NFL Fantasy starts and sits for Week 9

The Bengals are off, but your fantasy team isn’t. Your team probably isn’t taking that huge a of a hit from the Bengals being off, but these are the players you should watch out for in Week 9.

Starts

Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions: Stafford and the Lions passing attack has been on fire the past few weeks. He has surpassed 700 yards and has seven touchdowns over the past two weeks. Now he will be facing a Raiders defense that allows the second most points to opposing quarterbacks in fantasy, according to Fantasy Pros. Hard to imagine a quarterback having a better week than Stafford this week.

Le’Veon Bell, RB, Jets: Bell hasn’t been reliable all season. His best games have come when the Jets have relied on him in the passing game, but most of that came when Sam Darnold was out. Still, the Dolphins are only second to the Bengals in points given up to opposing running backs in fantasy. They allow 25.6 points per game to the position. Bell may have been disappointing to fantasy players so far this season, but he should have a pretty good game this week.

Allen Robinson, WR, Bears: The Bears passing game has been a mess for most of the season. Robinson has been one of the most reliable players from that offense. He has had at least seven targets every week so far. He hasn’t been a standout player by any means, but he has shined a few times this season. This week he faces an Eagles defense that gives up the most points to opposing wide receivers in the NFL. Robinson already has a high floor with his volume, but this week his ceiling gets a nice bump.

Defenses to stream

• Jets defenses against the Dolphins
• Cowboys defense against the Giants

QB Stream

Sam Darnold, QB, Jets: Darnold has a very soft fantasy schedule down the stretch, and it starts with a game against the Dolphins this week. They allow 23.3 points per week to opposing quarterbacks. Darnold has faced a few tough matchups, but the Dolphins defense has a long way to go before it is anywhere close to being as good as the Patriots.

Sits

Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens: This is one of those situations where I know it is hard to sit a guy like Jackson. You may have to end up starting him and hoping they are able to perform against the worst matchup for opposing quarterbacks in the Patriots defense. Jackson hasn’t had the best passing performances the past few weeks, but he has rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown in those same games. Can New England slow down Jackson?

Chris Carson, RB, Seahawks: Carson has plenty of volume for fantasy players to fallback on if they have to start him. The Buccaneers only allow 11.8 points to opposing running backs per week. Carson could be a common name to see down here if he struggles this week as well. His schedule gets pretty tough down the stretch, but if he is able to perform this week fantasy players should be petty confident keeping him in week after week. If you have a better option this week you may want to turn to them for now.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington: if there has been one bright spot for Washington this season it has been McLaurin bursting onto the scene. This week he will be playing the Bills defense that is one of the toughest matchups for opposing wide receivers to face. They oly allow 14.8 points per game to opposing wide receivers per week. It doesn’t help that he struggled last week against the Vikings. Hopefully you have better options this week and you can leave McLaurin on the bench.