Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

- Written by Cory Steger
- Edited by Marc Caviglia
- Predictions are based on Staff Consensus

Looking at the matchup it almost seems to be a mismatch. The Baltimore Ravens play host to the Houston Texans this week. Baltimore, a previous Super Bowl winner and perennial playoff team playing at home against a Texans organization that appeared in its first ever playoff game last week. The Texans start a rookie quarterback who was at one point third on the depth chart. Though the game likely won’t be a blowout it’s evident that we don’t care much for the individual fantasy matchups for the Texans this week either. A third of the players on this list come from Houston, and even though running back Arian Foster isn’t on the list he could be in for a tough game against the league’s second-toughest run defense. To see which of Foster’s teammates, as well as the other players, you should avoid this week take a look at our Division Round - Sit ‘Ems.

QUARTERBACKS - SIT ‘EM

Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens) vs. Houston

After taking steps forward in the first three years of his career Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco regressed this season. The Ravens made the playoffs with a first-round bye so the individual failure matters little in that regard, but his career-low completion percentage of 57.6 and the second worst touchdown-to-interception ratio show Flacco took steps backwards. Flacco also has a poor track record in the playoffs, with his only good game coming against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round last year. Aside from that game Flacco’s highest quarterback rating in a playoff game was 89.4 against the Tennessee Titans in 2008, and in that game he completed 50 percent of his passes for 161 yards. If the Ravens get things done it will be with running back Ray Rice and their strong defense. Flacco is merely a game manager at this point, and not always a good one at that.

T.J. Yates (Houston Texans) @ Baltimore

Hey rookie, welcome to the NFL. Texans quarterback T.J. Yates never thought he’d see the field this season let alone lead a team in the playoffs on the road against the Ravens. There may not be many tougher tests for a quarterback to face that the situation Yates is in this week. Although he showed poise and surprising accuracy against the Bengals last week, he had two big things going in his favor. First was the Bengals defense, which although talented is not on the same level as Baltimore’s. The second was playing at home and playing with a lead. Yates never had the pressure on him to win the game. There’s little doubt that he’ll face that kind of pressure this week. The Ravens are fourth or better in the league in every major defensive category. They forced 21 fumbles and 15 interceptions this season. Nothing has prepared Yates for the defensive force he’s running into this week, which means you should stay away at all costs.