Thursday Night Football Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Patriots vs Rams

The Los Angeles Rams will look to stay atop the NFC West division when they host the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football in Week 14. This matchup is chock-full of fantasy football stars and the Rams head into this game as 5-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL betting odds.

If you need help with your fantasy football lineups, here's some start 'em, sit 'em advice for the Week 14 Patriots-Rams showdown.

Damien Harris Fantasy

Start Damien Harris, RB, New England Patriots: The Patriots' offense has not been very exciting to watch this season, but Damien Harris is beginning to become a solid running back. He has had at least 14 carries in each of the past two games to go along with a combined 127 rushing yards in that span. Going up against a Rams' defense that defends the passing game so well, the Patriots may have to lean on the rushing attack in this one. That could spell upwards of 15-plus carries of Harris again. While Cam Newton takes a lot of the red zone carries himself, Harris still has a shot to score a short-range touchdown in this one. He is a solid FLEX play this week with RB2 upside.

Robert Woods Fantasy

Start Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams: Robert Woods has been quarterback Jared Goff's favorite option in the passing game lately as he has seen 38 targets over the past three weeks. Woods has also had at least 80 receiving yards in every game over that span and scored a touchdown. Plus, Woods currently leads all Rams' receivers with 14 red zone targets on the season. Facing the Patriots' secondary is no easy task and Woods may be covered by Stephon Gilmore throughout the course of the game. However, you can't argue with the type of numbers Woods is currently producing. He should be started across all fantasy football formats.

Cam Newton Fantasy

Sit Cam Newton, QB, New England Patriots: Cam Newton has been all over the place this season from a fantasy football perspective. He has not been impressive passing the football as he has just 5 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. However, he has been able to make up for that with 11 rushing touchdowns. He draws a tough matchup this week as the Rams' defense has been shutting quarterbacks down all season. They have allowed just 2,631 passing yards on the season (No. 3 in the NFL) and are tied for the least amount of touchdown passes given up in the NFL this season (14). The risk that comes with starting Newton this week is just not worth it. There are a lot of other streaming quarterbacks with more favorable matchups.

Tyler Higbee Fantasy

Sit Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams: Although he had just 24 receiving yards, Tyler Higbee is coming off one of his best games of the season as he caught a touchdown. It was his first touchdown since he had 3 of them in Week 2. Higbee has struggled all season, posting over 50 receiving yards in a game just three times. His outlook doesn't get much brighter as he now faces a Patriots' defense that has been solid at defending opposing tight ends. New England has given up just 1 touchdown to a tight end this season, which is tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the least amount in the NFL. It would be best to keep Higbee on your bench this week as he is nothing more than a backup tight end heading into the fantasy football playoffs.

SIGN UP AND GET AN INSTANT DEPOSIT BONUS UP TO 500! We'll match 20% of your first deposit on FanDuel Fantasy Sports. Max bonus $500

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.