Fantasy Football Week 15: Updated PPR Lineup Cheat Sheet Rankings – CBS Sports

Who should you start and who should you sit in Week 15? The Lineup Cheat Sheet combines Fantasy analysis and game-flow predictions with a confidence scale to give you a definitive answer on your toughest lineup decisions.

It’s pretty simple: The scale runs from 1-10. The higher the number next to a player’s name, the more confident you should be to start him. The numbers are not a projection, just a confidence score to help you pick who to start. Every relevant player for Week 15 is here, so if a player isn’t listed, don’t start him.

To find a specific player, use your search function — CTRL-F on PCs and Command-F on Macs. If neither of those are options, or if you’re on a mobile device, you can scroll by game.

If you’re still unsure, just send a note on Twitter (@daverichard) and I’ll give it a look, time permitting. Ready to get off on the right foot? Here’s how to approach every play for Week 15 in PPR leagues — the non-PPR Cheat Sheet is right here. 

More Week 15: Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em | Starts & Sits, Sleepers & Risks | Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: QB | Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: QB | Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: RB | Waiver Wire | QB Preview | RB Preview | WR Preview | TE Preview | Trade Values | Cut List | Winners | Losers | Expert Rankings & Injury Updates        

All lines from William Hill Sportsbook.

The line wants us to believe: The Chargers are hopeless. True, the Chargers find new and exciting ways to botch basic situational football every week, but the Raiders’ only win in their past four games was a last-minute prayer against the winless Jets. They’ve also given up an average of 37.5 points per game in those four, and they actually have more turnovers this season (20) than the Chargers (16). Las Vegas is dealing with too many injuries on a short week along with a change at defensive coordinator. I’ll take the points with the Chargers.

The line wants us to believe: Denver will give Buffalo a fight. The oddsmakers know people will be all over the Bills after stomping the Steelers, which is why I think it’s curious they’re giving only six points. The Broncos offense was on fire last week but a lot of it had to do with the defense they played against. I could see Buffalo taking care of business — their past four wins have been by 10-plus points and the Broncos past six losses have been by at least six.

The line wants us to believe: Carolina is just as “good” as Detroit, Philly and Chicago. The Packers have been favorites by about eight points in each of their past three, so it’s a little surprising to see this line in the same place. Carolina is coming off a horrible defensive performance and shouldn’t have much punch, and Green Bay’s defense has done just well enough to hold opponents to around 25 points of late. The Packers should blow past their 30-point implied point total. That’s the side to be on.

The line wants us to believe: The Cowboys’ win last week was a fluke. Last week was a reminder that even Andy Dalton can have good games when he’s not pressured a ton. San Francisco ranks well in quarterback hurries and pressures but has just 23 sacks to show for it. Backing either team makes me violently ill, but if the 49ers don’t have Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert or George Kittle, then Dallas should be able to at least compete with them. I’ll take the home dog.

The line wants us to believe: Washington’s no good. It’s another disrespectful line for a Washington squad that’s convincingly won four straight games. They’ve done it with defense more than anything else, and Seattle’s run-first mentality seemingly would play right into their hands to keep the game close. Besides, Seattle’s defense isn’t as good as their last game against the Jets would suggest. The only catch is that Dwayne Haskins plays more recklessly than Alex Smith, so if he can’t play a clean game then the door’s open for Seattle to cover. I’ll cautiously take the Football Team.

The line wants us to believe: This will be a close game. I think the oddsmakers could have gotten away with a Vikings minus-4 or minus-5 line here because there shouldn’t be too much respect for the Bears even after their commanding win over the lowly Texans last week. By that logic, the oddsmakers are trying to goad us into taking the Vikings. Minnesota hasn’t won a game by more than three points since Week 10 — at Chicago. I do believe the Bears are playing better now than they were then, but I simply have a hard time backing Mitchell Trubisky in what amounts to an elimination game on the road. Yes, I think the line is a sucker bet, but no, I can’t believe in the Bears without getting at least one more point. So Vikings it is.

The line wants us to believe: New England isn’t as bad as they looked last Thursday. The Patriots are on the road for the third straight week and coming off an abysmal performance. But, the idea of Bill Belichick scheming against a rookie quarterback will get some folks to put money down on New England. I think Tagovailoa played solid (if not gutsy) football last week, and Brian Flores should be in a better spot to defend a Patriots offense that doesn’t have many wrinkles to it. I’m going with the home team.

The line wants us to believe: The Ravens will wipe the floor with the Jags. Given all the injuries and absences across the Ravens roster, my hunch is that John Harbaugh’s focus is getting out of the game healthy, not by dominating the Jaguars. Gardner Minshew gives the Jacksonville offense a better chance of keeping up on the scoreboard, and the Ravens’ deep secondary is suddenly depleted. Jacksonville won’t win, but 13 points is too many to give them. They’ll cover.

The line wants us to believe: Atlanta can stay competitive with Tampa Bay. The Falcons defense actually played well for most of last week; it was Matt Ryan putting his team in bad spots that cost them the win. I’m actually at the point where trusting Ryan without Julio Jones is a no-go. Atlanta’s only win since Week 9 was a butt kicking over a Raiders squad that constantly bumbled the game away. The Bucs should take care of business.

The line wants us to believe: The Lions are one of the league’s worst teams. That’s true, obviously. But without Matthew Stafford, they figure to be pretty beatable on both sides of the ball. Tennessee has won three games this season by 12-plus points, including one last week against Jacksonville. I have a hard time believing either team will hit their projected point totals (20.25 for Detroit, 31.25 for Tennessee), but I also have a hard time believing the Lions will be competitive.

The line wants us to believe: The Texans will be competitive. This feels like slight overreaction to last week’s games, but then again, the Texans defense is among the worst in football (not to mention on the road for the second straight week). Honestly, the line feels like they want you to take the Colts because they’re only giving seven. I could see the Texans hanging around into the fourth quarter before Indianapolis puts in a big score to put the game away. Colts it is.

The line wants us to believe: The Cardinals’ win last week was for real. The Cards played better on both sides of the ball, but the Giants’ weak sauce offense had something to do with it. Not that Philadelphia has turned into a powerhouse — their way of moving the chains is pretty straight-forward at this point. The key here is that Philly’s secondary lost three starters last week and two definitely won’t play on Sunday. Kyler Murray’s play was encouraging last week and the defense should have a semblance of an idea of how to limit Jalen Hurts. I like the Cardinals, especially since all the focus this week has been on the Eagles and how they beat the Saints.

The line wants us to believe: New York can stay within three scores. I almost wonder if the Rams could cover 21 points. The Jets have averaged 15.5 points per game in their past four — two with 28 points against awful defenses and two with three points against good defenses. It’s more likely they’ll finish around 3, 7 or 10 points, and it’s not that hard to imagine the Rams coming up with close to the 30.25 points their implied total suggests. Gang Green has been blown out by 18-plus points six times this year. This week will make seven.

The line wants us to believe: The Saints will keep it close. There’s no doubt in my mind that the general public seeing the Chiefs giving just three points will cause an avalanche of money to come in on their side. It’s probably by design. Getting three points with the Saints at home against anybody is typically a good thing. Getting it with Drew Brees back under center is a gift. The Saints, I believe, have a good chance to pull off the win.  

The line wants us to believe: The Giants can stay within a touchdown. This feels sucker-ish for sure — why wouldn’t the Browns get more points? — but the Giants took a big step back last week, especially in the pass game. That should make things easy on a depleted Cleveland secondary. Cleveland may not have won last week, but they were very competitive. It’s just more evidence that they’ve turned the corner and become a legit playoff team. I could see Nick Chubb leading the Browns offense, not Baker Mayfield.

The line wants us to believe: Everything’s fine in the Steel City. Things definitely are not fine with the Steelers offense, but there’s nothing right with the Bengals on either side of the ball. This should be a game the Steelers defense rise up and dominate since the Bengals offense has scored exactly 27 points in the three-and-a-half games they’ve been without Joe Burrow. A 13-point win might be asking too much for a Steelers offense struggling like this one, but I’m far more comfortable doing anything than siding with Cincy.

So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 15 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big-time last season.