Packers at Colts
Green Bay Packers (7–2) at Indianapolis Colts (6–3)
The Packers are heading to Indianapolis to take on the Colts after both teams won and solidified their spots at the top of their divisions. Both of these teams have their eyes locked into the post season but that doesn’t mean they’re going to get sloppy in these last six weeks. The good news is that, unlike other Colts game this year, this one might have some fantasy goodness we can target.
Fantasy Impact
Starting with the Packers, this is a don’t overthink it spot. If you drafted them highly, you’re starting them. Davante Adams, Aaron Jones and Aaron Rodgers are all in play just about every week regardless of matchup. Last week, in a game where the Jacksonville defense really stood up and limited Green Bay’s scoring, the key names all still had solid fantasy days. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is always in play as a boom/bust flex option if you feel like you need extra juice. He’s not the most reliable, per player profiler he’s 55th in targets but 17th in air yard share and fifth in average depth of target. If you need a win and feel like your opponent is stacked, he could put up another four catches for close to 100 yards or a touchdown. This isn’t likely so be careful. The interesting guy here is tight end Robert Tonyan. He had a rough game on the box score, but, he is involved and Rodgers is definitely taking shots to him deep down the seam. In this tight end landscape he’s definitely in consideration. Though, just like with Valdes-Scantling, this is a tough defense so ancillary weapons are far from a sure thing.
With the Colts, their game plan is likely to going to combine their identify this year with the Green Bay weakness on defense: control this clock. They want to play solid defense, exploit this bad run D and keep Rodgers off the field. The problem is that I don’t know which running back to use. Nyheim Hines had the big game last Thursday leading the backfield in touches and snap count, but not by a ton. It’s also hard to tell if this was the plan specifically for that game, a result of Hines having the hot hand or if it’ll apply going forward. We’ve seen Hines have as few as four touches in a game and as much as 16. Thursday was also the most times Hines carried the ball all year. I still feel pretty safe playing him as, given how the other guys look compared to him he should have some volume if things go according to plan. If they don’t, Hines is by far the best pass catcher on the team and you can use him there as well.
As far as pass catchers go, the only guy I’m interested in is Michael Pittman. Not only is he coming off the big game last Thursday, but that also marks the second straight week of him being the target and receiving yards leader for the Colts. Limited sample size, but in with only nine games to look at, it’s important to note a trend when you see one. They’re also starting to get him involved in gadget plays (that reverse he took for 21 yards).Other than that though, the rest of these guys are still spread to thin (another week of 10 different guys catching targets). I’m not interested in tight ends as you’re kind of just hoping for a touchdown from them and there’s three of them with red zone roles. I’m also not starting Phillip Rivers. He just looks cooked, last week was a good game for sure, but he’s looked bad most of the year and he has as much a shot of throwing three picks as three touchdowns.
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