opponent	KC	WAS	DEN			OAK	PIT
	FP/PG	15.59	14.29	13.17	43.05		20.57	13.46
	Rank	18	14	9	41		28	10
25	Cincinnati Bengals
	opponent	DAL	PHI	PIT			SD	BAL
	FP/PG	15.86	13.6	13.46	42.92		10.96	19.2
	Rank	19	12	10	41		3	27
26	New Orleans Saints
	opponent	NYG	TB	DAL			ATL	CAR
	FP/PG	14.98	12.01	15.86	42.85		18.98	15.97
	Rank	15	5	19	39		26	20
27	Indianapolis Colts
	opponent	TEN	HOU	KC			DET	HOU
	FP/PG	18.68	8.56	15.59	42.83		13.54	8.56
	Rank	25	1	18	44		11	1
28	Green Bay Packers
	opponent	DET	CHI	TEN			MIN	MIN
	FP/PG	13.54	10.57	18.68	42.79		15.36	15.36
	Rank	11	2	25	38		17	17
29	Baltimore Ravens
	opponent	WAS	DEN	NYG			PIT	CIN
	FP/PG	14.29	13.17	14.98	42.44		13.46	18.5
	Rank	14	9	15	38		10	24
30	San Francisco 49ers
	opponent	MIA	NE	SEA			STL	AZ
	FP/PG	12.09	13.01	13.06	38.16		18.08	15.28
	Rank	6	7	8	21		23	16
31	Minnesota Vikings
	opponent	CHI	STL	HOU			GB	GB
	FP/PG	10.57	18.08	8.56	37.21		13.83	13.83
	Rank	2	23	1	26		13	13
32	Arizona Cardinals
	opponent	SEA	DET	CHI			NYJ	SF
	FP/PG	13.06	13.54	10.57	37.17		21.17	11.53
	Rank	8	11	2	21		29	4