Thanksgiving Day Games - TENN @ DET

Happy Turkey Day to you all - I hope you are well on your way to Turkey and Mash potato goodness and ready for some football.

You can catch the up to date, latest info version on the Fantasy Sports Channel at BlogtalkRadio.com at 7:30amPST/10:30amEST tomorrow.

I'll take your calls live and get you ready for Turkey Dinner. Here is the breakdown for the Titans and Lions as of Wednesday night.

TITANS
Kerry Collins
Collins has played well in his last three games with just 1 INT to 6 TDs and 762 yards. Collins even played relatively well and put up 243 yds against a tough Jets D. And did it when the Jets were owning the time of possession. He was only able to complete 50% of his throws, but the Jets did a great job of covering him. The Lions have given up 18TDs so far with only two interceptions. He faces a much better matchup this week and I expect this whole Titans team to bounce back and take some aggression out on the Lions. Problem is, the Titans will probably use this matchup to spark the run game again and see if they can get it rolling before the playoffs. He might put up good numbers but more than likely, he will not do all that much this Thanksgiving day and could be too much of a risk to play.

He’s a matchups guy and this might be one of those matchups to watch but again, the Lions rush D is even worse than the pass D, so your expectations are better served if they are low.

Chris Johnson
Johnson struggled again this past weekend, but you can’t totally blame him against the third best run D in the league. The once fearsome rookie has tailed off overall over the past three games two of which were against top 5 run defenses (Bears and Jets). But he hasn’t even been involved in the pass game of late either. The Titans have every chance to get the ground game back in gear against a terrible run defense. The Kitty Cats are averaging more than 170 yards on the ground with 18 Tds served on the side. This is the Titans chance to get their rookie rolling again. If they are to win in the playoffs, they need the run game going and the Lions are a great matchup. Johnson is a pretty safe start this Thursday.

Here’s the problem though – the line has stopped playing as well as it did earlier this season. This is a chance for the offensive line to get back on track as well. The inside line has had issues (and props to Footballguys.com’s Marc Faletti for pointing it out) and they need to get themselves together. It isn’t (shouldn’t be) something to worry about this week – but at some point they will need to get themselves going and re-establish the line dominance they had.

LenDale White
Complain the loudest and you get the most carries? Nope, but White may get some more anyway as the Lions are THAT good a matchup.He is a safe play as a flex – you cannot expect yards as well, not safely. He is a hail mary but if you are going to run him out, this is one you could do it in and the risk level is lower.

Justin Gage
He will go as Collins goes, but if its run heavy, he is shaky. He is a bigger guy than anyone on the Detroit secondary so he will get targets, but I would shy away with a lot of better matchups this weekend.

Bo Scaife
Your safest Titan through the air. He was targeted seven times against the Jets (though he only caught three balls) and will continue to get a lot of looks. As far as TE’s go, becoming more consistent and these days that’s all you can ask for at the TE spot.


LIONS
Duante Culpepper
Culpepper alternately looks great and then looks horrific. Last week vs the Bucs he started off great, hitting Calvin Johnson for a 15 yard TD, but ended ugly with just 121 yards and the one TD, with 2 INTs for good measure. And now, because fate is a harsh mistress, he faces a Titans D that has twice as many interceptions as they have given up TDs (16 INTs to 7 TDs). You’d have to be pretty ballsy, desperate or crazy to start him here. Sometimes I am all three of the above and I still won’t touch him this Thursday.

Kevin Smith
Smith is banged up and that’s a concern. He had a good day against a pretty tough Bucs D. With Rudi Johnson done you might be tempted as he will get the carries, but he will be hard pressed against a defense that is still very good against the run. Don’t expect a Thomas Jones or Leon Washington performance here. The Lions will not wear down the defense and control the clock like Gang Green did. Jones is too shaky for a start this week.

Calvin Johnson
Cortland Finnegan a worry? Yup. But Johnson is bigger, stronger and faster than Finnegan. Yes, Finnegan will get a pick – at least one – but how often have we seen his do well with few to no targets or catches. He is a top 5 WR even with the miniscule targets. He has scored a TD in 6 of his last 7 games and 7 of the eleven games he has played, including the one he was in for about a quarter before leaving with an injury. This guy is a beast and you should have him in – even in an atrocious matchup like this.

Shaun McDonald
Run away.

So that's it - tons of potential value on the Titans sideline, but not much over on the Lions.