Bye Weeks: Arizona, Houston, Kansas City, Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore
Derek Carr has been on a two-week roll
with seven total touchdowns and 622 passing yards.
Grab a Helmet
Marcus
Mariota @ NO: The early week prognosis looks good for
Mariota’s availability this Sunday. Just in time too! A delicious
matchup with the Saints looms on the horizon. Marcus gives this
offense an element that Zach Mettenberger just couldn’t…accuracy!
Mariota is completing an impressive 63.6 percent of his passes,
and this enables his receivers to make plays after the catch. Granted
he’ll probably be without top target Kendall Wright, but big plays
could be had down the field with some of his young athletic receivers.
Tennessee is going to have to throw to remain competitive in this
game, and this plays right into Mariota’s hands. Baring a set-back,
look for Mariota to sneak into the QB1 conversation this week.
Derek
Carr @ PIT: After watching (and being on the wrong end
of) the eviscerating of the Jets elite defense on Sunday, Carr is
for real. For a young guy with a big arm, he shows a tremendous
amount of touch on his passes, and the chemistry he shows with his
receiver corps is impressive, seeing as he’s only been working with
Cooper and Crabtree since the spring. He sports a sterling 15-3
touchdown-to-interception ratio, and generally avoids some of the
mistakes young quarterbacks are prone to. This week he heads on
the road to face a reeling Pittsburgh team. The Steelers, while
generally playing good defense, had no answer to A.J. Green last
week, and are simply not good enough to make me shy away from Carr.
Roll with the kid as a QB1 this week.
Jay
Cutler @ SD (MON): The Bears are a 2-5 football team,
but it isn’t because of Cutler. The much maligned signal caller
is averaging a healthy 19.9 fantasy points per game and is avoiding
the game crippling mistakes of the past. Since Alshon Jeffrey’s
return a few weeks ago, the big play threat has returned to the
Chicago offense. While Cutler has been a more effective real life
quarterback than fantasy one, a huge week could be on the horizon
vs. San Diego. With the injury to Matt Forte, and the high scoring
Chargers moving the ball effectively, Cutler could easily approach
50 attempts in this Monday night game. Don’t be afraid to run Cutler
out into DFS and season-long line-ups this week.
Grab a Headset
Teddy
Bridgewater v. STL: Bridgewater’s ascendance to fantasy
usefulness has been a long one. Although he’s playing well in
spots, the return of AP, and the philosophy of the offense has
curbed most of Bridgewater’s upside. With only two multi-touchdown
games on his resume this season, the production hasn’t made Bridgewater
startable in anything more than two-quarterback leagues. The vicious
Rams defense comes to town, and I expect both of these teams to
attempt 50-plus rushes between them. Low volume, poor match-up
and season long funk all make Bridgewater a poor option this week.
Blake
Bortles @ NYJ: The overall QB9 brings his game to the
Meadowlands this weekend. After being embarrassed on the west
coast by the Raiders last week, look for the Jets to come out
looking for blood in this one. Bortles has thrown at least one
interception in three straight games, and I expect the Jets to
come after Bortles with reckless abandon. Bortles wasn’t great
against the last aggressive defense he faced (Bills - 182 yards,
44% completions). Yeldon won’t find much room to run against the
Jets front and Blake will be in for a long day. He’s been a solid
fantasy player this year, but if I have other options this week
I’m going with them.
Aaron
Rodgers @ CAR: I know, you’re not sitting him, but
it may be time to think the unthinkable…Rodgers may finish
the year a lot closer to the QB10 than QB1. In sixteen games last
season Rodgers threw for less than 300 yards a mere seven times.
In seven games this season Rodgers has thrown for less than 300
yards six times! Maybe because the bar has been set so high we’ve
come to expect much more, but Rogers has only two three-plus touchdown
games this year, and looked absolutely overmatched against Denver
on Sunday night. He’s been downright bad against top flight
defenses on the road, and that is the exact scenario he faces
against Carolina. The deep passing game is gone with Jordy Nelson
injured and defenses are playing extremely aggressively because
of it. Expect a very limited ceiling this week, and adjust line-ups
accordingly.
