FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

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Prediction: TEN 13, GB 24 (Line: GB by 13)

Players Upated: Alex Green

Players to Watch: Aaron Rodgers, Chris Johnson

The 4-9 Titans are on a short week after playing Monday night and are just 2-5 away from home. The 10-4 Packers clinched the NFC North with their win over the Bears and are only a half game behind the 49ers for a #2 seed and a first round bye. This is the final regular season game at home. This is also going to be a cold game at around 20 degrees forecasted.

Pregame Notes: As it stands, the Packers won't know if they have a shot at the #2 seed until the 49ers and Seahawks play late on Sunday night. The 49ers wind up their season at home against the Cardinals which should be a lock for a win so realistically - the Packers may not have anything to win in the final week in Minnesota since they'll get the #3 seed regardless. This week should be the easy remaining game for the Packers and then they can end up chasing Adrian Peterson all over the field in the season finale.

Aaron Rodgers was on a three game slide with only one score in each and only moderate yardage. He posted 291 yards and three scores on the Bears last week to reverse the trend and faces another soft secondary again this week. Rodgers tweaked his ankle last week but claims it was not an issue. The biggest fear this week is that Rodgers ends up handing off a lot as he did in the three marginal fantasy games recently. The Titans are weak against the run and it would help keep Rodgers healthy.

Unfortunately, now the Packers are opting for using three running backs in rotation so that even though they combined for 28 carries, none of them had meaningful fantasy value. Alex Green remains the best bet but even he only ended with 35 yards on 13 carries while Ryan Grant was allowed eight runs for 32 yards. Throw in DuJuan Harris and even fullback John Kuhn and there is no reason to guess which one might do the most. They have all combined for only three touchdowns on the season anyway and none have gained more than 74 rush yards in any game.

Jordy Nelson remains out and there has been little in the way of any receiver having a big game aside from James Jones three scores last week on just five catches for 60 yards but he only managed two touchdowns over the previous six weeks and usually ends up with fewer than 50 yards per game. Randall Cobb topped 100 yards in the last two games but has not scored since back in week 11.

Notable this week is that Clay Matthews returned last week and was back to form. He'll be a major problem for the Titans and that could depress the game score. That could end up with more rushing and less need for Rodgers to air it out. The points are there for the taking but three of the last four games, Rodgers did not bother scoring any more than needed to win and relied on the run more.

I like a defensive score in this game.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Aaron Rodgers, GB	@MIN	20	0	0	0	0	260	2	1
The Vikings have held four of the last five quarterbacks they've faced to one or zero touchdown tosses--a streak that includes limiting Rodgers to 286 and 1 in the earlier meeting. Rodgers has torn up the last two defenses he's faced, however, and has historically had his way with the Vikings so it would be silly to doubt him here--especially with a first-round bye on the line for Green Bay.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB DuJuan Harris, GB	@MIN	30	0	3	20	0	0	0	0
Throw Harris into the three-ring circus that is the Green Bay ground game. Even if they're as productive this time around as they were in the previous meeting with Minnesota, the three-way split renders each of them difficult fantasy starts at best.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Alex Green, GB	@MIN	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The Packers ran with surprising effectiveness in their last meeting with Minnesota, but that was with a Green/James Starks combo. This week Mike McCarthy has indicated he'll use all three of his backs, and that doesn't even include John Kuhn at the stripe. Tough to trust a guy with a three-way split of his team's workload.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Ryan Grant, GB	@MIN	30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Grant rolled the Titans for 80 yards and two TDs last week, but the Vikings are a tougher defense. And with Alex Green healthy the Packers backfield is expected to be a three-way split, which doesn't bode well for Grant's productivity.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR James Jones, GB	@MIN	0	0	5	60	1	0	0	0
The inexplicable NFL leader in touchdown receptions, Jones has benefited by being at times the only healthy receiver in Green Bay. With Jordy Nelson just coming back and Randall Cobb hobbled, Jones could be in line for even more scores this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Jordy Nelson, GB	@MIN	0	0	3	40	0	0	0	0
Nelson is expected to be back for this game, perhaps only for a test drive before the playoffs. He's re-injured himself each time he's tried to come back, so using him in his first game off the bench is definitely risky.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Jermichael Finley, GB	@MIN	0	0	3	40	0	0	0	0
Finley had 60 yards in the previous meeting with Minnesota and has topped 50 yards in five of the last six games. He's borderline trustable in fantasy circles once again.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Mason Crosby, GB	@MIN	4	3	2	2
How the Packers still trust this guy with potentially the fate of their season defies explanation. You certainly don't have to do the same with the fate of your fantasy team.

Pregame Notes: The Titans come off their Monday night win and have a great shot at one more win in the season finale against the visiting Jaguars. The season is winding down with better defense than how it began but that's likely a function too of an offense that has been challenged to score more than 20 points in a game for the entire year.

Chris Johnson will get $9 million guaranteed next year if he remains on the roster after February so the Titans are deciding if he is worth all that cash with so much else that is needed on the team. Johnson spoke out this past week about his future and how it may not be in Tennessee so that only adds fuel to what may be a fire. Johnson is the only player that has been a true positive this year even if he lacks the consistency he had in previous seasons.

Johnson has been less effective for the last three games but peeled off a 94-yard touchdown against the Jets to total 122 yards on 21 carries on the game. As has always been the case, his yardage varies greatly since he either breaks a long run or not.

Craig Stevens replaced Jared Cook but that only meant he had two catches instead of just one.

Jake Locker has only been able to play in nine games this year and scored just nine times with most games producing moderate yardage. He hasn't sparked any offensive revival in Tennessee here in his first season as a starter but the learning curve is not done yet and he remains in the plans.

Kendall Wright will miss the last two games with a broken rib and that should turn into more work for Nate Washington who has lost all fantasy value this year. Washington has not scored since week nine and rarely has more than 50 or 60 yards in any game. Kenny Britt finally had one big game with 143 yards on the visiting Colts in week 14 but then was right back to just one catch last week. This remains a below average unit that still has no reliable fantasy value from any of the receivers.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Jake Locker, TEN	JAC	30	0	0	0	0	190	1	0
Locker threw for 261 yards and one score in Jacksonville but shouldn't need to catch up this week. More than moderate yardage and one score is not likely and probably not needed.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, TEN	JAC	0	0	0	0	0	210	1	1
The Bills have busted out of the teens just once in the past month and a half. Sure, you could ask Fitzpatrick to match the three TDs he threw against the Jets back in Week 1... but it's more likely you get similar yardage (195) without the scores.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Chris Johnson, TEN	JAC	110	1	1	10	0	0	0	0
Johnson only ran for 80 yards on 21 carries in Jacksonville but the Jags are allowing at least 120 rush yards in away games. Johnson should be a lock for 20 carries this week and a great shot at one touchdown.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Shonn Greene, TEN	JAC	80	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greene remains the lead dog of this committee, and with no discernible passing game he'll get more than enough carries to produce helpful numbers against a Bills defense that's allowing more than 120 rushing yards per game to opposing RBs.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Kenny Britt, TEN	JAC	0	0	3	30	1	0	0	0
Britt only left Jacksonville with three catches for 25 yards but scored once there. He's the best bet for a passing score by far and has three touchdowns over the last five games. You just cannot count on more than about 40 yards from him.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Nate Washington, TEN	JAC	0	0	4	50	0	0	0	0
Washington hasn't scored for the last seven games but at least he is reliable for moderate yardage when at home.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Kendall Wright, TEN	JAC	0	0	2	30	0	0	0	0
Wright was held out last week with bad ribs but may be able to play this week. Still no reliable fantasy value in any case.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Kevin Walter, TEN	JAC	0	0	2	20	0	0	0	0
Walter was barely a blip on the fantasy radar before, and over the past month he's fallen off completely.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Rob Bironas, TEN	JAC	2	1	3	3
Titans score too little to make Bironas a consistent scorer.

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