The Week 13 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders features division rivals who aren’t where we expected them to be this season, but for two very different reasons. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 13: Chiefs-Raiders featuring Jeremy Maclin, Derek Carr and Amari Cooper
We break down the Week 13 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders.
Kansas City Chiefs
After posting incredibly quiet numbers in each of his last five starts, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin finally posted his third big game as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. He scorched the Buffalo Bills for nine catches, 160 yards and a touchdown last week. Those kind of numbers seemed to be possible every other week when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, but it just hasn’t happened in Kansas City. The good news is that Maclin is facing an Oakland Raiders secondary unit that has been burned time and time again this season. He could be in for another huge game in Week 13.
If it just so happens Maclin doesn’t perform well on the West Coast this week, teammate and tight end Travis Kelce will likely pick up the slack. He scored just his fourth touchdown of the season against Buffalo last week and finished with four catches for 69 receiving yards. Only two teams have given up more points to fantasy tight ends than the Oakland Raiders. It’s obvious that Kansas City’s passing game may be providing some big time numbers to fantasy owners this week.
Oakland Raiders
Quarterback Derek Carr was held in check by the Detroit Lions two weeks ago. Fortunately for his fantasy owners, the Tennessee Titans didn’t exactly repeat the feat last week. Carr was all over them, completing 24 passes for 330 passing yards and three touchdowns. He’s cemented himself as a regular fantasy starter this year. Although Carr faces a Kansas City team that is fairly good at limiting fantasy points at the quarterback position, it should be noted that Carr has thrown at least two touchdown passes in five of the last six games. He’s clearly found his groove in the NFL.
That’s good news for wide receiver Amari Cooper, who caught seven passes for 115 yards against the Titans last week after being limited to one catch a week before that. As bad as the Oakland Raiders’ secondary unit is at limiting fantasy wide receivers, it just so happens that the Kansas City Chiefs have done even worse. Cooper could be one of the top receivers in fantasy football after Week 13’s games have all been played. He’s got a lot of upside this week to say the least.
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SB Nation presents: NFL Week 13 start/sit fantasy advice
