Fantasy points were not at a premium for the quarterback position this past week.
Nine quarterbacks totaled 20 or more points, marking the third consecutive week where at least that many quarterbacks have tallied that many points.
That just showcases the depth at the quarterback position, especially considering Josh McCown and Kirk Cousins have topped the quarterback chart for two of the last three weeks.
That depth will likely be on display again this week, so here’s our take on start ’em, sit ’em for week 8.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Phillip Rivers vs. Baltimore Ravens
It doesn’t matter anymore if the team isn’t doing anything. Rivers is a beast for fantasy football owners.
The Chargers were atrocious for three quarters against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, but in the end, it didn’t matter for Rivers owners.
He turned in three second-half touchdown passes and slung it 58 times, just shy of his 65 passing attempts the week before.
The Chargers have no running game and it appears they just aren’t a very good football team. That means Rivers will have to continue to throw the ball all over the field, giving fantasy owners plenty to hope for, especially this week against Baltimore.
The Ravens have been consistently torched this season by the pass, especially at home. The Ravens are 0-2 at home this season and have allowed a combined 840 yards passing and five touchdowns, compared to only one interception.
This is a short week for the Ravens, too, giving Rivers even more of an edge this week against the leaky Baltimore secondary.
Start
Andy Dalton vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
We’re not sure if you’re starting Dalton on a regular basis yet, but we still have our reservations with him. For all that he has done this season, he still is Dalton.
But this matchup is prime for another solid effort. Despite having a bye week already mixed in, Dalton is still third among quarterbacks this season in fantasy points.
He’s been consistent on throwing touchdown passes (14) and been able to take care of the football (two interceptions).
That’s what the Bengals need, and it’s been widely discussed how good he’s been in early afternoon games. And this game is in that time slot.
The once-vaunted Steel curtain is still doing what it can against the run, but hasn’t been as good against the pass. Pittsburgh is sixth-worst against the pass in the NFL, and just this past week, allowed 251 yards passing to Alex Smith. That may not seem like a lot, but Smith has totaled more than 250 yards passing only three other times this season.
Dalton has a week of preparation for this game and we expect the Bengals to throw often in this matchup.
Eli Manning vs. New Orelans
Is there a quarterback more frustrating than Manning?
We thought he was getting in that stratosphere of earning a star each week with four consecutive solid performances from week 2 to week 5. Against San Francisco in week 5, he looked the part of a top-tier fantasy quarterback with 28.74 points, so we were counting on him for at least decent performances against Philadelphia and Dallas.
We weren’t expecting great, just maybe in the double-digit range.
That didn’t happen. He’s been awful these past two weeks, totaling a combined 15 points, and not passing for more than 200 yards in either game.
But this week, we’re looking for “good” Eli to surface. New Orleans ranks seventh worst against the pass, and although it looked good for about three quarters against Indianapolis on Sunday, we’re thinking that had more to do with problems in Indy, than solutions in New Orleans.
The Saints are allowing 8.4 yards per completion, the third-worst mark in the NFL. The Giants will look to throw on the Saints, and they’ve shown the ability in the past to complete a high-percentage of passes.
Manning busts out of his slump with a solid outing this week.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Aaron Rodgers vs. Denver Broncos
Aaron Rodgers off a bye week? Usually we’re all in for fantasy football with that tidbit.
But this isn’t the typical game after a bye week. This is a Sunday night matchup with one of the best defenses in the NFL.
If we had Rodgers on our season-long team, we’d still give him the starting nod, because, let’s face it, he’s Aaron Rodgers.
But the Broncos have been menacing on opposing quarterbacks.
Denver is allowing less than 200 yards per game passing this season and puts more pressure on the quarterback than any other team in the NFL. Denver has 26 sacks, three more than any other team in the league.
And we’re not ignoring Rodger’s inability to reach 20 points in the last three weeks. Rodgers still has been pretty good, but he hasn’t gone over 300 yards passing since week 3.
Sit
Ryan Tannehill vs. New England Patriots
We know you’re really excited about Miami’s new-found approach. We’re intrigued, too.
But the Dolphins are traveling for a Thursday night game against New England. Something about that sentence doesn’t bode well for the road team.
Tannehill is 2-4 lifetime against the Patriots and completes only 57 percent of passes against the Patriots. His quarterback rating against New England is 77.7 and he’s going for only 241.5 yards passing per game in his career against the Patriots.
Let’s cool down a bit on the Dolphins. The two wins since Dan Campbell has been coach has been against Tennessee and Houston, two teams with a combined three wins.
The Patriots still own a top-10 passing defense and we’re thinking coach Bill Belichick will have a special defense designed for Tannehill.
Derek Carr vs. New York Jets
We loved that matchup for Oakland on Sunday against San Diego. This week, we’re not showing as much love.
The Jets are wrecking opposing quarterbacks. The Jets are allowing 5.6 yards per completion, the best mark in the NFL.
New York is allowing the fourth-least passing yards per game, too, and is second-best in quarterback rating, allowing a 68.5 mark.
And although we like Carr as a quarterback, he is young, and therefore is inconsistent. Last week he tallied 23.86 points, but in his two previous games, he mustered 11.84 and 9.86 points respectively.
Against good defenses, like Cincinnati and Denver, he’s been almost non-existent. Expect much of the same this week.
