Start 'Em & Sit 'Em is the ultimate weekly look at NFL matchups and how they'll affect your fantasy football team. Fantasy superstars such as Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey will not be featured in this column. All player matchups are based on a PPR scoring system. For your final starting lineup decisions, check my weekly fantasy football lineup rankings.
Byes:Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
Prescott is a virtual must start this week, as he faces the Giants on Monday Night Football. He was the QB2 in a Week 1 matchup against the G-Men, and their defense has given up six top-nine fantasy performances to enemy quarterbacks overall in their first eight games. Look for Dak to post a fine line in this NFC East battle.
Cousins had a better "real" game than "fantasy" game last week, going 23 for 26 for 285 yards but without a touchdown. He should rebound in a road game in Kansas City, however. The Chiefs defense has surrendered 15 total touchdowns to quarterbacks overall, and the position has averaged over 20 fantasy points at Arrowhead Stadium.
Stafford has developed into one of the best bargains in fantasy drafts, throwing two-plus touchdown passes five times in his first seven games of the season. I would start him against the Raiders, who have surrendered 19 scoring strikes, a 115.5 passer rating and the third-most fantasy points (23.7 PPG) to enemy signal-callers.
Allen fought off poor weather conditions to score 17.3 fantasy points vs. the Eagles last week, and it would have been better had he not lost a fumble. He'll be a solid option in Week 9, as the Redskins have surrendered 14 touchdown passes and an average of nearly 18 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Minshew is on a nice two-game roll, scoring 21 or more fantasy points while putting up a combined four touchdowns. He'll remain a viable starting option in London, where the Jaguars will face a Texans defense that has given up an average of 293.4 passing yards per game and 19 total touchdowns to enemy quarterbacks this season.
Start 'Em:Tom Brady at Baltimore Ravens, Jameis Winston at Seattle Seahawks
Sleepers:Derek Carr vs. Detroit Lions, Sam Darnold at Miami Dolphins
Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
Mayfield's streak of sit 'em appearances might break a record for this column. He put up another stinker in last week's loss to the Patriots, and now he gets the Broncos in Denver. Quarterbacks have combined to throw for six touchdowns and average a mere 10.4 fantasy points against them this season, so sit Mayfield once again.
Brissett has an odd trend of producing great numbers at home but modest totals on the road. In fact, he's averaged fewer than 17 fantasy points away from Lucas Oil Stadium. This week he faces the Steelers, who have been tough on quarterbacks in recent weeks. Unless you're in a two-quarterback or super flex league, I'd fade Brissett.
Wentz is in the middle of a tough stretch of games, and the schedule is unforgiving again as the Bears come to town. Chicago has struggled against the run, but quarterbacks have averaged fewer than 14 fantasy points per game against them. In fact, no field general has finished higher than 13th in points when facing Chicago.
Rivers has scored fewer than 15 fantasy points in three of his last four games, including last week's 10-point stinker in Chicago. He'll be a fade for me once again this week, as the Packers and their rabid fans will no doubt invade the StubHub Center. Green Bay has allowed fewer than 15 points per game to opposing quarterbacks.
You might look at Trubisky's matchup against the Eagles and think he's a viable streamer, but he's not. Believe or not, but Philadelphia has given up an average of 9.23 fewer fantasy points per game to quarterbacks at home as opposed to on the road. Trubisky is playing awful football right now too, so keep him on the bench.
Sit 'Em:Mason Rudolph vs. Indianapolis Colts, Kyle Allen vs. Tennessee Titans
Busts:Daniel Jones vs. Dallas Cowboys (Mon.), Ryan Tannehill at Carolina Panthers
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on NFL.com and NFL Network and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. You can follow Michael on **Twitter**, **Facebook**, **YouTube** and **Instagram** for all of the latest fantasy football news, notes and in-depth analysis!
