THE SHADOW KNOWS Week 14 2021

THE SHADOW KNOWS: Week 14
As we get to this late point in the season, plenty of games take on added importance. And none on the slate are bigger than the last one. On Monday night, the Arizona Cardinals will host the Rams in a game with massive implications in the division. If the Rams can avenge their Week 4 loss at SoFi Stadium. Then Los Angeles is right back in it in the NFC West race. But if the Redbirds can complete the season sweep and open up a three-game lead in the division, then it's just about all over but the crying.

There will be no shortage of games within that game, whether it's Arizona's secondary trying to contain wide receiver Cooper Kupp or the Rams O-line attempting to keep edge-rushers Chandler Jones and Markus Golden off Matthew Stafford. But the biggest in terms of name recognition is no doubt Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey against Arizona wideout DeAndre Hopkins.

Ramsey and Hopkins have a long history dating back several years to when Ramsey was in Jacksonville and Hopkins was in Houston. Each has notched "wins" against the other in the rivalry, and based on how he looked last week against Chicago, Hopkins appears to be over the hamstring injury that cost the 29-year-old three games.

But as Pat Fitzmaurice wrote for Fantasy Pros, the same issue that has haunted Hopkins' fantasy managers all season long remains-he's not getting the sort of target share he has in years past.

"After missing three games with a hamstring injury, Hopkins' first catch in his return was a 20-yard touchdown on which he made a nice lunging grab of a Kyler Murray throw and managed to stay inside the pylon before falling out of bounds," he said. "Hopkins had only one more catch all day in a rainy game in Chicago, but the Cardinals only needed to throw 15 times in a 33-22 win. Hopkins still hasn't seen double-digit targets in a game this season and still hasn't had a 100-yard game. When the Cardinals face the Rams this weekend, expect Rams CB Jalen Ramsey to be on Hopkins for most of his routes. When these two teams played in Week 4, Hopkins had 4-67-0 on seven targets."

Hopkins leads Arizona in targets per game, but it isn't by any sort of wide margin, and a spike week isn't likely with Ramsey in his back pocket. It's always possible that Hopkins will blow up, and of course fantasy managers should start him.

But as the fantasy playoffs loom, we need to face facts. Hopkins is more a fantasy WR2 than WR1 in an Arizona offense that spreads the ball around.

New Orleans Saints at New York Jets (Marshon Lattimore vs. Elijah Moore)

There hasn't been a lot to cheer about in New York this season (again), but among the bright spots, none have shined brighter than rookie wideout Elijah Moore, who has wasted little time emerging as the team's top pass-catcher. As Joey Chandler wrote for NJ.com, Jets head coach Robert Saleh has been impressed with how quickly Moore has become an impact player.

"Elijah has been getting better every week. I'm really pumped for him. He's starting to get into a rhythm," Saleh said. "He had the explosive play which we all know that he is capable of. He's stacking up days. He's only going to get better. He's going to be a special kid."

That rhythm continued last week against the Philadelphia Eagles-Moore was targeted 12 times, catching six passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. With Corey Davis out for the season, Moore could be set for a similarly massive target share the rest of the way, including this week against a cornerback in Marshon Lattimore who started hot but who has since allowed the second-most yards when targeted (738) and the most yards per catch (17.6). The problem is a quad injury that kept Moore out of practice Wednesday and Thursday that could spoil the fun.

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (Marquise Brown vs. Denzel Ward)

For Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, there's added pressure this season. Not only is the fourth overall pick on the 2018 NFL draft trying to help the Browns get back to the playoffs, but he's also trying to demonstrate that he's worth a massive contract extension. The former Ohio State standout admitted to the Akron Beacon-Journal that the latter crosses his mind-but not on Sundays.

"I would definitely say there's a little added pressure in a sense," Ward, said. "I don't want to say it's not real, that there's no pressure, but more so the pressure is just when you're sitting at home or you're just off to the side not really doing much. That's not really my focus when I'm out there playing, but it is obviously in the back of your mind, something that's out there, goals that you may set."

To his credit, Ward is having arguably the best season of his career, with a passer rating against of just 66.3. But Ravens wideout Marquise Brown is also having a career season, emerging as a viable weekly WR2 start in the process. We saw the Browns and Ravens play just two weeks ago, and while Brown had just 51 yards in that game, he was targeted 10 tines, catching eight.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Football Team (Trevon Diggs vs. Terry McLaurin)

This won't be the first time that Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs and Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin will meet on the playing field-the pair saw quite a bit of one another in two meetings last year, and as Jerry Trotta wrote for Riggo's Rag, they were performances that Diggs would probably just as soon forget.

"There was only one winner in this matchup last season," he wrote, "and it wasn't the Cowboys' opportunistic cornerback. Washington absolutely owned Dallas in both of their meetings last season, and McLaurin was a huge reason why. The third-year superstar had a myriad of highlights in those games, but none were better than his 52-yard TD reception in Week 7, after which he trolled Diggs in savage fashion by rocking the baby. Washington went on to win 25-3 and McLaurin finished the game with seven receptions for 90 yards and that score."

Diggs leads the league in interceptions, but he has also allowed more than a few big plays in coverage. The bigger problem for "Scary Terry" (and fantasy managers looking for top-15 numbers from him this week) is the same as it has been all season long-there isn't a big-name receiver in the league who has had to work harder hauling in off-target passes than McLaurin.

San Francisco 49ers at Cincinnati Bengals (Brandon Aiyuk vs. Chidobe Awuzie)

It has been quite the rollercoaster year for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. He started the season so far into Kyle Shanahan's doghouse that even the dog felt bad for him. Now, with Deebo Samuel out with a groin injury, Aiyuk has been functioning as San Francisco's No. 1 receiver, and Shanahan lauded the progress the young wideout has made this season.

Yeah, stats are some of the most - they sometimes can tell you the answers, but by no means do they tell you all the answers," Shanahan said, via Niners Wire. "There're times, I don't want to give stats that I know, because it'd be an insult to some people. But there's plenty of times stats will fool you. Especially with guys, stats are dependent on other people a lot, but he's playing at a much - we got a lot more confidence in him now than we did last year."

Cincinnati's Chidobe Awuzie has had a good season for the Bengals this season, with a passer rating against of less than 70. But Awuzie is also nicked up, and the Los Angeles Chargers didn't exactly struggle moving the ball through the air against the Bengals last week. Provided that Samuel sits one more week, Aiyuk is in the lower-end WR2 conversation. If the Niners get their top wideout back, Aiyuk would fall into low-end WR3 or "flex" territory.