In tonight's battle with two of the tougher defenses in the league on the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, points may be hard to come by and the team that makes the fewest mistakes against two very opportunistic defenses should come out of this Thanksgiving Night Football game the victor. Both offenses will have to earn every yard, much less every point in what will surely be a hard-hitting battle in the trenches and the front sevens could very easily set up the secondaries for turnovers that could change the flow of the game and give their offense a short field to put points on the scoreboard.
With that in mind, it might be hard to find an offensive player who will stand out and that means that one of the more obscure players could end up being the fantasy football 'Sleeper of the Week.' On offense, don't be surprised if TE Dennis Pitta re-emerges after a relatively quiet couple of weeks. Pitta has sure hands which could make him a solid Red Zone target of QB Joe Flacco. However, it could be a defensive player that ends up being the star of the game tonight and the 'Sleeper' to help you win your fantasy league this week.
(More after the 'Jump' including a Thanksgiving Day Preview on the Ravens-49ers game from a fantasy perspective)
At the same time, while everyone is expecting the Ravens defense to pressure 49ers QB Alex Smith and the front seven to stuff San Francisco's running attack led by RB Frank Gore, it might be the rookie cornerback in the secondary, Jimmy Smith, who proved he can play in this league. Smith had a key interception in last week's 31-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals that the offense turned into a TD the very next play. Despite being burned in single coverage on a all-out blitz, Smith played solid press coverage the rest of his reps and he appears ready to increase his defensive plays as the season progresses and might be an interesting pick as the team's fantasy football 'Sleeper of the Week.'
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