Welcome to another edition of Heroes and Goats, where we highlight (and lowlight) some of the best (and worst) performances of Week 15. Needless to say, we’re in crunch time now, as most leagues are holding their semifinals this week. So now is the time for studs to play like studs. Let’s see who did, and who didn’t…

HEROES

Michael Vick
Vick did next to nothing in the first half, as the Giants defense kept him contained for the first two quarters. But he had a monster second half, finishing with three pass TDs and rushing for another (along with 130 rushing yards). I had a comfortable lead in one league and Vick single-handedly erased it in the second half. Grrr.

Ray Rice
Big things were expected of Rice this week, but I don’t think his owners saw 233 total yards and two TDs coming. He ran over, around and through the Saints defense this week and is going to send more than a few fantasy teams to the finals next week.

Jason Witten
Witten owners have to be loving him right now. He caught 10 passes for 140 yards and a TD in a time where TE production has been severely lacking. He has 32 catches and four TDs in his last four games.

Santana Moss
Moss was a really iffy start this week with Rex Grossman under center, but he seemed to thrive with ‘Sexy Rexy,’ catching eight passes for 72 yards and two scores. I was fortunate that I plugged him in for Danny Woodhead just before kickoff.

Austin Collie
I doubt we’re going to see Collie again this season after he took another hard hit in the middle of the field. But boy was he good before he was knocked out. He racked up eight catches for 82 yards and two TDs.

Jamaal Charles*
I had Charles ranked #12 this week thanks to Matt Cassel’s iffy status, but with an 80-yard run late in the game, Charles sealed his status as an elite RB1 option. He finished with 153 total yards and a TD.

Brandon Marshall
Marshall has been really spotty this season and wasn’t an elite option heading into Week 15, but he caught 11 passes for 106 yards and a TD against the Bills and came up big for those fantasy owners that kept the faith.

Mario Manningham
Jeremy Maclin*
Overshadowed on their own teams, both Manningham (8-113-2) and Maclin (7-59-2) came up big for their respective teams. Manningham did have a bad fumble that helped to fuel Philly’s comeback, so Vick and Maclin owners should thank him.

Rashard Mendenhall*
In a terrible matchup, Mendy racked up 100 yards and a score, so owners who were forced to start him should be happy. This is a case where the player’s talent overcame a tough rush defense.

* Players who were goats last week

GOATS

Peyton Hillis
Really? 82 yards and zero TDs against the Bengals? The yardage was okay, but Hillis owners were expecting a TD or two from their stud this week. After running roughshod over the league this season, Hillis failed to find the endzone in the last three weeks.

Terrell Owens
He had a great matchup, but left the game without a catch with a torn meniscus. Season over.

Arian Foster
He was shaken up in the second half, but wasn’t getting much done when he was playing. He finished with 61 total yards and failed to score.

Maurice Jones-Drew
He has been on a tear of late, gaining 100+ yards in six straight games, so of course he’d have a big game against the Colts, who always struggle against the run, right? Wrong. He posted just 68 total yards without a score. Sigh.

LeSean McCoy
Ahmad Bradshaw
Given the way these two were playing recently, fantasy owners had to be expecting more than 157 total yards and zero TDs combined from this duo.

Tim Hightower
My deepest apologies to anyone who started Timmy on my advice this week. (I had him at #19 or #20 for most of the week.) He got a ton of carries last week and had a great matchup with the Panthers’ defense, but only saw nine touches all day.

Knowshon Moreno
Moreno had a great matchup and looked like he was primed for a big day, but left the game early with an injury to his side. Ugh.

When news broke late yesterday that both Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates would miss Thursday night’s game against the 49ers, I immediately bumped Vincent Jackson up to #13 in my WR rankings, figuring he was a fringe WR1/great WR2 play for Week 15. I was hesitant to move him up any further (though a few other pundits did) because he hadn’t done anything to that point and had been battling a calf injury since his return to action. I try not to overreact to news like that as it tends not to pay off.

All Jackson did was catch five passes for 112 yards and three TDs on just seven targets.

But did anyone start him? According to ESPN’s fantasy football data, only 16.8% of his owners had him in their starting lineups. So either a) they were asleep when the Floyd news broke or b) they didn’t feel comfortable starting a guy who hadn’t done anything all season. It’s possible (though unlikely) that owners had two or three better, more trustworthy options at WR, but I suspect most owners were gun-shy. It’s understandable, but those owners with V-Jax on their bench are going to be kicking themselves if they lose this week.

For those that did start him, it has to be sweet relief. All of the patience it took to allow him to eat up a roster spot with no promise of quality production, and then the guy comes out and posts the kind of fantasy line that could single-handedly swing the outcome of a fantasy semifinal…talk about clutch.

What am I looking at?

Below you’ll see a table for each position with a list of team names on the left. If a square is pink, it means that the matchup is tough. If it’s green, it means it’s a favorable matchup. On the far right, the column “R16″ shows the average SOS for the remaining weeks.

It’s important to note that this is NOT straight fantasy points allowed. I removed the bias of schedule by looking at the opponents of each defense and how they fared in their other games. For example, if a particular defense faced a series of great QBs, then that is taken into account in these tables.

How do I use these tables?

Generally speaking, I use strength of schedule as a tiebraker between two similarly ranked players. Let’s say I’m trying to decide between starting BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Ronnie Brown. All else being equal, these two players are very close in my mind. But if BGE has a great matchup and Brown has a bad matchup, the choice is clear. In fact, if BGE just has a mediocre matchup while Brown has a bad matchup, I’d probably go with the Law Firm.

Be careful not to read too much into these tables. You aren’t going to bench Chris Johnson in a bad matchup unless you somehow have Arian Foster waiting in the wings.

Note: I apologize for the size of the text, but there really is no other way for me to present this data, at least not at this point.

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The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week you pick up a defense that is playing against a bad offense (preferably at home). And each week you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position.

Last season, my top pick averaged 9.8 fantasy points per game. My second pick averaged 9.1 and my third pick averaged 7.3. On the whole, DTBWW averaged 9.3 fantasy points per game, which equate to DT5 numbers — all for the price of a few waiver wire pickups. In 2008, my top two picks averaged DT6-type numbers. (Note: To calculate fantasy points, I use this scoring system.)

Unlike Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC), which is for those owners who prefer low maintenance teams, DTBWW strategy allows fantasy owners to virtually ignore DTs on draft day and focus on picking up an extra RB/WR flier instead.

To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Let’s see how my Week 14 picks fared:

#1 Falcons: 10 PA (6) + 5 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR = 13 fantasy points
#2: Patriots: 7 PA (6) + 2 SK + 2 INT + 2 FR + 1 RET TD = 18 fp
#3: Bills: 6 PA (8) + 1 SK + 1 INT + 2 FR = 12 fp

Now that’s more like it. DTBWW has been a little spotty this season, but it came through in a big way in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Truth be told, W14 was the best scoring week for defenses around the league — 14 DTs scored 10+ points, which was the most of any week this season.

On the season, my picks are averaging 8.0 | 8.9 | 7.6 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) for an overall average of 8.2 fantasy points per game. Those are DT6 numbers when you account for each team’s bye week.

Let’s take a look at my Week 15 picks keeping in mind that to be eligible, defenses must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues. There are five DTs that I really like this week, so I’m going to list all five and hope that my readers can find at least one on their waiver wire this week:

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It’s playoff time!

After checking out our Waiver Wire Watch, you can post your questions here, and unless you say differently, I’m assuming your league has a standard (non-PPR) scoring system.

If you are wondering who to start in a standard scoring league, please wait until later this week (Wednesday) when I’ll release my official Week 15 rankings.

And if you’re a regular visitor, please take a moment to rate my advice at Fantasy Pros (under Member Rating). I’d appreciate it.

Also, follow me on Twitter @fantasytips.

Every week, I highlight a few players that you should target in waivers. I use the ESPN league data when filtering players, so the only guys eligible for discussion here are those that are available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN’s leagues. I’ll list each player’s percentage-owned after their name so you have an idea of how available they are in leagues around the country. I’ll always try to mention a few players that are available in 90% of leagues for those of you in 12-team leagues or leagues with big rosters. I’ll rank them in the order I’d pick them up in a league with a high-performance scoring system.

Please note that these rankings are for total value through the end of the year. Players with particularly good matchups this week are in bold.

Josh Freeman (59.0)
Save for a bad game against the Steelers in W3, Freeman has been solid all season throwing for at least one TD in 12 of 13 games. He’ll also add 10-40 rushing yards, which helps the bottom line. He should be able to post nice numbers in a W15 matchup against the Lions.

Jon Kitna (18.2)
Kitna has a pretty good matchup with the Redskins, who have struggled to stop the pass this season. He has thrown at least one TD in seven of his last eight games, so I’d expect 200+ yards and 1-2 TDs against Washington in W15.

Matt Hasselbeck (14.3)
The Falcons have struggled against the pass and Hasselbeck has shown that he can be productive against suspect secondaries. It would certainly help if Mike Williams and/or Ben Obomanu could make it back, since the Seahawks lost Deon Butler to a broken leg.

David Garrard (43.2)
I’m not psyched about Garrard’s matchup with Indy. He played well against the Colts in W4, but the Jags will continue to feature the run, so I don’t see another three-TD game in his near future. Still, he’s a decent matchup and has had success against the Colts recently.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (33.6)
I do like the idea of Fitzy in W16 against the Pats (though they’ve managed to shut down Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler in recent weeks). But the Dolphins are pretty tough against the pass, so I expect I’ll rank Fitzpatrick in the high teens this week.

Jason Campbell (6.7)
Campbell played well in a good matchup against the Jags in W14 and now he has another good matchup against the reeling Broncos. Campbell has had his share of stinkers (W6 against the 49ers and W11 against the Steelers come to mind), but he has played well in good matchups, so I’d expect a good line this week against the Broncos.

Kerry Collins (1.2)
Talk about inconsistent. Collins went from dreadful against the Jags in W13 to great (fantasy-wise) against the Colts in W14. He has the Texans in W15, so I’d expect good fantasy numbers.

Sam Bradford (34.5)
What’s happened to the rookie? He had a run of six straight games with at least one TD pass, but has failed to throw any in the last two weeks. His matchups the next two weeks are decent, but his recent failings have shaken my confidence in the youngster.

Drew Stanton (0.7)
Stanton was shaky against the Packers, but Green Bay is tough to throw on. The Bucs should be a bit easier, especially with Aqib Talib out for the season.

Chad Henne (46.9)
With back-to-back stinkers, as well as losing his job midseason, I’m not sure how Henne is owned in almost 47% of ESPN leagues. He does have the Bills and Lions the next two weeks, so if you’re really desperate, you could do worse. (See below.)

Alex Smith (6.7)
Smith torched the Seahawks, but the Chargers are another story.

Matt Flynn (0.0)
He had one good drive against the Lions, but threw a costly pick in the endzone. I am not optimistic about his chances against the Pats, who have played pretty good pass defense of late.

Jake Delhomme (1.4)
Ugh.

Tarvaris Jackson (0.9)
UGH.

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- When fantasy owners drafted Tom Brady in the second round, I don’t think they were looking for 115 yards, one TD and one pick in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills.

- Matt Cassel (331 yards, 2 TD) rewarded those owners that were brave enough to start him after a fairly miserable stretch of games. With Chris Chambers and Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs have something going in the passing game.

- I’m actually surprised that Matt Ryan mustered 152 yards and a TD in his first game back against a very stout Jets pass defense.

- Jay Cutler (94 yards, 3 INT) had a miserable day against the Ravens. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco (234 yards, 4 TD) shredded the Bears’ defense.

- Ben Roethlisberger (503 yards, 3 TD) had a MONSTER day against what was a pretty stingy Packer defense coming in. Aaron Rodgers (383 yards, 3 TD, rush TD) did everything to win the game but rush Roethlisberger on his game winning drive.

- Laurence Maroney (23 carries, 81 yards, TD) has defied the odds, holding onto the Patriots’ RB1 job even with the return of Sammy Morris.

- Jerome Harrison (34 carries, 286 yards, 3 TD) looks like he might be worth having in a keeper league. He destroyed the Chiefs’ defense.

- Jamaal Charles (25 carries, 154 yards, TD) now has a TD in six straight games.

- Arian Foster (2 carries, 7 yards) lost a fumble on his first and only catch and didn’t see much work the rest of the day. Ryan Moats (13 carries, 46 yards) carried the load.

- Steven Jackson (24 touches, 123 yards) missed practice all week with the flu and was a game time decision, but he grinded out a nice fantasy line.

- The Dolphins managed to keep Chris Johnson out of the endzone, but he still racked up 159 yards on 29 carries and two catches.

- The perception that Chris Wells (17 carries, 110 yards, TD) has taken over as the Cards’ RB1 is correct, but Tim Hightower ran for a TD and caught six passes, so he’s still somewhat valuable in PPR leagues.

- Maurice Morris (22 touches, 161 yards, TD) made the most of his opportunity to start with Kevin Smith out. Arizona actually has a pretty good rush defense, so Morris’s performance is that much more impressive.

- Knowshon Moreno (22 touches, 81 yards) was a big disappointment given his tremendous matchup with the Raiders’ pathetic rush defense.

- Michael Bush (18 carries, 133 yards, TD) destroyed the Broncos’ run defense.

- Leonard Weaver (17 carries, 52 yards) got the most carries against the 49ers, but LeSean McCoy was the one who scored.

- Josh Morgan (7-61-1) really seems to be benefiting from the arrival of Michael Crabtree. He has 22 catches over the last four weeks and has scored twice in that span.

- Terrell Owens (2-20) screwed over whomever was brave enough to start him this week. He has been decent of late, but was a non-factor against the Pats.

- I think an alien took over the body of Chris Chambers (5-114-1).

- Andre Johnson (9-196) is pretty good.

- Calvin Johnson (3-35) is a stud, but he’s not trustworthy when he has a dud (Duante Culpepper, Drew Stanton) throwing to him.

- Brandon Marshall’s line (7-73-1) is somewhat surprising considering he was going up against Nnamdi Asomugha all day.

- Vincent Jackson (5-108-2) didn’t have a great matchup, but he turned in a great fantasy line for those owners who stuck with him this week.

Check back in a bit for the RB and QB positions.

- With an early TD, Antonio Gates (4-33-1) looked like he was going to get off to a big day, but finished with rather pedestrian numbers.

- I’m excited that I benched Todd Heap (5-56-2) in favor of Bo Scaife (5-40) in a league where I lost Owen Daniels midseason. That’s just great.

- In a week where starting TEs were pretty quiet, Kellen Winslow (6-93) and John Carlson (7-86-1) had big fantasy lines in that TB/SEA game.

- Jermichael Finley (9-74-1) is a stud in the making. He has 31 catches for 302 yards and three TD in the five games since he came back from injury. That’s 15.8 fantasy points per game in a PPR format.

- Heath Miller (7-118) had a huge day against the Packers, but how many fantasy owners were starting him after just seven catches (and zero TD) in the last three games?

Check back in a bit for the WR, RB and QB positions.