The 5-2 Baltimore Ravens are back off their bye and welcome the New England Patriots to M&T Bank Stadium in Week 9. The Ravens and Patriots are both looking to make a statement this week with their toughest matchup of the season hopefully proving one team as a true real deal.
But for those in the midst of your fantasy football seasons, you’re likely trying to scrape up some big wins of your own. Here, I’ll offer my thoughts on players to start and players to sit this week. The bye week and the matchup may have led some fantasy owners to question a few things regarding Baltimore players for this week. Allow me to set your mind at rest.
START – QB, Lamar Jackson
The Patriots’ defense has shut down every quarterback they have faced this season, allowing a league-best 4.74 fantasy points per game to the position. This is incredible and a fact well worth celebrating. But since Week 1 the quarterbacks they have faced have been Ryan Fitzpatrick, Luke Falk, Josh Allen, Colt McCoy, Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. None of these players have done much to warrant star praise this season. The Patriots have not faced anything or anyone like Lamar Jackson so far.
Jackson has scored 24 or more fantasy points in six of his first seven games this season. He has done most of his best work with his legs, not his arm. Jackson is 22nd among all quarterbacks this season in pass attempts and 20th in passing yards. But no quarterback has more rushing yards than Jackson in 2019, and he has 100-yards on the ground in each of his last two games.
In their last five games, quarterbacks have completed a mere 52% of their pass attempts against the Patriots while only attempting 2.4 rush attempts per game. Castaway your doubts, and fire up Lamar this week.
START – TE, Mark Andrews
The Patriots have done as good a job shutting down tight ends as they have quarterbacks in 2019. They’ve allowed a league-low 17 receptions to the position and in their last four games, no tight end has gone over 33 yards against them. But as with the quarterbacks, it is important to put into context just who the Patriots have faced. Do the names Jeremy Sprinkle, Rhett Ellison, Ryan Griffin, and Demetrius Harris truly strike fear into the hearts of defensive coordinators around the league? I doubt it.
Mark Andrews has finished as top 12 fantasy tight end in five of the last seven weeks and is top seven or better in most of the key receiving categories at the position. He didn’t have a great game against the Seahawks, dropping three passes on his way to a season-low two receptions. But Andrews has drawn at least seven targets in every game this season, commanding a target share of 24% or greater in six of his seven games.
Baltimore’s best bet for victory on Sunday is trusting Lamar Jackson to make plays with his feet. But if and when he needs to throw, it is more likely than not that he will turn to his tight end when doing so.
SIT – RB, Mark Ingram
It should come as no surprise to anyone when I reveal that the Patriots have been quite stingy towards enemy running backs this season. No team has allowed fewer fantasy points per game to the position than the Patriots, and this despite allowing backfield a league-high 5.1 yards per attempt over their last five games.
Mark Ingram is 12th among running backs in yards and fifth in rushing touchdowns yet his production has tailed off somewhat since his blistering debut. He has been held below 50 rushing yards in two of his last three games and hasn’t rushed for more than 71 in any of his last four. This run of form has seen him finish no higher than RB14 during this span, and the most fantasy points he has scored in a game in which he did not score a touchdown is 10.1.
The Ravens will look to the ground forces as they attempt to dethrone the Patriots. But it is likely that most of the damage will be done by Jackson and not Ingram.
SIT – Ravens WRS (all of them)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Patriots have not been a generous opponent to wide receivers this season. Despite seeing more wide receiver targets than any other team (189), the Patriots have held wideouts to the second-fewest yards (938) and allowed a single wide receiver to find the end zone. In their last five games, the Patriots have held wide receivers to a mere 10.2 yards per reception.
The Ravens offense has not exactly been propped up by wide receiver production in 2019. Only the 49ers and Oakland Raiders have sent fewer targets to their wideouts than the Ravens, and only those teams have seen their wide receivers amass fewer receiving yards.
Marquise Brown looks set to return after missing two games with an ankle injury, Willie Snead signed a new contract with the team this past week. These stories are both good news for the individuals concerned. But they do nothing for fantasy owners.
