RB Paul Smith - Denver Broncos

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Week 14: at Houston Texans

All RB vs HOU

FBG says: Good matchup. The Broncos rushing offense struggled to put up points and yards as their running backs have been kept out of the end zone and failed to exceed 80 rushing yards for the second straight week. This rushing offense does rank around the league average with 108.3 rushing yards per game (16th), but there hasn't been much of a ceiling with anyone in this rushing offense as a runner has crossed the 100 rushing yard mark just once this season. Phillip Lindsay has led the backfield pretty much all year, but he has been the decisive leader on the ground over the past three weeks with 46 carries to just 15 from Royce Freeman. With that said, Lindsay still has averaged a meager 3.9 yards per rush attempt with no touchdowns in those three games in which he has been given the reigns. Poor play from this offensive line continues to plague Lindsay and Freeman, to the point where left tackle Garrett Bolles may be in danger of losing his starting job if Ja'Wuan James can make it back into the lineup this week. An addition of James back from injury would be an upgrade, but this offensive line would remain a below-average unit that fuels a very mediocre rushing offense. The Texans run defense has been dreadful since their Week 10 bye. This team has given up an average of 192 rushing yards per game in the past three weeks. To caveat, that does include a 256-yard performance from the league's top rushing offense (Baltimore). However, quarterbacks aside, the Texans have given up at least 130 rushing yards to running backs in all three games while couching up the most fantasy points per game to the position over that span. In contrast, this defense had allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs through Week 9. There were no notable personnel changes or injuries that sparked the change, just lackluster play from an otherwise talented defense. D.J. Reader is a top-notch run-stopper while both linebackers Zach Cunninnnngham and Bernardrick McKinney are team leaders in tackles with range and ability to make big plays against the run. The Texans also got starting safety Justin Reid back from injury last week, which helps out a secondary that was otherwise weak (and still relatively weak) at tackling opposing runners. It is tough to ignore the past few weeks, but this Texans defense does have the talent to turn things around and stop a mediocre Broncos ground game.

Weekly Performance vs RB 1, RB 12, RB 24, RB 36

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