Week 12 SNF Fantasy Football Preview : TB vs. LAR

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  • By Nathan Hernandez

    Last Updated on November 23, 2025 6:12 pm by Jon Mosales | Published: November 23, 2025

    SNF – Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Los Angeles Rams

    Point spread: TB +7 | LAR -7

    Moneyline: TB +300 | LAR -375

    Total: Over 49.5 | Under 49.5

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    Overview:

    For the second-straight week, Sunday Night Football features two of the NFC’s best, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams, who are leaders from their respective divisions. The Rams have been among the best in the league this season with an 8-2 record, and they are the hottest team in the NFC, entering Week 12 on a five-game win streak. Tampa Bay came up short against Josh Allen’s six-touchdown effort in Week 11, but they’re still a half-game ahead of the Panthers for the NFC South lead, with a record of 6-4. The Buccaneers are getting a little bit healthier this week on offense, with Chris Godwin Jr. returning to the lineup this week, though likely on something of a snap count for his first game back. Unfortunately, they are a bit banged up defensively, as Tampa Bay will be without CB Jamel Dean and OLB Haason Reddick for this SNF bout with LA. CB Benjamin Morrison is coming off a season-high 96% of snaps after getting torched in the absence of Dean last week, but he missed practice Friday, and is questionable for this one, also. On the Rams’ side of things, they lost a couple of players to injured reserve after last week’s win over the Seahawks. S Quentin Lake, OT Rob Havenstein, and TE Tyler Higbee will all miss at least the next four games with their respective injuries, with the former of the two being most impactful, given the strong rotation of TEs that LA possesses. The Rams are heavy favorites in this game, and it’s hard not to expect them to continue to take care of business, especially with the all the injuries racking up for Tampa Bay. Baker Mayfield’s been a bit more errant as of late, but he’s operating with an offense that is a shell of what it could have been if all parts found a way to be simultaneously healthy this season.

    Quarterbacks:

    Continuing with that note, Baker Mayfield is currently sitting as the QB14 with 18.3 FPPG this season, but he’s coming off a pair of consecutive QB7 overall weekly finishes. He’s been a bit more off lately, missing some easy throws and making more apparent mental errors in 2025, but he’s still a streaky plug QB that can really hum when he’s on. Perhaps, the return of Chris Godwin Jr., and even Bucky Irving in the near future, could provide a boost to this offense. However, it will be a matter of whether those players will be able to perform like their usual selves, after coming off of two respectively impactful injuries for their positions. The Buccaneers’ OL is getting a bit healthier, so hopefully Mayfield can settle down a bit, but that will be hard to do this week with the Rams DL hounding him all night long. The Rams are 12th in pressure rate this season, but do so while blitzing at a bottom-5 rate in the NFL. They’re a very balanced defense, and one that allows just the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs this season. Baker should get a bit of a lift for the rest of the season from Godwin’s return, but will ultimately be something of a fringe-QB1 for fantasy football this week against LA. Matthew Stafford, on the other hand, is playing MVP-caliber football this season, and all that talk about his back injury this offseason is completely gone with the wind. The Buccaneers have done a great job at pressuring the QB, ranking 3rd in that metric in the NFL this season, in large part due to HC Todd Bowles’ patented blitz-heavy defense, which also ranks 3rd in blitz rate in 2025. With the loss of OT Rob Havenstein, maybe there’s a chance that the Bucs can bring enough heat to rattle Stafford a bit, but I expect the savvy vet to be able to find his top-two targets on quick releases all day long. Stafford has 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions this season, and no other QB has more than 21 passing scores on the year. He’s the QB5 in FPPG this season, and TB allows the 7th-most fantasy points to opposing QBs. Stafford is a solid fantasy QB1 once again this week.

    Running Backs:

    Tampa Bay will have to wait at least one more week before they get the return of Bucky Irving. Thankfully for them, Sean Tucker had a bit of a 2025 coming out party in Week 11, where he racked up 140 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns to finish as the fantasy RB1 on the week. He’s forced a split backfield with Rachaad White over the last few weeks, but in Week 11 he was running so well early on, the team opted to have Tucker lead the team for the remainder of the game, out of halftime. White has been serviceable, and remains a decent pass-catcher and among the most effective short-yardage ball-carriers in the NFL this season. However, he doesn’t bring the burst and explosiveness that the Buccaneers will have to set off in this game to keep up with the Rams’ elite passing offense. Tucker is a high-upside RB2 with Tampa Bay ranking 11th in RB fantasy usage over the last month of the season, but also given the tough matchup he runs into in his first start of the season. LA ranks third in Run Stop Win rate this year, and allow the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs on the season. White is essentially a low-end flex, but one I wouldn’t be surprised to see him maintain a short-yardage role for the team, which could result in a goal line opportunity that other low-end flex plays don’t have access to. As for the Rams, I was a little bit more nervous about Kyren Williams this week than others, mostly because of the unique presence that the Buccaneers have clogging lanes up the middle in NT Vita Vea. Especially considering Williams handles rush attempts that go up the middle at the second-highest rate among RBs with at least 50 carries this season. However, the Bucs have surprisingly been terrible vs. inside runs this season, allowing the third-highest EPA/Rush against carries between the tackles. I have a feeling a lot of the Bucs run defense’s shortcomings could be attributed to the loss of Kalijah Cancey early on this season. Williams is a bonafide RB1 regardless, because he can get it done as a pass-catcher and on outside carries, but the matchup up the middle vs. Tampa Bay makes this look a great chance for an explosive game for Kyren, especially if the Rams want to avoid dropping back as often against the blitz-heavy Bucs. Also, the Buccaneers allow the highest EPA/Rush in the red zone this season, so Williams should be able to find room to run as he nears the goal line. Blake Corum has been getting routinely involved, but this is not particularly a matchup where I’m expecting him to get involved enough to matter for fantasy football lineups this week.

    Wide Receivers: 


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    November 23, 2025, 6:12 pm