The Arizona Cardinals travel to rival St. Louis for Week 12 of the NFL season after crashing back to earth against the San Francisco 49ers. Between Steven Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Beanie Wells, and Brandon Lloyd, Sunday's game features a litany of relevant fantasy names as the playoff push lingers in the air. With the help of numberFire.com, we've put together a comprehensive list of sit/start projections for this NFC West divisional matchup.
START
Larry Fitzgerald
numberFire.com Projections: 5.28 receptions, 74.13 yards, 0.56 touchdowns, 10.90 fantasy points
Analysis: Fitzy has four touchdowns in the last three weeks, one of which came against the Rams in their Week 9 match-up. Since then the St. Louis secondary has only maintained its generous nature, ranking in as the fifth most-giving unit against wideouts. As if you needed me to tell you to start Fitzgerald.
Brandon Lloyd
numberFire.com Projections: 5.70 receptions, 85.61 yards, .28 touchdowns, 10.21 fantasy points
Analysis: Similar to Fitzgerald, Lloyd has been on a tear of late, nabbing three touchdowns and 10.7 points per game over the past four weeks. The 30-year-old has quickly emerged as Sam Bradford's go-to target in St. Louis, and a struggling Arizona secondary fresh-off a 120-yard thrashing from Michael Crabtree should pose no threat to end that streak.
Steven Jackson
numberFire.com Projections: 20.16 rushes, 90.38 yards, .64 touchdowns, 2.04 receptions, 15.08 receiving yards, 14.61 fantasy points
Analysis: Since recovering from early season injury, Jackson has rallied off an average of 14.7 points per week, including a 14.2 spot against the Arizona frontline in early November. There's no reason to think he won't repeat the favor on Sunday.
SIT
John Skelton
numberFire.com Projections: 186.98 passing yards, .98 touchdowns, 10.56 fantasy points
Analysis: Needless to say, John Skelton fell back to earth hard against San Francisco. After earning a surprisingly decent 40.78 points in his first two starts, the Fordham-product completed just 6-of-19 passes, with three interceptions, for a whopping .96 points in Week 9. If Kevin Kolb can't go on Sunday -- which is looking likelier by the second -- you'd need balls of steel to put your faith in Skelton.
Beanie Wells
numberFire.com Projections: 10.62 rushes, 43.64 yards, .18 touchdowns, 1.94 receptions, 15.13 receiving yards, 7.34 fantasy points
Analysis: After last week's 33-yard disgrace, Beanie Wells has now failed to cross the six-point threshold four times in his last five outings; an overwhelmingly disappointing turn of events after the youngster stormed out of the gates to kick off the season. On paper the weak St. Louis front-seven should be an excellent match-up for the embattled back, but who knows what to expect at this point. Stay away from this mess.
Sam Bradford
numberFire.com Projections: 187.56 passing yards, .98 touchdowns, 11.16 fantasy points
Analysis: Sam Bradford's sophomore season isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. The 24-year-old has battled everything from injuries to an offensive line that gives sacks away like it's going out of style. Making matters worse, the loss of starting left tackle Roger Saffold means it's open season on Bradford's blindside. Everything about this situation screams "sit".