Fantasy football advice, Week 14: Who to start/sit for Arizona Cardinals vs. Miami Dolphins

The playoffs continue on Sunday for many fantasy leagues, and those owners don’t have any more room for error. Luckily, fantasy owners will have more than a few options to choose from in a showdown between the Cardinals and Dolphins, who try to ascend from the fringe of their respective playoff pictures. Let’s take a look:

Obviously, fantasy owners aren’t going to bench David Johnson. It’s just worth mentioning that he faces a Dolphins defense that has allowed the third-most rushing yards per game and is coming off of its worst performance of the season against what had been an awful Ravens offense. Fantasy owners can also have no reservations about starting Larry Fitzgerald, as usual, and even the inconsistent Carson Palmer reenters the QB1 conversation for Week 14. The Dolphins have allowed three passing touchdowns or more in three of their last four games, with the only exception coming against the Rams. For fantasy owners who made it to the post-season by streaming quarterbacks, Palmer is an attractive option to deploy.

Though J.J. Nelson and Michael Floyd each found the end zone against Washington, the Cardinals simply don’t spread the fantasy wealth as deep as they did during 2015 when they boasted the league’s No. 1 offense. Fantasy owners can keep Nelson, Floyd and John Brown on benches as usual.

Jay Ajayi’s matchup is far from a favorable one against the Cardinals’ 11th-ranked run defense, but it’s a unit that has allowed 14 rushing touchdowns on the season. Only four teams have allowed more scores on the ground, and if the Dolphins don’t find themselves in an unfavorable game script like in Week 13, Ajayi should be well in the mix for an RB2 output with his usual RB1 ceiling.

Patrick Peterson is likely to match up with DeVante Parker on the perimeter, so fantasy owners shouldn’t be surprised if Ryan Tannehill looks more toward Jarvis Landry’s direction than usual on Sunday. However, even if Landry gets the looks, there’s no guarantee that he will turn it into a huge output against the Cardinals’ No. 3 ranked pass defense. Landry may be in line for a higher floor, but it’s hard to designate him as anything more than a flex option for Week 14.

Parker, Tannehill, and Kenny Stills can remain out of lineups for the first week of fantasy playoffs. Fantasy owners likely have better options across the board with a tough matchup at hand.