NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 17: Quarterbacks

Brady clinched many fantasy league titles for people who had their championships in Week 16. But he’s got a great opportunity for huge points this week, too. The Falcons decided to have the game of their lives against the Chiefs last week. They still lost, but what a valiant effort. Brady has been pretty great since his loss to the Saints in Week 9. He’s had at least two touchdown passes in every game since. He’s had 345-plus passing yards in three of his last four. Make sure to start him because Bruce Arians said he was already playing to win, and we love him for it.

Andy Reid is resting some of his starters. Which goes to the spoils of having the first-round bye in this new format where only one team gets a bye in each conference. There is some other genius in this move, too. By allowing the Chargers to go out there and play extremely hard (and allowing Justin to have a monster game because there is no team I’d rather back in a meaningless situation than the Chargers), you will get a lot of momentum to bring L.A. coach Anthony Lynn back for one more season. Think about it. The Chargers will close out with four consecutive wins. They have a stud QB. They will be like last year’s Broncos, who finished with four straight to end 2019 and look how that ended up. And Reid knows this and he’s baiting the Chargers to bring back Lynn and not take Eric Bieniemy away from him. So in short, start Herbert.

So, I compared Cousins to getting a pair of mittens on Christmas. And it turns out that Vikings fans really hate mittens. And I don’t know why. Mittens are good. Practical and functional. But let’s not pretend it’s the best gift you’ve ever received. The Lions, however, are the best gift you’ve ever received. They have allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. And, we all saw that Tom Brady game.

This is an interesting situation here. The Colts are still vying for a playoff berth. The Jaguars have already successfully locked up the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. This is the kind of YOLO play that could lead the Jaguars to a victory. But we’ll instead look for Rivers to rebound against the Jaguars, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this year.

The Titans got rolled by the Packers on Sunday night. Like, rolled. To the point where you wonder if the Titans are going to be able to shake that loss off (probably, but you still wonder). Tannehill was fine for fantasy last week, thanks to a huge touchdown run. But he’s got a good matchup against the Texans, who have allowed 27 touchdown passes this season. That's the eighth-highest total in the league. 

Ryan had 300 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Chiefs on Sunday. It was his second-consecutive 300-yard passing game and he has five total touchdowns in the past two games. He’s also cut down the turnovers as well. He gone consecutive games without a turnover. The Buccaneers have allowed the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks over the last four weeks. I almost had him as a sit this week, but I believe we can get one more good game out of him. 

I’m a huge wrestling mark and movie fan. So I keep waiting for the redemption story. The guy who gets ripped in the media who turns it all around to beat the bully. And I know Baker brings a lot of this on himself. But I like the guy. Always have. The problem is, I’ve seen this movie play out before. And I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that the Browns will win 10 games (at least) and not make the playoffs. And it hurts. I really want Baker to beat the Steelers and throw three touchdowns. But he’ll have to do that from my bench.

You know, if Kirk Cousins was like getting mittens for Christmas. Brees played like a re-gifted original Member’s Only jacket once owned by a smoker who bathed in Aqua Velva. I know that was highly specific, but just trust me. With the Saints pretty much locked in their playoff slot and Taysom Hill taking some production in the red zone, I’m going to bench Brees.