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The NFL Week 16 schedule doesn't hold back as fantasy football owners compete for league titles.
Good matchups line the slate and present some interesting opporunities. Drew Brees and Matt Ryan engage in what could be a shootout, Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger face weak defenses and Ezekiel Elliott returns just in time to slam through an oddly weak Seattle defense.
The trick now? Making the right plays when it matters most, of course. Below, let's outline each position based on scoring projections based on standard Yahoo leagues.
Week 16 Schedule
Indianapolis at Baltimore
Minnesota at Green Bay
Atlanta at New Orleans
Buffalo at New England
Cleveland at Chicago
Denver at Washington
Detroit at Cincinnati
L.A. Chargers at N.Y. Jets
L.A. Rams at Tennessee
Miami at Kansas City
Tampa Bay at Carolina
Jacksonville at San Francisco
N.Y. Giants at Arizona
Seattle at Dallas
Pittsburgh at Houston
Oakland at Philadelphia
Quarterbacks
Let's jump right into the fray with Big Ben.
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has turned it on when owners need him most, coming out of a Week 9 bye to post 18.94 or more points in each of his last six outings, including a high of 32.54.
Best of all? Roethlisberger could hit another season high in Week 16 of all places thanks to a game against the reeling Houston Texans.
Without J.J. Watt and others, the Texans allow the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on average this year. Even if Big Ben's cast isn't at 100 percent, he should be among the top outright scorers of the week.
Here's a good example of how strange 2017 has been—Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles is the other name owners should know while fantasy titles are on the line.
The 25-year-old tallies his production in questionable ways sometimes, but there's no ignoring the fact he's scored 23.6 or more points in three of his last four outings. It's a strong trend that should continue in Week 16 against the San Francisco 49ers, the team allowing the third-most points to quarterbacks on average.
San Francisco has been more competitive offensively down the stretch this year, meaning Bortles should keep throwing all game and put up big numbers.
Running Backs
At running back, Week 16 is the week of the comeback.
Look at Kareem Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs. Likely left for dead by owners after starting strong and falling off the map, he is now back at the forefront of minds everywhere thanks to outings of 19.8 and 32.6 points.
The upswing comes just in time for a game against the Miami Dolphins, a team allowing the sixth-most points to backs. Hunt should see another minimum of 24 carries for the third game in a row as the focal point of the offense now that he's finding room to work again.
The aforementioned Elliott is one to know as well. The Dallas Cowboys' lead back is finally with the team after a suspension and gets to play against the reeling Seahawks.
Normally this matchup would sound terrible, and the Seahawks do permit only the 12th-fewest points to backs. But over the past two weeks of a full-blown collapse? Leonard Fournette put up 17.9 points on the unit and Todd Gurley put up 42.
All of this means owners should worry that Elliott will be rusty or otherwise struggle.
Wide Receivers
Wideout has a case of old and new on its hands as well.
The new is represented by Minnesota Vikings wideout Adam Thielen. He's been a strong point all year for owners who took the gamble, hitting double digits five times and a high of 22.6 points.
Thielen, 27, could have another season high on his hands in Week 16 by way of a game against a rival Green Bay Packers team.
He hit the Packers for 9.6 points on 13 targets in Week 6, giving him a great floor against an opponent allowing the fifth-most points to wideouts on average.
The old comes with Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals. The veteran, 34, has one double-digit outing over his past three games, but it was a 15.8-point outburst, and over the same span he's seen a minimum of seven targets per game.
The intriguing-upside trend should continue in Week 16 against the New York Giants, the team that has allowed the 10th-most points to wideouts on average this year.
Guys such as Jamison Crowder and Marquise Goodwin have touched up the Giants for good days lately, so Fitzgerald's combination of floor and upside has to look great here.
Tight Ends
Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz should finish as one of the highest scorers in Week 16 thanks to an encounter with the Oakland Raiders.
Those Raiders cough up the seventh-most points to tight ends this year and don't match up well with Ertz. Owners know the damage he can do when he's healthy too—he has nine outings of at least nine points this year.
Call it an incredible floor for a usually shaky position. The Raiders will bring the ceiling and Ertz will have the usage and talent to reach it, if not slam through it.
Then there's Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph. He's facing a Green Bay defense allowing the sixth-fewest points to tight ends, a unit that also held him to 4.7 points back in Week 6.
Yet Rudolph is doing so much with so little right now that it's hard to ignore him. He's scored five touchdowns over his last four games, including outbursts of 10.10 and 18.3 points.
The complexion of this matchup changes as a result. It isn't so much about the raw numbers here as it is the way Minnesota keeps using Rudolph, likely paired with the fact the Packers won't look too competitive after getting eliminated from the postseason and shipping Aaron Rodgers to injured reserve.
Defense/Special Teams
Saturday should provide one of the highest-scoring lines from a defense thanks to the Baltimore Ravens getting to smack around the Indianapolis Colts while trying to keep in the playoff hunt.
These Colts allow the third-most points to defenses on average and over their last eight games have allowed at least 11 points to defenses five times. Opponents have hit 20 or more points three times.
The Ravens could be the fourth as they bring a defense with 38 sacks, 22 interceptions and a unit overall allowing 18.3 points per game into the matchup.
It isn't pretty, but playing a bad team just trying to finish the season while playing a backup quarterback should have the Ravens posting a healthy line.
Kickers
Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell should have a fittingly strong close to the season for owners playing their final games.
Boswell has five trips to double digits this year, including outings of 16 and 19 points, hitting the latter mark twice. Doing it a third time against the Houston Texans wouldn't come as much of a surprise considering they happen to allow the fourth-most points to kickers on average.
Robbie Gould hit the 17-point mark on the unit in Week 14, and overall seven players have reached double digits on the Texans this year.
Expect Boswell to become the eighth.
All scoring info, points-against info and ownership stats courtesy of Yahoo standard leagues.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
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