QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Although Peyton Manning hasn’t had the best of seasons, he has a very easy matchup in Week 12. Going against the San Diego Chargers, who have statistically the worst pass defense in the NFL, Manning should have a big day. Look for the Colts to pass early and often — as this game has the possiblity of being a shootout.

RB Marion Barber III, Dallas Cowboys
With Tony Romo back at quarterback, running room will open up for Marion Barber. While Romo was out, Barber struggled — which wasn’t too surprising. Against the San Francisco 49ers, look for the Cowboys to try to establish the run early. If Dallas can get a second half lead, expect them to have Barber run it to end the game.

WR Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
Andre Johnson has had a somewhat streaky season but Week 12 promises to be a good one for the Texans receiver. Johnson is up against the Cleveland Browns and he’ll be targeted plenty of times. While he’s had a little bit of trouble scoring touchdowns this year, Week 12 looks like a week in which AJ will get at least one TD.

TE Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
Going up against the Colts with a healthy offense, Antonio Gates should be free to roam and cause damage. With the wide receivers playing well, the running backs playing well and the quarterback having his best season, Gates sometimes is the forgotten man. In Week 12, the Chargers will make the Colts pay if they forget about Gates.

QB Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Last week, Peyton Manning finally looked like Peyton Manning. The Colts quarterback had by far his best game. His struggles earlier in the season could very well be chalked up to the multiple knee surgeries he had in the offseason. Expect Manning to continue his good play in Week 7.

RB Marion Barber III, Dallas Cowboys
Going against the St. Louis Rams, Marion Barber III should get a whole lot of work. No matter if Tony Romo or Brad Johnson starts at quarterback, Barber will be called upon to keep the pressure of the QB. This is a week that Barber could easily finish the game with two or three touchdowns.

WR Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
After blowing up in Week 6, Andre Johnson should be able to carry it over into Week 7. The Lions have been very poor against the pass and Johnson is one of the most talented receivers in the entire NFL. If he can have a big game, Johnson should emerge as a top five fantasy wide receiver from here on out.

TE Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins
The Redskins will try to bounce back after their shocking Week 6 loss. Chris Cooley will be a big part of their offensive attack against the Cleveland Browns. Cooley has had an inconsistent fantasy football season, but he should be able to put up plenty of numbers this week.

QB Todd Collins, Washington Redskins
Collins stats from last week look horrible. He was only 8 for 25 passing the ball and finished without a touchdown pass. However, it must be noted that the heavy wins made it extremely hard to pass the ball. And since Collins has a weak arm, the winded really affected him. This week, Collins will be playing against the Minnesota Vikings in a dome. Don’t expect a lot of passing yard but he should be able to throw for a touchdown or two.

RB Kenny Watson, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals backfield has been hard to figure out the last couple months. With Watson, Rudi Johnson and Dede Dorsey all getting carries, it’s tough to figure out who will be carrying the load that week. This week, with the Bengals against the Browns, Watson is a decent start if you are desperate. He should get about ten carries and has a decent shot at a touchdown.

WR Donte Stallworth, New England Patriots
Stallworth has been really quiet as of late. In the last two weeks, he has one catch. It seems as if he’s fallen out of favor with the Patriots. That said, the Patriots have a good matchup this week against the Miami Dolphins and Stallworth already has a touchdown this year against the Dolphins. If he’s on the waiver wire and you need a starter, consider picking him up.

TE Kevin Boss, New York Giants
With Jeremy Shockey out for the season with a broken fibula, Boss is now in charge of the tight end position for the Giants. He’s a pretty good athlete, has nice hands and decent enough speed. Don’t expect a lot of catches out of him but he could be a end zone target for Eli Manning.

QB Chris Redman, Atlanta Falcons - Redman is an intriguing option this week. He’s likely to get his first start this week after playing rather well last game coming from off the bench. Against the St. Louis Rams, Redman had two touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of nearly 100. This week he plays the struggling Atlanta Falcons defense, which is very poor against the pass. Redman is the definition of a boom or bust start this week.

RB Chris Brown, Tennessee Titans - Brown shouldn’t be considered unless you are in a true emergency. But if there aren’t any starters on the waiver wire for you to pickup, Brown is a good start for a backup. LenDale White is banged up and Brown has run well this year, averaging nearly five yards per carry. If White’s carries are limited, Brown should produce quite nicely.

WR Joe Jurevicius, Cleveland Browns - Jurevicius is a solid start this week against the Jets. He has always been a good red zone threat and this week the Browns should see the red zone quite a bit. Another plus is that Braylon Edwards is a bit banged up, which should allow a few more passes to come to Jurevicius. If you are looking for a nice option at your third wide receiver slot, think about picking up this guy.

TE Leonard Pope, Arizona Cardinals - With Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald both battling injuries, Pope could very well become Kurt Warner’s best option in the red zone. Pope has shown the ability to get open in the endzone this year. While he’s not a threat to catch a lot of passes, he is a threat to catch a touchdown – especially with the star wide receivers for the Cardinals ailing.

Looking for an emergency waiver wire pickup to start in Week 12?

Check out these candidates:

QB David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars - Garrard is one of the safest starts in all of fantasy football. He has to throw an interception this season and has at least one touchdown pass in every game except the game he went out injured against the Colts. Garrard also is a threat to run, as he has 138 yards on the ground this season. Against the Bills, he’s a great emergency start.

RB Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins - Yes, that Ricky Williams. After being reinstated from his drug suspension, Williams will likely be back on the field for the Dolphins this week. There are reports that starting running back Jesse Chatman is dinged up with an ankle injury. If Williams gets the start, he’d still be a risky start but his track record shows he knows how to gain yards in the NFL.

WR Nate Washington, Pittsburgh Steelers - With Santonio Holmes out with an ankle injury, Washington could get a much bigger piece of the pie this week. Although Hines Ward will be the number one target for Big Ben, Washington will move into the starting lineup and should see plenty of passes thrown his way. Going against the Dolphins, Washington is a very nice start this week.

TE Bo Scaife, Tennessee Titans - Scaife and the Titans face the Cincinnati Bengals this week and should be able to move the ball offensively. Scaife has played well lately as he has 13 catches in the last three weeks. The Bengals are a poor defensive team and are historically week against the tight end. If you need a starter at tight end, pickup Scaife off the waiver wire and start him.

Photo credit: NFL.com

If you are looking for an emergency starter at quarterback on the waiver wire, this week you are in luck. A lot of the bad quarterbacks have good matchups this week, which make several of them solid fantasy pickups for the week.

Here is a look at some of those quarterbacks:

QB Damon Huard, Kansas City Chiefs - Huard is going up against the Denver Broncos this week and should be able to get a lot done through the air. The Broncos pass defense has been horrible lately and with Larry Johnson out injured, that’s a recipe for success for Huard. Another added bonus for Huard is Eddie Kennison is back this week to bolster his receiving corps.

QB Cleo Lemon, Miami Dolphins - The Dolphins are a horrible football team. That said, this week they are going against the Bills at home. While the Bills are an improving squad, their pass defense isn’t great. Lemon has been a decent fantasy producer and should again be able to put a couple touchdowns on the board this week.

QB Josh McCown, Oakland Raiders - If you are really desperate for a quarterback this week, even Josh McCown of the Raiders is a decent play. He’s playing against the surprisingly poor defense of the Chicago Bears this week. McCown will be at home and on the year, he has five touchdowns in four starts. He’s not a great start this week but if your waiver wire is bare, he’s good in a pinch.

If you are in need of a kicker or defense this weekend, these starts should have some decent production.

K John Kasay, Carolina Panthers
With the Panthers hosting the Atlanta Falcons, expect Kasay to get a lot of work. While this is a bit of a risky start due to the struggles of the offense as a whole, the Falcons should allow the Panthers to move the ball good enough to get into field goal position. Kasay should be good for at least two field goals on Sunday.

K Rian Lindell, Buffalo Bills
Going up against the Miami Dolphins, Lindell is a pretty good start this week. The Bills offense is never a sure bet but with the Dolphins defense again missing Zach Thomas, there’s a good chance Lindell will be kicking plenty on Sunday.

D Carolina Panthers
When your defense is scheduled to go up against Joey Harrington, that is usually a good thing. The Panthers defense hasn’t been as good as they were in the past, especially in fantasy, but the D has started to play better lately. While Harrington doesn’t throw many interceptions (at least this year), he’s also probably not going to get many touchdowns this weekend.

D Oakland Raiders
The Raiders pass defense has been great as of late and Brian Griese was last seen throwing a lot of interceptions. That sounds like a recipe for some more interceptions on Sunday. While the Raiders’ rush defense is horrible, Cedric Benson doesn’t exactly strike fear into the opposing defense. If Oakland can be decent against the run this week, their pass defense should be able to come up with some turnovers.

Checking the matchups is always a smart thing to do when setting your fantasy lineup, but there are some players you just don’t bench.

By Guest Blogger, Ron Bishow

While the country debates if the New England Patriots can go undefeated, I find myself in a similar situation.

I am currently 9-0 in my league, the longest I have ever gone without a loss in a fantasy league, but in reality I should already have a loss. Two weeks ago I had six of my players on a bye, which left me scrambling for waiver wire players like Ike Hilliard, while my opponent had Tom Brady. I had prepared myself for defeat, until Saturday afternoon when I checked my team and found that my opponent had benched Tom Brady in favor of Eli Manning.

Yes, you read that right. Eli Manning!

Why would anyone who owns a television do that? Well, the reasoning would probably be that Brady was playing what was considered a great secondary in the Washington Redskins, while the New York Giants were playing the 0-7 Miami Dolphins. So with Brady’s 40 fantasy points on the bench, and Eli’s eight points starting, I won 81-70 instead of losing 108-81.

I am all for playing the matchups when you’re deciding if you play Dwayne Bowe or Calvin Johnson, but not when it comes to Tom Brady. You play him if he is playing the All-Madden team, same with Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson. Oh speaking of Peterson another team in my league benched him against the Chicago Bears when he proceeded to rush for 224 yards and three TDs.

A good measuring stick is to play the best case scenario game. For instance, a good game for Eli Manning is around 250 yards and two touchdowns. A good game for Tom Brady is 350 yards and five touchdowns while the worse you would probably get from him are 250 yards and two touchdowns. There is literally no downside. When was the last time Peyton Manning passed for less then 250 yards?

Everyone has that week when they look at their bench and say, “Darn, I wish I had played so-and-so.” I wished I had played Marques Colston two weeks ago when he had three touchdowns, but he had only two up to that point in the season total. I will live with it (especially since I still won) but I would no sleep for two days if I benched Brady and he had 40 points. I certainly wouldn’t read the rumor mill the next day.

The main thing to remember is not to over think things. If you drafted a player in the first two rounds, they are most always must plays or else why pick them that early.

On a closing note, nothing has made setting that final fantasy lineup more difficult then the explosion of teams using platoon running backs either out of necessity or scheme.

These are the teams in which a team’s second running back was given at least half as many touches as the starting back last week, Cincinnati (Kenny Watson 11, Rudi Johnson 10), Dallas (Marion Barber 19, Julius Jones 16), Denver (Travis Henry 11, Selvin Young 8), Jacksonville (Fred Taylor 14, Maurice Jones-Drew 7), New England (Laurence Maroney 15, Kevin Faulk 10), NY Jets (Thomas Jones 15, Leon Washington 8), and Seattle (Shaun Alexander 15, Maurice Morris 11).

Shaun Alexander owners, I am so sorry.

Ron Bishow has been reporting on the sports world for the past seven years for AOL, Tribune interactive and CO-ED Magazine among others. He is such a fantasy sports fanatic he plays fantasy NASCAR. He is currently a contributing writer and video producer at www.newyork.metromix.com.

If you are looking for a kicker or defense to start this week, due to injuries or byes, these choices would be good in pinch.

K Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers - Reed was hot early in the year but has cooled off over the last couple weeks. However, this week, Reed should see a lot of action. The Steelers are going up against the Baltimore Ravens in what promises to be a battle of the field goal kickers. Both teams have very good defenses and there shouldn’t be many touchdowns being scored.

K Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland Raiders - Janikowski was horrible to start the season but has been kicking well lately. This week, Janikowski faces the Houston Texans. Yes, the same Houston Texans who gave up field goal attempts to Rob Bironas. Don’t expect eight field goals from Janikowski, but he should be good for at least a couple.

D Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons defense has been bad this year. This week, that could turn around as the Falcons face the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners offense has been horrible for much of the season and with a banged up Frank Gore, don’t expect that to change. If Gore misses the game due to injury, the Falcons become a great start.

D Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs have quietly moved up the ranks as one of the better fantasy football defenses in the league. They are well coached defensively and don’t make many mistakes. While they face Brett Favre and the hot Green Bay Packers, the Chiefs are still a good start based on the fact that they are at home and have played exceptional defense when playing in front of the home fans.