Denver Broncos - Fantasy News

Broncos at Colts Start 'Em / Sit 'Em

by Aaron Bowers

12/11/17

NFL

Denver Broncos

C.J. Anderson

The final edition of Thursday Night Football in 2017 will feature one of the least-inspiring matchups of the week. The Denver Broncos will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts in the Peyton Manning revenge game. Unfortunately, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck aren’t walking through that door, so we’ll have to settle for two teams duking it out for draft position.

Whatever slim playoff hopes the Colts had were extinguished all the way back on November 2^nd when they put their star quarterback on injured reserve.

However, this isn’t a team to just lay down and take a loss. The Colts have won or lost by one score in five of their last six games, including contests against potential playoff teams such as the Steelers, Bills and Titans.

When the Broncos went on bye in Week 5, they looked like possible contenders for the AFC Championship Game with an outside shot at the Super Bowl. They were 3-1 with wins over the Chargers and Raiders and a 25-point win against the Cowboys.

Denver followed that up with an eight-game losing streak, though, before getting back in the win column with a 23-0 victory against the Jets without Josh McCown.

In a game where both teams are just playing out the string, we’ve identified players to target and fade on Dober Play Cards.

Denver Broncos Week 15 Projected Fantasy Points
Trevor Siemian: 12.0 PFP
Demaryius Thomas: 10.5 PFP
C.J. Anderson: 8.5 PFP
Emmanuel Sanders: 8.0 PFP
Brandon McManus: 6.5 PFP
Devontae Booker: 5.0 PFP

Indianapolis Colts Week 15 Projected Fantasy Points
Jacoby Brissett: 12.5 PFP
T.Y. Hilton: 10.0 PFP
Frank Gore: 9.0 PFP
Jack Doyle: 9.0 PFP
Adam Vinatieri: 7.0 PFP
Marlon Mack: 6.5 PFP
Chester Rodgers: 5.5 PFP

Start 'Em: C.J. Anderson (8.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 8.30

The correlation between Denver's wins and C.J. Anderson's touches is remarkable. In the Broncos’ four victories this season, Anderson averaged 24.3 touches for 106.8 yards from scrimmage. In nine Denver losses, he averaged 11.7 touches for 50.2 yards from scrimmage. While there is always a chicken-or-the-egg question about whether running the ball leads to winning games or whether winning games leads to running the ball, it’s clear that the Denver offense is better when the ball isn’t in the hands of a quarterback.

Additionally, the Colts are giving up 22.9 Dober Fantasy Points per game to running backs this season, one of the worst marks in the league. This sets up to be a big game for Anderson, and he should have no trouble getting over his Projected Fantasy Points total.

Sit 'Em: Emmanuel Sanders (8.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 7.43

2017 has been a lost season for Sanders. He’s averaging fewer yards per game than he has in any season since 2012, and he has battled through an ankle injury. Sanders has tallied more than 8.0 Dober Fantasy Points in just four of 11 games he has played.

Since his six-reception, 137-yard game on Sunday Night Football against the Patriots, Sanders has eight receptions for 54 yards in the four subsequent games. He hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 2 and is being held captive in a terrible offense led by disastrous quarterback play.

Unlike the giant, lumbering Demaryius Thomas, Sanders is a speedster and a technician. He needs accurate, timely passes in order to do significant damage. With the Broncos’ revolving door of lousy quarterbacks, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything of significance on Thursday Night Football.

Start 'Em: Jacoby Brissett (12.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 13.08

When considering the how poorly the Colts’ season has gone, it’s frightening to think of how much worse it could have been if they hadn’t brought in Jacoby Brissett just before the season.

Though Brissett is far from a polished player, he has a strong arm, makes good decisions and has the ability to rack up fantasy points on the ground. Of the 11 games Brissett has started where it wasn’t a torrential blizzard, he’s eclipsed 12.5 Dober Fantasy Points six times while averaging nearly 14.4 DFP per game.

Though the Denver pass defense has a stellar reputation, it has been in the middle of the pack as far as DFP per game allowed to quarterbacks this season. With solid weapons like T.Y. Hilton and Jack Doyle, we’re targeting Brissett on Dober Play Cards this week.

Sit 'Em: Frank Gore (9.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 9.51

The oldest running back in the league by a considerable margin, it is amazing how effective Frank Gore has been in his age-34 season. However, after handling a career-high 37 touches for 140 yards in the snow, expectations need to be significantly tempered on a short week.

Earlier this season, we saw a similarly-aged Adrian Peterson handle 39 touches for 166 yards. Four days later, he turned 22 touches into 42 yards and lost a fumble.

Compounding Gore's issue of the short week and heavy workload is the matchup against a rugged Denver defense. The Broncos have given up just 1,020 yards on the ground this season, eighth-fewest in the league. We expect Gore to fall far short of his PFP this week.