Fantasy football projections, Week 14: Raiders-Chiefs featuring Derek Carr, Michael Crabtree, Travis Kelce, more

The Week 14 matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs features division rivals pursuing first place in the AFC West. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Quarterback Derek Carr was able to lead his team to victory over the Buffalo Bills in Week 13 despite dealing with a finger injury. He finished with just 19 completions for 260 yards and two touchdown passes. Going up against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday is going to be tough. On just five days rest and coming off an injury, it would be overly optimistic to expect Carr to surpass his projections. Perhaps if he’s able to connect with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree on a regular basis, Carr can overcome his obstacles. Fantasy owners would likely be better off being conservative and going with someone else under center if an equally good option exists on their roster.

Part of Carr’s performance this week really does depend on his receivers. Crabtree in particular will look to redeem himself. While he did score for the first time in a month against the Bills last week, Crabtree dropped another touchdown catch on an earlier drive that would have given him two scores on the afternoon. Only one team gives up more fantasy points to wide receivers than Kansas City, but given that Crabtree only has one touchdown over the last month, and Carr is hurt, it’ll be hard for either player to reach his projections in Week 14.

After playing arguably the best game of his career in Week 12, Tyreek Hill delivered a more pedestrian performance against the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday. He caught five of six passes for 53 yards in the game and did not score a touchdown. Much of Hill’s appeal comes thanks to his lightning speed and his ability to make things happen on kick returns. He handsomely rewards fantasy owners who earn points for that. Still, the bright side of Hill is that he has turned into the team’s top receiver with Jeremy Maclin sidelined with an injury. Maclin is nearing a return, but Hill should still get enough action to warrant regular use in PPR leagues. He should surpass his projections while the Chiefs try to chase down an offensively gifted Raiders team on Thursday.

The one player in the passing game with slightly higher upside than Hill right now is tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce torched the Falcons last week to the tune of eight catches for 140 yards. The effort marked the third week in a row that Kelce has surpassed the 100-yard mark. It’s the fourth time he’s achieved that in the last six weeks. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Oakland Raiders have held opposing tight ends to less than 60 yards per game on average this season. It might be time for Kelce to cool off in Week 14.