The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Cleveland Browns in Week 15. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Patrick Mahomes.

Is Patrick Mahomes Playing in Week 15?

Mahomes is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.

We’ll continue to monitor the Chiefs’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.

Should You Start or Sit Patrick Mahomes in Week 15?

Including the playoffs, Mahomes (127 career starts, 10 such wins) now has more victories when his team scores fewer than 20 points than Aaron Rodgers (258, nine such wins). That’s not so much a fantasy stat as it is proof that this team doesn’t need their All-Pro quarterback to put up All-Pro numbers.

Not yet anyway.

Talk to me in mid-January, and we’ll see where things stand, but with Isiah Pacheco taking control of this backfield last week and the ticking time bomb that is Jameis Winston, who’s to say that the plan this week isn’t “sustain drives and let Cleveland implode against our strong defense”?

Mahomes has only a pair of top-10 finishes this season, and I don’t think he adds to that total here. There are three NFC North and four AFC East QBs I’d rather click into my fantasy lineup this week than the man who might well be the best to ever do it.

Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 15 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.

Patrick Mahomes’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 15

As of Sunday morning, Mahomes is projected to score 14.9 fantasy points in Week 15. This includes 198.2 passing yards, 1.4 passing touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions. It also includes 3 rushing attempts for 15.6 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.

Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.

PFN Insight on the Browns’ Defense

Cleveland’s defense has been inconsistent in the last five games. They’ve ranked inside the top 10 on three occasions, but in between each, they ranked outside the top 20.

The Browns’ fourth-place finish against the Steelers in Week 14 was their best finish of the season and their third-best of the season. It was the sixth game inside the top 10 and their eighth with a C+ grade or better.

One huge concern for the Browns is their inability to get sacks in recent weeks. They’ve posted three of their lowest sack rates of the season in the past four weeks. Their pressure rate without blitzing hasn’t dropped off significantly in that time, but their final result hasn’t been there.

Both of those have been areas Cleveland has impressed this year in general. They lead the league in pressure without blitzing (40.3%) but have slipped to 10th in sack rate (7.9%).

Overall, the Browns’ defense has been good, but not elite like Jim Schwartz had them playing last year. The biggest drop-off has been the pass defense, but that was always going to be unsustainable, given 2023’s success. Turnover rate has also regressed, falling from a mid-tier team last year to one of the worst this season (6.3%; 28th).

For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.

Patrick Mahomes’ Fantasy Ranking

Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 6:00 AM ET on Sunday, December 15. If you’re in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.

Week 15 QB PPR Rankings

1) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at NYG)
2) Josh Allen | BUF (at DET)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at NO)
4) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. PIT)
5) Joe Burrow | CIN (at TEN)
6) Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (at HOU)
7) Brock Purdy | SF (vs. LAR)
8) Sam Darnold | MIN (vs. CHI)
9) Bo Nix | DEN (vs. IND)
10) Justin Herbert | LAC (vs. TB)
11) C.J. Stroud | HOU (vs. MIA)
12) Jordan Love | GB (at SEA)
13) Baker Mayfield | TB (at LAC)
14) Jared Goff | DET (vs. BUF)
15) Kyler Murray | ARI (vs. NE)
16) Patrick Mahomes | KC (at CLE)
17) Drake Maye | NE (at ARI)
18) Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (at JAX)
19) Caleb Williams | CHI (at MIN)
20) Geno Smith | SEA (vs. GB)
21) Anthony Richardson | IND (at DEN)
22) Russell Wilson | PIT (at PHI)
23) Matthew Stafford | LAR (at SF)
24) Will Levis | TEN (vs. CIN)
25) Kirk Cousins | ATL (at LV)
26) Jameis Winston | CLE (vs. KC)
27) Bryce Young | CAR (vs. DAL)
28) Cooper Rush | DAL (at CAR)
29) Drew Lock | NYG (vs. BAL)
30) Aidan O’Connell | LV (vs. ATL)
31) Mac Jones | JAX (vs. NYJ)
32) Jake Haener | NO (vs. WAS)
33) Justin Fields | PIT (at PHI)
34) Desmond Ridder | LV (vs. ATL)

Chiefs at Browns Trends and Insights

Kansas City Chiefs

Team: The Chiefs have four wins by two or fewer points this season, matching the 2001 Jets and the 2012 Eagles for the most in a regular season during the 2000s.

QB: Including the playoffs, Patrick Mahomes (127 career starts, 10 such wins) now has more victories when his team scores fewer than 20 points than Aaron Rodgers (258, nine such wins).

Offense: The Chiefs rank 25th in red zone efficiency this season (51%), ranking just behind the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals.

Defense: On Sunday night, Kansas City improved to 5-0 this season when not forcing a turnover (they were 2-2 in such games last season).

Fantasy: It’s been a weird ride for fantasy managers despite the success of Kansas City as a team. The PPR point totals over their past seven quarters:

• Matthew Wright (27)
• Patrick Mahomes (26.9)
• DeAndre Hopkins (18.2)
• Isiah Pacheco (11)
• Noah Gray (8)
• Xavier Worthy (7.6)
• Travis Kelce (5.7)

Betting: The Chiefs are 0-4-1 ATS in their past five December road games.

Cleveland Browns

Team: In the calendar year of 2024, the Browns have one non-divisional win.

QB: This season, eight of Jameis Winston’s 13 touchdown passes have come on balls thrown at least 15 yards down the field.

Offense: The Browns have punted on over 16% of their drive five times this season, including each of their past four games.

Defense: After not forcing a turnover in four straight games, 12% of Cleveland’s defensive possessions since the Week 10 bye have resulted in a giveaway (ninth highest rate in the NFL over that stretch).

Fantasy: David Njoku has posted five top-10 finishes this season (7+ targets in seven of his past eight games).

Betting: Pick a side and don’t worry about the spread – Jameis Winston’s past six starts as a home underdog have finished, on average, 15.8 points off the spread.