The Week 12 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts features one team that can light it up on the ground occasionally and another team that gets lit up on the ground occasionally. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 12: Buccaneers-Colts featuring Doug Martin, Mike Evans and Ahmad Bradshaw
We break down the Week 12 matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Just when the fantasy world thought he was probably cooling off, Buccaneers running back Doug Martin proved the whole world wrong last week, running for 235 yards on 27 carries against the Philadelphia Eagles. The performance now puts Martin second in the NFL with 941 rushing yards on the season. Who would’ve thought that was coming? It’s obviously foolish to expect that he would put up similar numbers in Indianapolis this week, but it’s also foolish to expect that the Colts are all of a sudden going to exhibit a supreme run defense.
Even if Martin is limited by the Colts somehow, wide receiver Mike Evans won’t be. Surprisingly, despite the fact Tampa Bay scored 45 points last week, Evans managed just 63 receiving yards and a touchdown in a game that saw Jameis Winston throw five of them. Evans should be better off against Indy and everyone knows he’s still an elite receiver. Both he and Martin should post strong numbers this week once again.
Indianapolis Colts
It doesn’t take a fantasy expert to know that the Colts are a completely different team with quarterback Andrew Luck on the sidelines. Even in his prime teammate Matt Hasselbeck was never part of the elite class. Unfortunately, it means that fantasy owners of Colts players will have to suffer until Luck returns. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt T.Y. Hilton too much longer. He caught just two passes for 21 yards and a win over the Atlanta Falcons last week. Perhaps for now, investing in the Colts’ running game presents a better opportunity.
Normally you would think that means starting Frank Gore in your lineup. However, veteran running back Ahmad Bradshaw was the guy to own last week. He turned 13 touches into just 52 yards against the Falcons, but two of those touches went for touchdowns. Make no mistake about it, Bradshaw has had a long road back from injury this year, so he’s not going to single-handedly win you a head-to-head matchup. That said, he does offer some pop in PPR leagues.
