Lance's 2022 Week 5 Predictions
Every week I’ll be putting out my predictions, they will include my winner for each game with a brief explanation, and 1 start and 1 sit for each fantasy football position. As usual, I’ll start with my picks:
Overall Record: 26-21-1
Denver over Indianapolis
This is one of three games that I had a really hard time picking, ultimately I chose Denver because of Matt Ryan's turnover issues to open the year (I made the pick before Taylor was ruled out, so that just solidified it for me).
NY Giants over Green Bay
I'd say this will be a good test to find out if the Giants are for real or not, but in reality Green Bay's struggles have been front and center. Barkley runs wild, and the Giants pull off what many will view as a surprise upset.
Buffalo over Pittsburgh
Rough first start for Pickett, but it'll be a good learning experience, one the Bills defense will absolutely love.
LA Chargers over Cleveland
Another one I had a hard time picking, the Chargers are still struggling against the run, so if Cleveland can control the clock they can get the W, but I think Herbert takes advantage of a weak pass defense and doesn't give Chubb and company a chance.
Jacksonville over Houston
I'll take the Jags who are playing good football and will be at home against a division rival that's struggling.
Minnesota over Chicago
Usually the Vikings run into problems when they go to Chicago, luckily for them this one is at home and on top of that the Bears just aren't that good of a team.
Detroit over New England
It's easier on a rookie QB when you get to go in, in the middle of a game when the opponent has not game planned for you. Don't expect the same performance from Zappe this week.
New Orleans over Seattle
The Saints will find ways to force turnovers and take advantage of Seattle's porous defense.
NY Jets over Miami
No Tagovailoa will certainly hurt Miami, but the x factor will be the fire the Jets have been playing with lately.
Tampa Bay over Atlanta
The Falcons are feisty, but the Bucs have most of their team back to full health, it'll be too much talent for Atlanta to overcome.
Washington over Tennessee
Tennessee's lack of a defense will be their downfall in this one.
San Francisco over Carolina
The third game I had a hard time picking, ended up choosing San Fran because their defense has been stingy and in a close game I believe their run game will be able to move the ball more easily than Carolina's.
Philadelphia over Arizona
Arizona continues to roll out a unit that looks lost until the fourth quarter, they'll have to play all four quarters if they stand a chance against the Eagles.
LA Rams over Dallas
The Cowboys are not as good as their win total indicates and the Rams are a better team than what they've shown, I think this is a surprise get right game for the Rams.
Baltimore over Cincinnati
Should be a high scoring affair with both defenses not playing well, so I'm taking Jackson who has been playing out of his mind to open the season.
Kansas City over Las Vegas
Mahomes is on fire, and Vegas isn't equipped to stop him yet, though Carr and Adams should keep it interesting.
Fantasy Starts and Sits
Record for QBs, TEs, and Ds is based off if they finished top 12 or not
Record for RBs and WRs is based off if they finished top 24 or not.
QB Record: 5-1
QB Start: Derek Carr at Kansas City
Carr will have every opportunity to rack up fantasy points this week in a game he'll probably have to play catch up in, and against a secondary that isn't all that good.
QB Sit: Aaron Rodgers vs NY Giants
Rodgers hasn't reached his projected point total yet this season, he hasn't scored 20+ points at all this season either, and the Giants defense is playing well.
RB Record: 4-2
RB Start: Damien Harris vs Detroit
Harris is a touchdown dependent fantasy player and luckily, for those of us with him on our teams, the Lions give up rushing touchdowns in spades (at least one in all four games so far).
RB Sit: Tyler Allgeier at Tampa Bay
Many of you just flocked to the waiver wire to snag Allgeier after his impressive play last week and learning that Patterson has gone on IR, but don't start the rookie this week. Tampa is one of the top run defenses in the league, it's not a favorable matchup no matter what way you try to spin it in your head.
WR Record: 1-5
WR Start: Terry McLaurin vs Tennessee
Wentz certainly seems to like the other Receivers in Washington more than McLaurin, but even so McLaurin has still seen 6+ targets in each of the last three weeks. Tennessee's secondary is very beatable, so this week when McLaurin sees his 6+ targets I would expect more than 2 catches for 12 yards.
WR Sit: Michael Pittman at Denver
The Broncos have allowed 1 touchdown to a Receiver that sits top two on their depth chart this season, plus Pittman should see a heavy dose of Patrick Surtain, plus plus Matt Ryan is playing bad football right now.
TE Record: 4-2
TE Start: Tyler Conklin vs Miami
Conklin has been quietly decent with 4+ receptions and 40+ yards in three games, and this week he's got a matchup with the team giving up the most fantasy points to the position.
TE Sit: Gerald Everett at Cleveland
It's tough to say sit a player that's doing well at a thin position especially when it looks like Keenan Allen may be out again, but the Browns have been stingy against Tight Ends so far this year.
Defense Record: 3-3
Defense Start: New Orleans Saints vs Seattle
If you take week 1 out of the equation, Geno Smith has had two good outings against two bad defenses (Detroit and Atlanta) and one bad outing against a good defense (San Francisco). I think he gets exposed against a talented Saints defense that hasn't played up to expectations yet.
Defense Sit: Los Angeles Rams vs Dallas
Dallas hasn't given up a ton of points to opposing defenses in fantasy, and despite going against a team that had given up at least 9 points in their first three outings (San Fran), the Rams managed only 1 point.
