I rarely ever look forward to the Ravens bye week, but the Ravens clearly need it. Especially the defense… I can confidently say I have never seen a Baltimore defense that is so consistently horrendous. Even NFL superstar Marlon Humphrey has been playing poorly and the defense as a whole looks like a peewee football team out there trying to tackle. To say I am disappointed is a very nice way of saying how I (and probably all of us) really feel.
No need to dwell on a bad performance though, that can be corrected over the bye week, where the Ravens clearly will be addressing their problems. Nothing to do now but look forward to the Week 9 matchup against the Vikings, and of course, winning another week of fantasy! One of the few bright sides of football last week, at least for me, was yet another fantasy win. Our picks last week weren’t perfect. But the picks that hit were week winners and the ones that didn’t hit as well, didn’t ruin your week.
Since we don’t have any Ravens matchups to analyze this week, lets get to the streamers!
Streamin’ around the league
QB: Kirk Cousins
Kirk and the Vikings will face off against a Dallas defense that is strong on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys have one of the leagues most explosive offenses and on defense have quite possibly the hottest DB in the league, Trevon Diggs. So, if they have a good defense, then why will Cousins have a good game? Well, the Cowboys are weak against the QB. Specifically, they give up the 4th most fantasy points to opposing QB’s per game. On top of that, the Vikings sub-par defense will be outplayed and outmanned by the Dallas offense, leading to a game script where Cousins will need to throw often. Cousins has all of his best weapons available and healthy, so there is very few situations where I see Cousins having a bad week.
NOTE: Just as I finished writing this, news broke that Dak may not be recovered enough from his calf injury to start this week. If Cooper Rush isn’t able to put points on the board, this could lead to a heavy dose of Dalvin Cook. The matchup is still there, but Kirk is a slightly riskier streaming option. A back-up streaming option to consider is “Teddy 2 gloves” Bridgewater. (Jerry Jeudy is back. Washington pass D is ranked 5th worst in the league and let up the most fantasy points per game to opposing QB’s.)
RB: Zack Moss
Moss is still leading the Bills backfield in carries and will get plenty of opportunity against the Dolphins this week. The Bills are favored by 14 points and have a 31 implied point total, which should lead to some extra opportunities for the RBs. The Dolphins are 23rd against fantasy RBs and Moss is the go-to RB when the Bills get within the 10. Moss has a decent floor with upside for at least 1, possibly 2+ TD’s this week.
WR: Jerry Jeudy
Jeudy wont be available on everyone’s waiver wires, but there are leagues out there where he was dropped since he’s been out since Week 2. I believe in Jeudy this week and he should ball out in his comeback performance. Before Jeudy was sidelined around halftime Week 1 due to a high ankle sprain, he had already put up six catches for 72 yards in just about one half of playing. His break-out season was put on hold but it will get back on track this week against Washington who ranks 28th in pass defense and lets up the 2nd most fantasy points per game to WR’s.
TE: Hunter Henry
Henry has scored a TD in each of the last four weeks and is a strong bet to score another one this week against the LA Chargers, who let up the 3rd most fantasy points per game to opposing TEs. The Patriots are four-point underdogs and will probably be down most of, if not, the entire game. Mac Jones doesn’t exactly have the cream of the crop when it comes to pass catchers, which is why Henry has been such a safe play most of the season. The game script and matchup are both there for Henry to put up another decent fantasy week.
Fire & Ice
Fire Squad:
QB: Jalen Hurts
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: Michael Pittman Jr.
TE: T.J. Hockenson
Ice Squad:
QB: Tua Tagovailoa
RB: Cordarrelle Patterson
WR: Keenan Allen
TE: Mike Gesicki
