Fantasy football projections, Week 14: Broncos-Titans featuring Demaryius Thomas, Marcus Mariota, Rishard Matthews, more

The Week 14 matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Tennessee Titans features two teams with very different styles facing off. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Quarterback Paxton Lynch only threw for 104 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13. While Lynch probably wasn’t in any fantasy lineups, he did impact the fantasy value of Broncos’ receivers heading into the fantasy postseason. Owners of Demaryius Thomas would be the first to tell you that. He escaped last week’s game with six catches and 61 receiving yards. It’s already been a disappointing year for Thomas, and now he’s been held to 61 receiving yards or less in three of the last four games. Only two teams in the NFL give up more fantasy points to receivers than Tennessee, but it’s hard to trust Lynch under center, and if Trevor Siemian plays, it’ll be at less than 100 percent. For those reasons, Thomas should finish below his projected totals once again in Week 14.

Running back Devontae Booker would appear to be a bit of a safer play against the Titans. Calling him a safer play, however, is a bit generous. That’s because Booker rushed for just 35 yards despite receiving 18 carries against the Jaguars last week. He saved his fantasy day by finding the end zone, but in all honesty, he was due to get kicked down a notch on the depth chart until teammate Kapri Bibbs suffered a season-ending ankle injury. With the newly acquired Justin Forsett now in the mix, it’s hard to trust Booker to beat his projections in Tennessee this week.

The Denver Broncos rank first in the NFL against the pass. Despite that fact, it’s hard to consider benching quarterback Marcus Mariota heading into the postseason. He put together another solid performance in a win over the Chicago Bears prior to the team’s bye week. Mariota completed just 15 passes in the game, but still totaled 226 passing yards and two touchdowns. He also did not turn the ball over. Taking care of the football is going to be an important theme heading into Week 14. Perhaps once the second half rolls around and Denver’s defense grows tired thanks to its anaemic passing game, the Titans will slowly begin to take over. Mariota has had a fantastic season, but he’s about to face the best collection of defensive players in football. That will make it hard to trust him, and Mariota is likely to finish below his projections.

The same could be said for wide receiver Rishard Matthews. He has quietly become Mariota’s favorite target in Tennessee, as evidenced by the fact that Matthews has scored four touchdowns over the last four games. But again, Matthews will be facing arguably the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Considering he’s a big-play receiver that does most of his damage on just a few catches, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see him get shut down in Week 14.