Another week of more than 300 yards passing for Josh McCown gave him the edge for owning the most fantasy football points in week 5 of the NFL season.
McCown finished with 457 yards passing and three total touchdowns for a 35.48 fantasy football score.
That’s the most points from a quarterback in a week this season. McCown has been unstoppable in the past three games, going for 19 or more points.
With week 5 behind us, here’s our weekly start ’em, sit ’em guide for week 6 of the NFL season. To see how we did in the past, and in week 5, where we were completely on point except for sitting Andy Dalton, go here.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Aaron Rodgers vs. San Diego Chargers
Last week, Rodgers was on our daily fantasy sit of the week, and for good reason. He was going up against a solid front in the St. Louis Rams, and he was average at best.
He finished with 15.54 points with two touchdowns and three turnovers. The Packers still won, though, showing that Green Bay has the ability to overcome struggles from Rodgers, which is dangerous for opposing teams.
But this week, Rodgers faces a Chargers defense at home that has struggled to get to the quarterback this season.
San Diego has five sacks this season, ranking it second from the bottom in the NFL. The Chargers haven’t been awful against the pass statistically, but when facing Rodgers, defenses must be able to showcase pressure, or he’ll have a big day.
The Chargers’ inability to rush the passer will be the determining factor in Rodgers having a big day on Sunday. And we’d have to imagine he will attempt to erase the bad taste out of his mouth from this past Sunday.
Start
Joe Flacco vs. San Francisco 49ers
We’re not that sold on the Baltimore Ravens as a team. But with the disappointing season, it has opened up Flacco’s value as a fantasy quarterback.
The Ravens are a bottom-1o defense against the pass in the NFL, and that number is significant because Baltimore allowed 150 yards passing in week 1. That means in the last four weeks, the Ravens are allowing an average of 310 yards passing per game, which would be the worst mark in the NFL.
What does that have to do with Flacco? It means that he has to air it out constantly just to keep Baltimore afloat.
He threw the ball 35 times on Sunday against a rush defense that is terrible. He also scored 24.60 points, giving him more than 20 points for the third time this season out of five games.
We’re a little concerned with his completion percentage, since he only completed 19 of those passes and recorded 210 yards passing. But against the 49ers, every quarterback looks good, and we don’t expect that to change this week.
Teddy Bridgewater vs. Kansas City Chiefs
We’ve been disappointed in Bridgewater’s fantasy football output this season, too.
But after a bye week, we expect the Vikings to have a few tricks up their sleeves with Kansas City’s leaky pass defense awaiting them.
Bridgewater came into his own last season after the Vikings’ bye week. In the seven games following the bye week last season, Bridgewater completed at least 68 percent of his passes in five of the final seven games. His quarterback ranking dipped below 84 only twice after the bye week.
He got better after the bye week last season and we’re anticipating that to happen again this year. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the Chiefs’ secondary has been bad this season.
Kansas City is allowing 284.6 yards per game passing and is allowing 13 touchdown passes, compared to grabbing only two interceptions. The Vikings should be able to move the ball consistently against the Chiefs and Bridgewater should total a good amount of fantasy points.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Cam Newton vs. Seattle Seahawks
Newton is having a MVP-type season. That doesn’t mean he should get a start on your daily fantasy football team this week.
We’re well aware of the Seahawks’ deficiencies on defense last week and the overall team problems that have plagued the two-time NFC champions. But there’s still no reason to pick up Newton this week.
Andy Dalton put a dent in Seattle’s armor last week, but Dalton’s success has a lot to do with the weapons at his disposal. A.J. Green, two quality running backs and tight end Tyler Eifert would help anyone at quarterback.
Newton has one weapon — tight end Greg Olsen.
That’s not enough to gamble on Newton when there’s other quarterbacks with better matchups. Stay away from Newton this week in daily fantasy.
Sit
Josh McCown vs. Denver Broncos
We know you really want to pull the trigger on McCown as your regular starter.
Don’t be fooled.
We have been impressed by McCown in recent weeks with his ability to throw for more than 300 yards, while having limited weapons.
But let’s take a deeper look at the defenses he’s been facing.
Oakland, San Diego and Baltimore have been the three defenses that fell victim to McCown’s passing prowess. Oakland and Baltimore rank in the bottom-10 for defenses against the pass, and we’ve already discussed San Diego’s inability to rush the passer.
Denver is the best pass-rushing team in the NFL and so far as limited the opposition to less than 200 yards per game passing.
The Broncos will challenge the Browns’ wide receivers in ways they haven’t seen in recent weeks. Don’t look for McCown’s magic to continue this week.
Matthew Stafford vs. Chicago Bears
If you haven’t already pulled the trigger, it’s time.
Stafford was benched last week in a blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The struggles will continue this week against an improved Chicago pass defense.
Too often we see fantasy football owners make decisions on previous years. This is the NFL, and for most teams, a year can make a big difference.
Chicago is playing well against the pass this season, allowing the third-fewest passing yards in the NFL. That doesn’t bode well for Stafford and the Lions.
We anticipated the Lions taking a step back this season, but even we’re surprised at how far they’ve fallen. They’re a strong candidate for giving up, especially after being a playoff team last season. Stafford shouldn’t be trusted from here on out, so we’ll consider him a regular sit until he shows us something.
