Week 12 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Chiefs vs Buccaneers

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what should be the marquee game of Week 12. Kansas City is currently a hefty 3.5-point road favorite ahead of this one, per FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds.

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's some start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Chiefs-Buccaneers showdown.

Patrick Mahomes Fantasy

Start Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs: The Buccaneers looked like one of the toughest matchups possible for a QB this season. But that hasn't been the case recently. Since Week 7, Derek Carr, Daniel Jones and Drew Brees have all had nice outings against this unit, and Jared Goff just went off for 376 yards and 3 TDs in Week 11. The only quarterback Tampa Bay has put the clamps on over its past five games has been Teddy Bridgewater in Week 10. That's not all that impressive. The matchup may look daunting, but it's not as difficult as you might think. Feel free to use Patrick Mahomes as you normally would.

Antonio Brown Fantasy

Start Antonio Brown, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Antonio Brown has been seeing some huge volume since making his Buccaneers' debut in Week 9. The mercurial wideout is averaging 8.7 targets which he's turning into 6.0 catches for 52.3 yards per per game over his three appearances. With that kind of volume, you have to think the yardage and touchdowns will start coming in bunches soon.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Fantasy

Sit Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs: Coming off a 20.7-point performance in PPR formats, fantasy managers won't be happy about keeping Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the bench. But that's just the reality of facing this Buccaneers' front seven. It's been virtually impossible to run on Tampa Bay this season. The Buccaneers have held the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers – two rock-solid rushing attacks – to a combined 102 rushing yards over the last two weeks. Tampa Bay is also surrendering a league-low 3.2 yards per carry, which is absurdly good. CEH is not likely to do much of anything on the ground in this one.

Tom Brady Fantasy

Sit, Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The book on Tom Brady in 2020 has been the book on Tom Brady since 2000: you can beat him when he's pressured. Few teams can do that better than the Chiefs. Brady's worst games of the year have come against teams like the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. Kansas City generates pressure at a higher rate than Chicago and Los Angeles, sitting tied for the seventh-best mark in the league alongside New Orleans (25.1%). That's a recipe for success against Brady, who is averaging a measly 12.4 fantasy points against those aforementioned teams. Even that figure is bolstered by the rushing TD he scored in Week 1.

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

Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. 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.