Poll of the Day: More Week 15 Fantasy Points: Mendenhall or Gore?
In one of the better Monday Night Football matchups this year, the 49ers host the Steelers in a battle of 10-win teams tomorrow night.
The 49ers have already clinched the NFC West, but they are tied with the Saints as they battle it out for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. In the AFC, the Steelers are tied record-wise (they lose the head-to-head tie-breaker to the Ravens) for the AFC North. That said, the Steelers are one of four teams tied with a 10-3 record vying for the No. 1 seed.
Both of these teams have great run defenses.
San Francisco ranks first in the NFL in rushing defense (70.5 yards allowed per game) and are the only team to not have allowed a rushing touchdown. While Pittsburgh got off to a bad start against the run in their first four games, they now rank sixth in the NFL (97.0 YPG allowed).
In other words, both running backs have tough matchups in what is typically the semi-final week in most fantasy leagues.
Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has only three games with at least 70 rushing yards this season. On the other hand, the 49ers have allowed only four running backs to rush for even 40 yards and none have reached 65 rushing yards.
Since five straight games with 100-plus rushing yards, 49ers running back Frank Gore has had a total of 272 rushing yards on 75 carries in his past five games. Although he scored a touchdown last week, Gore isn't 100 percent and there's the chance that his workload is limited again (10 carries last week).
Which running back will have a more productive Week 15 from a fantasy perspective?
