Time to go Christmas shopping for your fantasy team

Ho, ho, ho ... Meeeeerrrrrrrry Christmas, everybody!

What's that? Christmas is still three weeks away?

Bah humbug! For fantasy football owners everywhere, Christmas starts now - Week 13 of the NFL season - as we fine-tune our teams and prepare for an epic title run (or something like that).

So consider this column a bag full of early presents as Santa Dietz unveils players and positions with favorable matchups down the stretch that owners should consider using or adding as stocking stuffers to your championship puzzle.

Defenses

Quick trivia question: Which defense/special teams unit is in the top 5 since Week 8? Pittsburgh? Minnesota? The Jets? No, no and no. It's Tennessee, if you can believe it. If you are without an elite unit and can somehow use the Titans in Week 14 (vs. the Rams) and the Cardinals the next two weeks (at Lions, vs. Rams), you may be smiling all the way to the bank.

Running backs

• In one of my leagues, Kansas City's Jamaal Charles and New England's Laurence Maroney have the fifth-most fantasy points since Week 9. They'll both continue producing plenty of points because in Weeks 14 and 15, Charles gets Buffalo (league-worst 165.1 rush ypg allowed) and Cleveland (159.9), while Maroney will see Carolina (131.5) and Buffalo.

• Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower aren't slam-dunk fantasy starters during any week, but they will be in Weeks 15 and 16 when the Cardinals play the Lions and Rams.

Wide receivers

• The hot streak that the Saints' Robert Meacham (5 TDs last four games with just 13 total catches) is on has to end sometime, but it's worth noting he will play three straight games without having to worry about the weather.

The Saints are at Atlanta, then host Dallas and Tampa Bay in Weeks 14-16.

• Just like Meacham, the Titans' Kenny Britt (11-170-2 last two) won't see any snowstorms in December. The Titans play at Indy this week, then get three straight home games, including a date with the Rams in Week 14.

• Very quietly, the Rams' Donnie Avery has 5 TD catches in the last seven games. He gets a banged-up Bears squad this week and also has a weather-friendly finishing stretch (at Tennessee, vs. Houston, at Arizona.).

Quarterbacks

• Even if you own Drew Brees, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you should be thinking about backing them up with a solid player because you never know when disaster will strike (or in Manning's case, when the Colts will rest him for the playoffs). Two names worth considering are San Francisco's Alex Smith and Tennessee's Vince Young. Smith is an awesome choice if you own Manning because he plays the Lions in Week 16. And if you qualify for the playoffs, but QB is a weak spot, then Week 14 is a nice place to plug in Young because Tennessee hosts the Rams.

WR oddities: We saw some bizarre results among the top wideouts last week. None of the top 12 in our rankings on the Daily Herald fantasy Web site went over 90 yards (the average was a pathetic 47.9), and only two of them scored - one being Reggie Wayne, who only had 19 yards.

Meanwhile, scrolling down, 10 of the 26 receivers listed from Nos. 25-45 in our rankings scored. Among those were Roy Williams, Robert Meacham, Antonio Bryant and Santana Moss, who were Nos. 42-45, respectively.

What does it all mean? Not much really. But it's tough to hold the studs down for long. I have a hunch that some of them are going to go off and give us big-time numbers in Week 13.

My teams: Improved to 8-4 with a 108-37 victory in the DH experts league. A win this week and I win the division and get the first-round bye. ... Lost 88-70 in the unit league (3-9), but because of a rule we implemented this season where the sixth team qualifies on points, I can actually make the postseason despite a 3-9 record. I'm just 13 points behind and have Cedric Benson playing Detroit and LaDainian Tomlinson at Cleveland. In the regular league, I fell to 5-7 and am basically out of that playoff picutre.

Good bets

• Bengals QB Carson Palmer and WR Chad Ochocinco vs. Detroit. With everybody focused on Cedric Benson's return, let's not forget that the Lions have given up a mind-boggling 27 scores through the air.

• Bears QB Jay Cutler and WR Devin Hester vs. St. Louis. The Rams have allowed multiple TD passes in six of 11 games - and three of the times they didn't they were facing Jason Campbell, David Garrard and Matthew Stafford.

• Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno at Kansas City. Since Week 3, the Chiefs have given up 140.3 ypg on the ground and only the Chargers last week (with 94 yards) failed to go over 110.

Bad bets

• Giants QB Eli Manning vs. Dallas. I wouldn't trust Manning the rest of the season.

• Cardinals RB Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells vs. Minnesota. Against a tough Vikings defense, you don't want any part of this timeshare this week.

jdietz@dailyherald.com

• Get more Good and Bad Bets, plus advice from four other columnists at fantasyfootball.dailyherald.com.