Our daily fantasy start of the week Cam Newton came through big time for fantasy football owners last week.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton totaled 315 yards passing and three total touchdowns for 29.90 points last week.
Newton was the second-best scoring quarterback last week in fantasy football, just behind Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton.
When looking at week 4, there should be even more matchups to exploit in fantasy football. Here’s our weekly look at start ’em, sit ’em for week 4 of the NFL season in fantasy football.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Andrew Luck vs. Jacksonville
Jacksonville will be in the midst of playing back-to-back road games after allowing New England to score on every offensive possession, except the final one when it took a knee to run out the clock.
That should be enough reason to pony up the cash to start Luck in your daily fantasy league.
For the most part, Luck has been a big disappointment this season in fantasy football. He was lauded as the top quarterback in fantasy football in the preseason, warranting a first round average draft position in many leagues.
He has the 20th-highest point total for quarterbacks in the NFL, and has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns.
With that being said, Luck looked more like the Luck we’re accustomed to in the fourth quarter of the week 3 comeback win against Tennessee.
Look for that to continue against Jacksonville, which is allowing the seventh-most pass yards in the NFL this season.
Start
Phillip Rivers vs. Cleveland
Week 1 made it seem like this would be a strong year for the San Diego Chargers quarterback.
In the last two weeks, it’s beginning to look like Rivers may take a step back.
Rivers’ fantasy numbers have dropped by five points each week since week 1, and last week he lost a fumble and threw a pick-six.
With all that bad news, he’s on the line for sitting on the bench. But you should reconsider that for this week. The Chargers will host the Cleveland Browns in an early kickoff on Sunday, and the Browns have been unable to do much defensively against the run and the pass this season.
Oakland quarterback Derek Carr sliced through the Browns secondary for more than 300 yards last week, and that should continue with the Browns having to devote more people to the rush defense because of its inability to stop the run.
Rivers should bounce back on the home field with a solid performance in week 4.
Joe Flacco vs. Pittsburgh
The Baltimore Ravens haven’t been very good this season. But after a lackluster week 1, Flacco is beginning to turn it on as the Ravens have ditched the running game.
Flacco has totaled more than 20 points in each of the last two weeks. He threw 49 passes against Cincinnati and threw for more than 350 yards, the second time he’s done that this season.
The only issue we have this week’s game against Pittsburgh is that normally the road team suffers the most with the early game. However, we’re not sold yet on the Steelers defense. Pittsburgh has played San Francisco and St. Louis in the last two weeks, and those offenses have seen better days.
Flacco should have some openings Thursday against the Steelers and we expect the Ravens to continue this air assault.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Ryan Tannehill vs. New York Jets
We get it. The Dolphins are refusing to run the ball.
Maybe that’s why Miami just hasn’t been any good this season.
Tannehill threw 49 times last week, throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions. The amount of passing attempts will have to taper off at some point, as he’s tallied 49, 44 and 34 passing attempts in three games this season.
That change toward more running will likely come this week, as the Jets have been especially stingy against the pass.
New York is allowing the fourth-least amount of total yards and passing yards per game this season. Against the rush, the Jets have been good, but less dominant. New York is allowing more than 100 yards per game on the ground, likely forcing Miami’s hand in running the ball.
This is a game to avoid anyway with it being in London, so don’t take a chance on Tannehill.
Sit
Ryan Mallett vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons haven’t been awesome against the pass, but they’ve kept quarterbacks out of the end zone.
Atlanta’s defense has allowed three passing touchdowns compared to three interceptions. That doesn’t bode well for a quarterback who is having difficulty finding the end zone.
Mallett has thrown one touchdown in each game this season, while tossing two interceptions. He added a rushing touchdown in week 2.
If Arian Foster returns, that could take some pressure off Mallett. But even with a strong running game in week 3, Mallett still only connected on 24-of-39 passing. The week before, he was 27-of-58.
That completion percentage just isn’t good enough to trust. With Mallett going on the road against an undefeated Atlanta team, we expect him to have difficulty completing passes once again.
Teddy Bridgewater vs. Denver Broncos
The Minnesota quarterback isn’t being asked to do much this season.
His passing yards have gone down sharply since week 1, going from 231 yards passing to 121 yards this past Sunday against San Diego.
His fantasy output doesn’t look good this week either. Part of his problem is the Vikings’ realization after week 1 that Adrian Peterson is still the best player on Minnesota’s roster. Peterson’s carries have increased, while Bridgewater’s attempts have gone down.
We expect that to continue. And with a road game at Denver, which has been hard on quarterbacks thus far this season, it’s likely the Vikings will run early and often.
The only hope for Bridgewater possibly exists with the Vikings falling down early and then having to air it out.
