Boom or Bench: Week 14 start/sit fantasy tips
Boom or Bench provides insight and analysis to help you handle your difficult fantasy football starting lineup decisions every week.
QB: Packers' Love vs. Bears
Only the Cowboys have given up more passing touchdowns to quarterbacks than the Bears this season. Detroit is tied with Chicago at 24 touchdowns surrendered, and Love torched the Lions for 234 yards and four scores on Thanksgiving.
The temperature is likely to be frigid at Lambeau Field on Sunday, but precipitation is unlikely, and the Packers are used to playing in the cold. Look for Love to attempt plenty of shorter throws with a few deep shots mixed in to take advantage of the Bears' secondary.
Projection: 227 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 17 rushing yards
Other QBs primed to boom:
Lions' Jared Goff vs. Cowboys
Ravens' Lamar Jackson vs. Steelers
RB: Jets' Breece Hall vs. Dolphins
Hall has been a decent fantasy asset each of the last two games, finishing as RB16 in back-to-back weeks. On Sunday, he has a decent shot at recording his fifth top-15 finish of the campaign. Although Hall will need to maintain his consistent workload for that kind of result, he's recorded at least 14 carries in five straight games.
That volume could prove valuable against a Dolphins defense that has given up more rushing yards per contest (137.5) than all but three teams. Hall might also find room as a receiver, with Miami allowing the 11th-most receiving yards to tailbacks.
Projection: 76 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards, 4 receptions, TD
RB: Bengals' Chase Brown at Bills
Brown has rebounded from a rough start to the season in a big way. He's finished as RB15 or better in each of the last five contests, posting at least 14 points in each. What's remarkable about Brown's consistency is that he has only one touchdown across that stretch.
However, Brown is set up well to find the end zone Sunday for the first time since Week 8. The Bills have given up a league-high 15 rushing touchdowns to running backs this year, and only the Bengals (17) have allowed more total scrimmage scores to tailbacks than the 16 Buffalo has conceded. The Bills also rank 30th in opposing rushing yards per game (141.3).
Projection: 88 rushing yards, 32 receiving yards, 5 receptions, TD
Other RBs primed to boom:
Seahawks' Kenneth Walker at Falcons
Broncos' RJ Harvey at Raiders
WR: Broncos' Courtland Sutton at Raiders
Sutton had his first top-15 fantasy performance since Week 4 in last Sunday's contest against the Commanders. I like the veteran to build on that momentum and have another strong outing versus a Raiders secondary that's surrendered 1,872 yards and 15 touchdowns to wide receivers - ninth and fifth most in the league, respectively.
Sutton has also played relatively well against the Raiders throughout his career, averaging 4.5 receptions, 53.2 yards, and 0.5 touchdowns in 13 matchups. After Las Vegas limited him to three catches for 24 yards and no touchdowns in the last outing, I expect a big bounce back from Sutton.
Projection: 90 receiving yards, 6 receptions, TD
WR: Lions' Jameson Williams vs. Cowboys
Williams could be in store for a career performance with Amon-Ra St. Brown questionable to play on Thursday Night Football due to an ankle injury. I also like Isaac TeSlaa as a flex option against the Cowboys' soft secondary if Detroit rules out St. Brown, but Williams is primed to boom regardless.
The speedster put up 144 yards on seven receptions when the Lions thrust him into the WR1 role versus the Packers on Thanksgiving after St. Brown exited. Williams has also been on a strange but strong run lately. In his last seven games, he's finished as WR14 or better whenever he's scored fantasy points, though he's also posted two scoreless games. That sort of dud seems exceptionally unlikely this week, considering Dallas is giving up the most fantasy points to wide receivers.
Projection: 104 receiving yards, 5 receptions, 4 rushing yards, TD
Other WRs primed to boom:
Ravens' Zay Flowers vs. Steelers
Colts' Alec Pierce at Jaguars
TE: Falcons' Kyle Pitts vs. Seahawks
The Seahawks have conceded the third-most receptions and receiving yards to tight ends this season. They've also given up five touchdowns to the position, tied for the 11th most in the NFL. As a result, Seattle ranks 29th in fantasy points allowed per game to tight ends.
Pitts is also fresh off a solid seven-catch, 82-yard performance against the Jets, finishing as TE6 despite not recording a touchdown. I like him to score his second TD of the season in this one, elevating him to another strong fantasy outing.
Projection: 72 receiving yards, 7 receptions, TD
Other TEs primed to boom:
Jaguars' Brenton Strange vs. Colts
Vikings' T.J. Hockenson vs. Commanders
QB: Bears' Caleb Williams at Packers
While I like the Packers' signal-caller this week, I don't like his counterpart in the game nearly as much. Williams struggled in Chicago's win over the Eagles last week, completing 47.2% of his passes for 154 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
Only seven teams have surrendered fewer passing touchdowns than the Packers (15) this campaign, and Green Bay's defense ranks sixth in passing yards allowed per contest (186.5). Against that level of defensive resistance, Williams faces an uphill battle for a productive outing.
Projection: 169 passing yards, passing TD, INT, 30 rushing yards
Other QBs to bench:
Seahawks' Sam Darnold at Falcons
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers at Ravens
RB: Texans' Woody Marks at Chiefs
There's a chance Marks doesn't suit up against Kansas City after he sustained a foot injury last week. If he's out, the negative outlook shifts to Nick Chubb, who fantasy owners shouldn't start regardless of Marks' status. But if Marks does play, he'll be dealing with a foot issue that prevented him from practicing Wednesday.
Marks will also be looking to rebound from three underwhelming performances, though he'll face a defense that's given up just eight scrimmage touchdowns to running backs all season. The Chiefs rank ninth in rushing yards allowed, surrendering 100.9 per game, and only four teams have given up fewer total rushing yards to tailbacks.
Projection: 42 rushing yards, 6 receiving yards, 1 reception
RB: Bears' D'Andre Swift at Packers
Caleb Williams isn't the only Bear I'm hesitant to rely on. Although Swift scored 20.3 half-PPR points in the last game, he had just 1.4 against the Steelers the week prior. Pittsburgh has conceded 165 more rushing yards to running backs than Green Bay, while the Packers have given up only one more scrimmage touchdown than the Steelers (six).
A subpar rushing matchup in cold weather is likely to lead to more work for Kyle Monangai than Swift. Monangai is coming off an impressive 19 half-PPR points last week, has scored touchdowns in four consecutive games, and plays a more physical game than Swift.
Projection: 30 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards, 3 receptions
Other RBs to bench:
Titans' Tony Pollard/Tyjae Spears at Browns
Chiefs' Kareem Hunt vs. Texans
WR: Eagles' DeVonta Smith at Chargers
The Chargers have given up the second-fewest half-PPR points to wide receivers this year. Additionally, only two teams have allowed fewer total yards to wideouts, and only the Broncos (four) have surrendered fewer touchdowns to the position (six).
Smith has taken a bit of a backseat in the offense recently, finishing with adequate but unimpressive fantasy points. I think that stretch continues against this elite defense, especially given A.J. Brown's increased involvement lately. Over the last three games, Brown has 33 targets, 25 receptions, 291 yards, and three touchdowns compared to Smith's 24/12/145/0.
Projection: 37 receiving yards, 3 receptions
WR: Bills' Khalil Shakir vs. Bengals
Shakir has posted double-digit half-PPR points only once in the last five games and just four times in 12 contests this season. In fact, he's finished as WR100 or worse three times, compared to just two top-15 finishes. Shakir just isn't involved enough to be relied on.
And then there's the matter of Shakir's opponent. Cincinnati has given up six touchdowns to receivers in 2025, and only five teams have conceded more total yards to wideouts. While the Bengals sit last in opposing passing yards per game, that's primarily due to their struggles elsewhere. They rank 31st and 32nd (by a wide margin) in limiting receiving yards to running backs and tight ends, respectively.
Projection: 26 receiving yards, 3 receptions, 4 rushing yards
Other WRs to bench:
Texans' Jayden Higgins at Chiefs
Commanders' Deebo Samuel at Vikings
TE: Eagles' Dallas Goedert at Chargers
Goedert's earlier streak of four top-eight finishes in six games feels like an eternity ago. He hasn't topped 3.7 half-PPR points in each of the last three contests and hasn't reached double-digit points since Week 8. Opponents have also held Goedert to under 50 yards in all but one game this season.
He could salvage his fantasy day with a touchdown, but I wouldn't count on it. The Chargers have allowed the fourth-fewest receptions to tight ends, which will likely limit Goedert's opportunities all over the field, including the red zone. Plus, he's recorded just two receptions in each of the last three contests.
Projection: 25 receiving yards, 2 receptions
Other TEs to bench:
Texans' Dalton Schultz at Chiefs
Chargers' Oronde Gadsden vs. Eagles
Andrew Dixon is a contributing fantasy analyst for theScore.