THE SHADOW KNOWS Week 15 2020

THE SHADOW KNOWS: Week 15

As the NFL regular season nears the finish line, the calendar expands-the last few weeks of the year features some Saturday action.

There are a pair of Saturday games this week, and the one in Green Bay features one of the better wide receiver vs. cornerback matchups of Week 15.

With just four more receiving yards this season, Robby Anderson of the Carolina Panthers will log the first 1,000-yard season of his career. His 83 catches this year are far and away the most the 27-year-old has had in a season. After 14 weeks, Anderson ranks 14th in PPR fantasy points among wide receivers.

However, while Anderson has been outstanding in 2020, Week 15 brings with it a stiff test-the Panthers travel to face the Green Bay Packers and one of the NFL's best cornerbacks in Jaire Alexander.

"The matchup against the Packers hasn't been very beneficial to wide receivers, as they've allowed the seventh-fewest points to the position, "Mike Tagliere of Fantasy Pros said. "Volume has been part of the issue (opponents run just 60.0 plays per game), but efficiency hasn't been great, either. They have the sixth-lowest catch-rate (62.3), the eighth-lowest yards per target (7.71), and have allowed the 11th-fewest PPR points per target (1.71). Another potential issue is Jaire Alexander, though the Packers haven't done any shadowing with him in recent weeks. Anderson plays most of his snaps on Alexander's side of the field, but he will see Kevin King roughly 30 percent of the time, too. That's who we want, as King has constantly allowed wide receivers get over the top of him since coming to the league. Still, there have been just six wide receivers all year who've finished as top-24 options against the Packers, so it's highly unlikely we see multiple Panthers get into that territory. Anderson should be considered a high-end WR3 who comes with a sturdy floor, though his ceiling may be lacking in this contest."

With that moderately depressing news in mind, here's a look around the rest of the NFL at some of the other WR vs. CB matchups of note in Week 15.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons (Carlton Davis vs. Calvin Ridley)

With Julio Jones (hamstring) looking iffy to play at best in Week 15, Ridley will most likely serve as Atlanta's No. 1 receiver Sunday in an NFC South showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That should mean a bump in targets for the third-year pro. And when Ridley sees at least eight targets in a game, he usually goes off-in 16 career games with eight or more targets, Ridley's average line is almost seven catches for 105 yards and 0.9 touchdowns.

However, as Matthew Freedman wrote for the Action Network, Ridley should have his hands full with Tampa corner Carlton Davis.

"For the first half of the season," Freedman said, "Davis looked like an All-Pro defender, but he was exploited in Weeks 9-12 with 13.7 yards per target on a 78.8% catch rate. Much of that damage, however, was inflicted on him in Week 12 by Tyreek Hill, against whom he was especially outmatched as a bigger-bodied physical corner. The Bucs never should have put him on Hill in one-on-one coverage. Coming off the bye, Davis returned to form last week against Vikings duo Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, allowing just five yards on four targets in his coverage, once again looking like one of the league's best cover men."

Still, there's no way you can sit Ridley, especially with Jones out. Even with the Atlanta offense stuck in neutral for much of last week's loss to the Chargers, Ridley posted an 8/124/1 line on 12 targets.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (Stephon Gilmore vs. DeVante Parker)

In six NFL seasons, DeVante Parker has played in all 16 games in a season just once. But as Hal Hbin wrote for the Palm Beach Post, the 27-year-old entered the 2020 campaign determined not to miss any time in 2020.

"Some injuries are real bad to where you can't, but when I first started coming into the league, you're not used to things like that," Parker said. "So you think it's something real serious when it's not and as you grow older, you know you can fight through things."

Parker hasn't missed any time this season, but he left last week's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs with what is being called a "slight" hamstring strain. Head coach Brian Flores allowed that Parker's status is up in the air for this week's divisional tilt with the Patriots. The last time that Parker was shadowed by Gilmore in a game (Week 17 of last season) Parker exploded to the tune of eight catches for 137 yards on 11 targets.

But with Parker clearly less than 100 percent and the Dolphins 37 kinds of banged up on offense, trusting the Dolphins No. 1 receiver in a must-win week is a risky bet-and then some.

San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys (Richard Sherman vs. Amari Cooper)

There was a time not that long ago when this matchup might have been the lede for this column. But that was in the long-ago days of September, when the Niners were the defending NFC champions and there was buzz that Mike McCarthy's arrival was the last piece in the Cowboys Super Bowl puzzle. Then injuries tore massive holes in both teams.

Still, as Reid Hanson wrote for Sport DFW, Amari Cooper has quietly had a very good season during this year's dumpster fire in Dallas.

"The Dallas Cowboys have started four different QBs this season so far, and with the exception of the Ben DiNucci

experiment, Cooper has been a consistent performer throughout," he said. "On the season, Cooper has 80 receptions for 942 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has a career-best 71.4 catch percentage, a career best 1.8 drop percentage, and a 96.7 passer rating when targeted. His route running, separation, and catch radius have made him a safe target for whoever happens to be under center."

This is actually one of the more interesting matchups of the week-Sherman has been solid this year when healthy, and his passer rating against in 2019 was an excellent 63.0. Cooper is also only averaging seven targets a game over the past five weeks . He also has touchdowns in three straight.

You would probably have to be stacked at receiver to sit Cooper this week. But his prospects don't fill me

Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals (Darius Slay vs. DeAndre Hopkins)

After piling up 136 yards on nine catches last week, DeAndre Hopkins has now amassed 1,155 yards on 94 catches-numbers that rank him fifth and third in the NFL, respectively. But as good as those numbers are, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury that he believes Hopkins has only scratched the surface of what he can do in Arizona.

"I think it's just about building that rapport with the quarterback and getting comfortable with him and how to maximize him and how to utilize him the best way we can," Kingsbury said. "We still don't have a ton of time on task, we're 13 games into this deal and didn't have an offseason together where we could get on the grass and work at different things. We're all still learning and growing together, but he's a remarkable talent."

The Eagles got some news on the injury front Thursday, when veteran cornerback Darius Slay (concussion) got in a limited practice session. But even if Slay does clear the league's protocol, Slay will start the game with a headache-he's been roasted by a who's who of wide receivers the past few weeks. Hopkins' target share has hit double digits each of the past two games after a mini-slump, and he draws a badly banged-up secondary in Week 15. Giddyup.