It’s an unfortunate thing watching an accident happen and that’s certainly what we all witnessed this past Thursday night watching the hapless Cardinals attempt to pretend to be an NFL caliber team. Even as a Bronco fan, I felt a sense of pity as the game entered halftime, already decided. The Cardinals’ Mike McCoy was justifiably relieved of his duties yesterday so hopefully they can begin to try and rebuild a squad I’m fairly certain would get destroyed by Tua’s Alabama team right now. One can only hope. Realistically, I’m actually upset at how lopsided the contest was as it just delays the inevitable firing of Broncos’ coach Vance Joseph, and the benching of Case Keenum (who threw pick number 9 in seven games!) for Chad Kelly. Oh well, such is the life of a fan. Let’s dive into the Week 7 Start ’em Sit e’m.
Week 7 Start ’em Sit ’em
Start These Quarterbacks:
Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs
Life. Death. Taxes. And starting anyone playing the Kansas City Chiefs. There are certain inevitable truths in this world. This week is no different. Andy Dalton is set to face a defense that ranks dead last against the pass on Sunday night, so fire him up in what’s sure to be another high scoring contest in prime time. Oh, also the fact that Dalton’s 2018 passer rating of 94.4 is the second highest of his career certainly won’t hinder the Bengals scoring potential in this one.
Joe Flacco, Batimore Ravens vs New Orleans Saints
New Orleans doesn’t field a terrible pass defense. They rank 15th on the season through Week 6 in terms of yards allowed. Flacco’s place in this week’s start ’em sit ’em is actually based on the stellar run defense the Saints have (1st overall). Baltimore has struggled to move the ball on the ground consistently, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry (31st NFL), so expect Flacco to be busy in this one as he will be tasked with keeping his team in the game against a high flying Saints offense.
Sit These Quarterbacks
Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts vs Buffalo Bills
Luck is averaging the most passing attempts of his career and is on pace to break the season record for pass attempts. The reason to sit him this week is because it is hard to envision a scenario In which the Derek Anderson led Bills are competent enough on offense to keep the game close. Expect Luck to score early and often against an admittedly above average Bills defense and build enough of a lead in the first half to employ a more run-heavy approach in half number two.
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots
If there’s one thing a Bill Belichick offense does well year in and year out it is limiting the effectiveness of young QBs that face them. Heck, even fellow wonderkid, Patrick Mahomes had a first half to forget with two costly interceptions and not much on the board going into the second half. I expect Trubs to struggle against a confusing NE scheme in this one and for that reason will be sitting him against the Pats this week.
Start These Running Backs
Kerryon Johnson, Detroit Lions @ Miami Dolphins
If an injury to Theo Riddick doesn’t provide more opportunities to Johnson this weekend then I fear that HC Matt Patricia will never be swayed. Expect Johnson to add receiving work to his normal 10 carries per game in this one against a defense that is middle of the pack against the run and bottom third against the pass.
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are a bad defensive unit. Giovani Bernard is still hurt. Mark Walton is still a rookie. All of these factors combined showcase a situation that has Mixon getting a large workload in this one. Expect plenty of caries as well as work through the air as the Bengals attempt to keep pace with the Chiefs in this Week 7 tilt.
Sit These Running Backs
Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The excitement among the Browns’ fan base as well as those that roster Chubb in fantasy leagues is warranted, as the rookie is uber talented and should immediately provide more than Carlos Hyde had for the Browns this season. Unfortunately, this is not the game we should expect the breakout in. While terrible against the pass, Tampa Bay actually fields a competent rush defense, ranking third in the league in terms of total yards allowed to date. Let Chubb find his feet on benches this week.
LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills @ Indianapolis Colts
Shady has actually been decent in the last couple of games due to having a consistent workload. When the games are close, McCoy is still talented enough to be one of the best running backs in the league. Unfortunately I do not anticipate this being one of those close games. While the Colts have their own set of issues this season I foresee a Bills team struggling to keep pace while asking their backup’s backup, Derek Anderson, to try and go blow for blow with Andrew Luck. Sit Shady for this one.
Start These Wide Receivers
As much as it pains me to admit this I cannot in good conscience tell you to start Cooper Kupp this week as he won’t be playing due to a knee injury suffered in the game against the Broncos. I am devastated and wish him all the best. So do my fantasy teams…
Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs
Noticing a theme. Any and all Bengals should be in play this week versus a weak Chiefs defense. Any and all Chiefs are in play every week due to an amazing offense. This game will be another shootout. Just make sure you have a healthy body playing in this one and enjoy the ride. Oh… also don’t look now but Tyler Boyd is the 13th WR overall in PPR leagues through six weeks.
Jarvis Landry, Cleveland Browns @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Expect a bounce-back performance from Landry in this one versus a struggling Tampa Bay passing defense. Landry should be open early and often as he and Baker will be able to connect in this contest. Hopefully the Browns wideouts as a whole will catch more than they drop from here on out. The generally sure handed Landry will certainly look to do so.
Sit These Wide Receivers
Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans vs Los Angeles Chargers LONDON
Wide receivers + Casey Hayward = bad day for wide receivers. Couple this with the fact that Marcus Mariota is shell-shocked in the pocket, as evidenced by last week’s 11 sacks taken, and its easy to see how stacked the table is against Davis in this one. Expect another poor performance from Davis and the rest of the Titans offense in Week 7.
Cole Beasley, Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins
The ‘skins are fourth against the pass so far this year, surrendering just 236 yards through the air per game. After Beasley’s blowup last week, its reasonable to expect a more tempered performance in this Week 7 contest. Throughout his career we have only seen these big performances from Cole once or twice per season.
Start This TE
George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers vs Los Angeles Rams
If there is one area of the field that we’ve seen the Rams consistently struggle defending this season it is the middle. Kittle should feast against the LBs and safeties he’ll be lined up against and the 49ers will have to throw to keep up with the Rams. So far we’ve seen some good things from C.J. Beathard and if that is to continue we should see most of his production come via Kittle and speedster Marquise Goodwin in this one.
Sit This TE
Trey Burton, Chicago Bears vs New England Patriots
If Allen Robinson isn’t able to shake off his groin injury before kickoff this Sunday, Trey Burton will be the focal point of the Bears attack. New England generally does a good job of taking the first option of teams that play against them away and we should expect no difference in this one. Look for the Patriots to employ the same approach they had against Kelce in last week’s contest by chipping Burton off the line and disrupting the timing of Matt Nagy’s offense in Week 7.
Start These Defenses
LA Rams @ San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins vs Dallas Cowboys
Minnesota Vikings @ New York Jets
Sit These Defenses
Carolina Panthers @ Philadelphia Eagles
Baltimore Ravens @ New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Cleveland Browns
Thanks for reading the Week 7 Start ’em Sit ’em. For more froem Etan Mozia follow him @FF_Wonderkid.
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