NFL Week 12 Bengals vs Ravens: Fantasy football starts and sits

After the Bengals lost A.J. Green and Giovani Bernard to injuries in Week 11, some may wonder if their next game even carries any fantasy relevance. Well, let’s take a look and find out.

ABSOLUTELY START THESE PLAYERS

Nobody. Seriously, nobody is a must start this week on the Bengals or Ravens.

FAVORABLE MATCHUP

Steve Smith (Ravens WR) is the only legitimate fantasy receiver for the Ravens, and has had big games against the Bengals. He is having a productive season, and could produce against the Bengals defense, which will likely be on the field often on Sunday.

Dennis Pitta (Ravens TE) - You don’t have to be a good tight end to score against the Bengals, you just have to be a tight end. With Shawn Williams and Vincent Rey covering you, a touchdown is in your future. The Bengals are one of the NFL’s worst teams at stopping opposing tight ends, giving up six scores this year.

MEH, IF YOU MUST

Joe Flacco (Ravens QB) - The Bengals give up the fifth most point to opposing quarterbacks, but have had solid games against subpar ones such as Ryan Tannehill and Tyrod Taylor. With his 10 touchdowns to 9 interceptions this year, Flacco is another subpar one. It's also unlikely the Bengals will score many points this week, so Flacco won't need to either.

Terrance West (Ravens RB) only averages 14 rushes and 55 rushing yards per game. But in a year with few great running backs, that may be enough to warrant a start for some fantasy teams. The Bengals’ defense has been quite hit or miss against running backs.

Jeremy Hill (Bengals RB) finally gets a chance to consume a bulk of the workload, with Giovani Bernard out for the rest of the year. But he also faces a good defense that will be stacking the box, with no A.J. Green in the lineup. With the Bengals’ lack of quality blocking, Hill will likely have a low yards per carry average, but could make up for it in volume.

Tyler Boyd / Brandon LaFell (Bengals WR) - Obviously losing Green and Bernard, should increase their targets, but the Bengals’ history says they are unlikely to feed either one of them as much as Green, and instead, spread the targets around, including to James Wright and Alex Erickson.

UNFAVORABLE MATCHUP

Tyler Eifert (Bengals TE) - the Ravens have only given up one touchdown all season to a tight end. Eifert is good, and could see more volume with Green out, but faces a challenge this week. Still, Eifert is a TE1 and it's unlikely you have a better option on your fantasy team.

SIT

Kenneth Dixon (Ravens RB) is the top running back in Baltimore, but squarely stuck behind West in the pecking order. Unless he breaks a long gain, his fantasy value is directly tied to West’s usage.

Andy Dalton (Bengals QB) without A.J. Green, just isn’t a quarterback worth starting in fantasy, especially against a defense that is having a good year, ranked No. 2 overall. Sit Dalton this week, better options should be available in all but 16 team leagues.