Looking ahead to the traditional fantasy playoff weeks 14-16, there are two defensive lines I really like for those crucial games.

The Seahawks draw Houston week 14, Tampa Bay week 15 and our favorite DE matchup Green Bay week 16.

The Texans may stiffen up between now and then, but the Bucs’ QB Josh Freeman will still be a rookie and the Packers will still be the Packers.

An even more enticing slate appears for the Giants DL, with a run against the Eagles, Redskins and Panthers, all of whom have serious protection problems.

Next week I’ll take a look at the LB and DB units who face great matchups in the fantasy stretch run.

Start of the Week

DT Jay Ratliff, Cowboys – After a huge 2008 campaign, Ratliff has been running hot and cold this season and is now most likely back on your waiver wire. A matchup against the Packers is about as hot as it gets these days. Ratliff racked up five tackles and two sacks last week against the Eagles and has the potential to do even better this Sunday.

Looking Good

DE John Abraham, Falcons – This is a bit of a risky play considering Abraham has been struggling through an ankle injury in recent weeks. A date with the Panthers is a cure for what ails any defensive lineman. Abraham was good enough for 3.5 tackles and half-a-sack against the Redskins last week and should improve upon these numbers this Sunday.

DE Aaron Schobel, Bills – I don’t know about you, but in my leagues, I’ve seen Schobel dumped onto a lot of waiver wires in the last couple of weeks. That’s some short-term thinking going on right there. He’s questionable coming out of Buffalo’s bye week, so monitor his status closely for this Sunday, but going forward if you have a chance to add Schobel to your lineup don’t hesitate to make that move.

LB Tamba Hali, Chiefs – Hali retains DE eligibility in ESPN leagues. He hasn’t quite had the spectacular success that Elvis Dumervil has enjoyed in making the same transition from a 4-3 DE to a 3-4 OLB, but has been a great matchup play. Facing Oakland is about as good a matchup as it gets.

LB Landon Johnson, Panthers – The former Bengal steps up in the place of Thomas Davis, who broke many of owners’ hearts when he tore his ACL. Johnson has been a big fat zero up until now, but that’s because the Panthers don’t use much of any rotation at LB. Johnson immediately becomes a three down player in a highly productive spot. While it’s too much to ask him to duplicate Davis’ stats, he will be a very solid start for the rest of the season.

LB Lawrence Timmons, Steelers – Timmons is off the injury report finally. While he is currently listed as questionable, expect him to see an upgrade later in the week and resume full time pursuit of what had been a breakout season before he twisted his ankle.

LB Cameron Wake, Dolphins – I’ve been high on Wake since he was imported from Canada and have more than once prematurely announced his breakout this year. Now that Joey Porter is questionable with a knee injury, Wake gets another opportunity to make good on his promise. Eventually I am going to be proven right in my belief that Wake can be a highly productive LB, so I’m sticking with him again as he faces the Bucs and raw rookie QB Josh Freeman.

DB Cortland Finnegan, Titans – One big reason why the Titans seem like a completely different team since their bye week is that the secondary remembered how good they were. Finnegan is a big part of this revival. This week, he is switching from the right side to the left, which means a slight increase in both his coverage and tackling opportunities. If another owner in your league gave up on him, go get Finnegan and leave him in your starting lineup for the rest of the season.

DB Reed Doughty, Redskins – With Chris Horton landing on injured reserve, the time-share with Doughty is over. In the weeks where Doughty has seen close to full time work, he has been good for five to seven tackles a game. That level of consistency is exactly what you are looking for in a DB.

DB Macho Harris, Eagles – First off, you just have to love a guy named Macho. It brings a touch of Mexican wrestling mystique to the game. With Ellis Hobbs going onto injured reserve, Quintin Demps would be next in line for playing time as well as kick return duties, but Demps is also struggling with an ankle injury now. Word is that WR Jeremy Maclin is also a candidate for return duties, but with his growing role in offense, the rookie Harris is a good bet to see plenty of action this week. If he does well, it will be hard to send him back to the bench when Demps heals up again.

Sit of the Week

DB Charles Tillman, Bears – Tillman will play tonight after separating his left shoulder last week against the Cardinals. He had offseason surgery on the other shoulder. Overall, this makes him a risky play.

He could make it through the whole game or just as easily have to sit early in the game. Avoid this risk if you have any better options.

Looking Bleak

DE Greg Ellis, Raiders – We are beginning to understand why Ellis dropped off the IDP map after starting the season white hot. He’s had both a shoulder and a knee scoped in the last few weeks. He’s listed as questionable now, but even after he is good enough to resume playing it is doubtful his aging body will allow him to get back to that high production, maybe not ever again. He’s pretty safe to drop at this point.

DE Andre Carter, Redskins – Carter was on fire for a three-game stretch recently, which inspired many IDP owners to give him a regular start. However, those three games were against the Panthers, Chiefs and Eagles, who have all been very generous to opposing DEs of late. The Falcons stuffed Carter last week, and this week the Broncos and their stalwart offensive line may even give him the dreaded goose egg.

LB Aaron Kampman, Packers – Just when things were starting to look up for Kampman, he played through the rest of last week’s game after sustaining a concussion early against Tampa Bay. Kampman expressed the view afterwards that it was his responsibility, not that of the team’s medical staff, to decide whether he could continue playing. That’s either a sign that the concussion affected his judgment, or maybe just that Kampman was really dumb to begin with.

LB Keith Rivers, Bengals – Rivers pulled his calf muscle against the Ravens, making him questionable to play this week in the battle for AFC North supremacy at Pittsburgh. If he can’t play, Brandon Johnson is slated to cover for him. I suspect, given the importance of the game, that the Bengals will rush Rivers back, making both LBs very suspect plays this week.

DB Ed Reed, Ravens – Rotoworld quotes Ravens beat writer Mike Preston as saying Reed appears to be “playing with one arm.” That’s as good an assessment as any for his declining play. With his tackle numbers about half of what they were, you need a big play or two from Reed for him to be worth a start. Even against the Browns, that is a most uncertain prospect.

DB Louis Delmas, Lions – The rookie has put together a nice string of games this season and is bound to have a clunker eventually. Brett Favre is in a groove and has become stingier to opposing DBs as the season progresses. If I were ever going to pick against “The Missile,” this would be the week.

Bad DB Alert

CB Tye Hill, Falcons – Former star of this section Brent Grimes is back on the bench, giving Hill his shot at cover corner for Atlanta. Despite his interception for a 62-yard touchdown return last week, pardon me if I refuse to place any stock in a player who the lowly Rams let go for a seventh round draft pick in the offseason.

As always, I’ll be happy to answer your IDP Start and Sit questions in the comments below.

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