Game Overview ::
By hilow >>
- Both teams are relatively healthy heading into Week 16.
- Rams TE Tyler Higbee was added to the team’s injury report Thursday with knee and illness designations. Higbee was activated from injured reserve Tuesday, the final day he was eligible and had managed seven consecutive full practices prior to missing Thursday with an illness.
- Jets RBs Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis were both limited on Wednesday and Thursday this week with back ailments.
- The Rams now control their playoff destiny, currently sitting atop the NFC West after winning four of their last five games, including wins over the 49ers and Bills.
How los Angeles Will Try To Win ::
The Rams have played their way into the top spot in the NFC West, currently sitting at an 8-6 record that is tied with the Seahawks. They hold the tie-breaker over Seattle due to head-to-head record and play them in Week 18, but they likely need to continue stringing together wins to find their way into the postseason. Winners of four of their last five games, the blueprint for success have remained fairly consistent throughout the season. They want to start in a run-balance offensive approach before making in-game adjustments, with head coach Sean McVay one of the best in-game managers in the league. That has led to modest pass volume in four of their last five games, with quarterback Matthew Stafford attempting 30 passes or less in all four wins.
Kyren Williams continues to operate as a true workhorse back, seeing a 79% snap rate or higher in all but one game this season (a Week 13 win over the Saints where he was benched to start following a two-fumble game against the Eagles). But the last two games have seen him reclaim a workhorse role, having been fed 29 carries and two targets in each game. Williams has just four games with more than three targets all season, largely keeping him in the yardage-and-touchdown discussion despite the massive workload. It then makes sense how he has not been as fantasy friendly this season considering he has yet to go over 100 yards and score multiple touchdowns, with his only game all year hitting a 4x multiplier his Week 16 salary coming all the way back in Week 3 against the 49ers when he scored three times (twice on the ground and once through the air). Blake Corum is on hand to soak up any change of pace opportunities required. The Jets have performed extremely well against the run this season, holding opponents to 1.48 yards before contact per attempt (third), 4.1 yards per carry (sixth), and 18.5 fantasy points per game (11th).
Puka Nacua has developed into the true alpha through the air for this offense, scoring 17.3 DK points or more in every game this season in which he has seen 35% or more of the team’s offensive snaps. He has seen eight targets or more in all of those games, with 13 or more in three of seven games in which he played more than 35% of the offensive snaps. Touchdowns have been harder to come by considering Stafford has thrown just 19 scores this season, and the presence of elite red zone threat Cooper Kupp has left Puka with only four scores. Kupp has also seen double-digit targets in three of seven games since Week 8 while scoring five times in that span, also famously seeing 21 targets in Week 1 following the departure of Nacua. Kupp saw his salary drop massively following a zero-catch game against the 49ers in Week 15 and is now at his cheapest price tag of the season at just $6,500. Demarcus Robinson continues to fill the primary WR3 role but has not seen more than five targets since Week 9. We’ll have to wait and see how Tyler Higbee is listed on the team’s Friday injury report after he was activated from injured reserve Tuesday but missed Thursday with an illness. The Jets have largely been solid against the pass this season but have slipped in recent weeks, allowing 263.7 pass yards per game over their last three. For comparison, the Jaguars rank dead last in pass yards per game allowed at 264.3. Only the Bengals, Bills, and Broncos have allowed more pass yards per game over their last three games.
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