Coffin Corner: A look inside the numbers as you gear up for battles with clubs from the NFC.
Marshawn Lynch faces a Niners’ defense that has not allowed a single rushing touchdown this season as the unit has become the first in the history of the NFL not to allow a rushing score in the first 14 games of a season. Can Lynch extend his franchise record touchdown scoring streak to 11 weeks facing that unit? Since Week 9 of the season Lynch also has an NFL leading 748 rushing yards. Will he become the first back to rush for more than 100-yards in 37 games against the Niners?
Cliff Avril has forced five fumbles, recovered two fumbles (including one that resulted in a 24 yard touchdown), and has nine sacks in his last eight games.
Jason Babin has eight sacks in his last three games including at least two in each of the three games.
Drew Brees needs 305 passing yards to set the all-time NFL passing record (5,084 held by Dan Marino). He’s led the Saints to a 9-2 record against the Falcons with a 100 QB Rating.
Chris Clemens of the Seahawks has 11 sacks in his last 13 games.
Josh Freeman has averaged 210 passing yards and two scores the last two times he has faced the Panthers.
Brandon Jacobs ran for 100 yards an a score the lone time he’s faced the Jets.
Steven Jackson is 34 rushing yards from a 7th straight season of 1,000 yards. He’s also averaging 114.9 yards a game from scrimmage over his last 84 games. This week he faces the toughest run defense in the AFC, the one that belongs to the Steelers.
Jabar Gaffney has all of three catches for 34 yards in his two games against the Vikings. He should blow past those numbers this week as he has averaged six receptions and 91 yards a game over his past four outings.
Tony Gonzalez was a non entity in Week 15. Look for that to change in Week 16 as he faces a Saints teams that he burned for eight receptions, 110 yards and a score in their last matchup.
Frank Gore may not get 20+ touches this week for the Niners, but he has his two biggest career running games against the blue and green of the Seahawks – 212 yards on November 19, 2006 and 207 yards on September 20, 2009.
Ryan Grant isn’t a great play this week because of a healthy and crowded Packers backfield, but he does have a ton of success against the Bears in his career (596 rushing yards and five scores in six games).
Rex Grossman faces a Vikings club that is the third worst in pass defense at 260.4 yards a game. Even better for Grossman though is the fact that the Viking porous pass defense has been beaten for 31 touchdowns.
Percy Harvin has five receiving scores in his last five games.
Eli Manning has thrown for 14 touchdowns in the 4th quarter, tied for the most in history. He’s also thrown for a Giants franchise record 4,362 yards on the year, and in his only start against the Jets he passed the pigskin for two scores.
Clay Mathews has 11 sacks in his last 14 games against NFC North competition.
LeSean McCoy has been killing everyone in the league with his high scoring magic, and the Cowboys aren’t immune to that. The last two times McCoy has faced the ‘Boys he has run for 334 yards and two scores. McCoy is flat out amazing.
Lance Moore has five touchdowns in his last four games, and he also had a huge game the last time the Falcons visited New Orleans with six receptions, 149 yards and two scores.
Cam Newton has 30 scores on the season (17 passing, 13 running), the most by a rookie in league history. The last time he faced the Panthers he passed for one score and ran for three others.
Julius Peppers had a sack an a fumble recovery the last time he faced the Packers.
Adrian Peterson hasn’t had any success in two outings against the Redskins rushing for 63 yards and one score on 15 carries.
Brandon Pettigrew might find the sledding tough going this weekend facing a Chargers club that has allowed only 55 receptions to the tight end, the fourth lowest mark in the league.
Jason Pierre-Paul has a sack in each of his last four games. He also has 18 sacks in his last 20 games.
Christian Ponder has thrown for seven scores in his last three games including at least two each week. On the year the Redskins have allowed 17 passing scores in 14 games.
Laurent Robinson has scored nine times in his last eight games while Dez Bryant has scores in four of his past five games.
Tony Romo has thrown for 20,283 yards in his first 75 NFL starts, the third most yards through that game mark in the history of the NFL. The Eagles are allowing only 213.8 yards a game passing this year, but they have been beaten for 25 scoring passes.
Matt Ryan has thrown for 544 yards and seven touchdowns his last two games. The last time he faced the Saints he threw for 351 yards and two scores, an in six career matchups he’s averaging 263 passing yards a game.
Alex Smith has completed 68 percent of his passes for 379 yards, three scores and no interceptions in his last two games against the Saints.
Pierre Thomas has five touchdowns in his last four games against the Falcons.
Michael Turner ran for 96 yards the last time he faced the Saints, an in seven career matchups he’s averaged 83.3 yards a game on the ground.
Brian Urlacher has an interception in his last two outings against the Packers.
Michael Vick passed for 279 yards and ran for another 50 the last time he faced the Cowboys. He also passed for two scores and didn’t thrown an interception.
DeMarcus Ware has seven, seven, sacks in his last two games against the Eagles.
Beanie Wells is six yards short of becoming the first Cardinal with 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. The Bengals are allowing 99.6 yards a game on the ground and have permitted 12 rushing scores.
DeAngelo Williams has four rushing scores in his last four meetings with the Bucs. Jonathan Stewart has five scores in his six games against the Bucs.
Mike Williams had five receptions for 93 yards in his last game against the Panthers.
Jason Witten loves to see the Eagles on the schedule. He’s spiked the ball in the end zone four times in their last four meetings.
Roddy White has scored seven times while averaging 64 yards a game against the Saints in 13 matchups.
Charles Woodson has five interceptions in 11 games against the Bears as a member of the Packers.
Random Start of the Week
(That one player you would never consider starting but for some reason he might be worth a look if you’re desperate.)
Kahlil Bell, Bears
I might be the only person who doesn’t seem to think that starting Bell is a strong play this week, so maybe I’ve got it all wrong. I look for the Bears to be destroyed by the Packers who will be out to reassert their dominance after last weeks dismal outing. If that’s the case, the Bears likely won’t run much, but that also means that Marion Barber likely wouldn’t see much time on the field because he isn’t a very good pass catcher (he’s also a bit beat up physically). I consider Bell as a flex play option in 12 team leagues.
Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87. Ray’s baseball analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys’ Twitter account.
