Fantasy football sleepers: DT - Week 13

December 3, 2009 @ 00:00:00

By Tim Heaney
Edited by Cory J. Bonini and Bryce McRae

Fantasy football sleepers: QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | DT

In this article KFFL breaks down the fantasy football sleepers of the week. We will avoid marquee names because players of that caliber are rarely benched, regardless of their matchup. Instead, we will focus on the players that make your fantasy lineup decisions stressful each week. Read on to learn which midrange to low-end players that you wouldn't necessarily consider that you need to get into your lineup.

Note: All statistics are from Week 7 to Week 12, unless otherwise noted.

Fantasy football sleepers: Defensive teams

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs

Fantasy value: No. 1 or bench

• The Broncos' D has come back to earth in terms of points allowed and takeaways, but they have registered 2.20 sacks per game.
• KC hasn't protected Matt Cassel (3.00 sacks per game) and has been careless with the football (2.20 turnovers per game).
• The loss of wideout Dwayne Bowe to suspension leaves the Chiefs without one of their most consistent sources of offense, and despite the play of Chris Chambers, their passing game hasn't been as dangerous.

St. Louis Rams at Chicago Bears

Fantasy value: No. 1 or bench

• The Rams have been the opposite of a reliable defensive unit, averaging only 1.20 sacks, 0.60 interceptions and 0.80 fumble recoveries per outing.
• That being said, the Gateway dwellers have won the Jay Cutler Sweepstakes. The Chicago Bears quarterback has been an integral part of the Bears' giveaway problems; Chi-Town has allowed 2.33 sacks and 0.33 fumbles lost per game, but Cutler has given the opposition 2.17 picks per outing.
• Though the Rams have been battling their own injury problems on the D-line, Bears left tackle Orlando Pace (groin) may miss this upcoming contest, giving some help to the Rams' pass rush.

NEW - Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers

Fantasy value: No. 1 or bench

• The Seahawks are pledging to be more aggressive on defense for the remainder of the year. They used more man-to-man and blitz packages in Week 12, and it helped them record four sacks.
• This week the Niners come rolling, bringing along Alex D. Smith's penchant for excelling in the spread offense ... and taking a sack. Smith has been brought down 13 times as San Fran's starter; only the Jacksonville Jaguars failed to bring him down in a game. Smith has also thrown a pick in five of his six games this year. The Niners are also a 1-4 road team this year.
• Seattle is worth a play for Week 13 and could help you beyond this coming Sunday. They're available in about 55 percent of polled leagues.

Fantasy football sleepers: QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | DT

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Tim Heaney

Since the Boston University alum joined KFFL in 2006, his work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly and Yahoo! Sports, among numerous publications.

Tim competes in Tout Wars and LABR and appears every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore, as well as frequently on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Follow him on Twitter.

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