Like I said last week, I know most of us had our fantasy season's end before Christmas...but there's always a few die-hards out there who have playoff leagues going. Here is some last minute advice on who to start today and tomorrow...
Tom Brady -- QB, New England Patriots -- The Texans went to Foxboro a month ago and lost 42-14. They gave up 296 yards and 4 touchdowns to Brady. I'm expecting more of the same this weekend. Brady will have Hernandez AND Gronkowski this time, which means the Texans banged up linebackers and average secondary will be scrambling to cover them both. Cincinnati would have beaten Houston last week if they could have converted their big plays, but Dalton couldn't do it. Tom Brady is not Andy Dalton.
MARSHAWN LYNCH, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Marshawn Lynch -- RB, Seattle Seahawks -- 2012 was Lynch's career year, and so far that's continued in 2013. Last week he had 132 yards against a Redskins team that was actually good at run defense This week he's playing a Falcons front seven that is flat out bad against the run. They gave up 4.8 yards a carry (29th in the league) and 123 yards a game (21st in the league). Look for Beast Mode to once again be a fantasy stud.
Michael Crabtree -- WR, San Francisco 49ers -- Michael Crabtree's new best friend is Colin Kaepernick. Since Kaep was named the starter, Crabtree has led the Niners in receiving yards 6 out of 8 games. In the 8 games Alex Smith started, Crabtree only led the team 3 times. He's scored 6 touchdowns in that stretch, compared to 3 with Smith. Granted, the injury to Mario Manningham may also be playing a role in Crabtree's emergence, but that's no fault of his.
Dennis Pitta -- TE, Baltimore Ravens -- If there's an area on defense that the Broncos are not good, it's covering tight ends. They give up an average of 8 passes and 60 yards to tight ends a game. Compare that to Kansas City (the team with the worst record in the league), who gave up about 5.5 catches a game and 45 yards. When the Ravens played the Broncos in Week 15 they lost 34-17, but Pitta had 7 catches for 125 yards and 2 TD's. If Baltimore has a chance to beat Denver in Mile High, Pitta will have to produce.
New England Patriots -- D/ST -- Houston's offense is good enough to beat the Cincinnati's of the league with Arian Foster having a big day - but to beat a team like New England they need to have more going than just Foster. That's where Matt Schaub comes in, and unfortunately for the Texans, Schaub has been - to put it mildly - not good lately. I think Brady (see above) will be able to put up points against the Houston defense, which means Schaub will be forced to keep up. That's not the recipe the Texans will want to use in this game, but it is the recipe that gives the Patriots the most chances for sacks, interceptions and big plays.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (Michael Dwyer/AP Photo)
