Lance's Week 8 Predictions
Every week I’ll be putting out my predictions, they will include my winner for each game with a brief explanation, and 1 start and 1 sit for each fantasy football position. As usual, I’ll start with my picks:
Overall Record: 63-41-1
Carolina over Atlanta
Bridgewater, Davis and Anderson would’ve been considered a trio of misfit players prior to the season, but they are getting the job done on offense for the Panthers. The three should each have very good games against Atlanta’s non-existent defense, and they’ll bring home the win.
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
Pitt is very good, but I don’t see them going 16-0 (probably 14-2 or 13-3). At least one of their losses will come against the Ravens and I think it’s more likely to be this week with Baltimore fresh off their bye.
LA Rams over Miami
The Rams are coming off a dominant victory over the Bears. This game could be another blowout win for LA, or it could be close, with no tape to go off of for Tagovailoa, I'm gonna go the safe route with my pick.
Kansas City over NY Jets
Not explaining this one cause I definitely don’t need to.
Green Bay over Minnesota
The Packers destroyed Minnesota week 1, but they did give up 34 points (most of them late). There is one big factor going for the Vikings that wasn’t really in play week 1: Justin Jefferson. Since taking over a starting role in week 3 he’s posted 467 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving. Jaire Alexander will only be able to cover one of Minnesota’s top two Receivers (my money is on Thielen), and that should allow the Vikings to make this game a lot more interesting. Still, Minnesota’s defense is terrible and Rodgers and Adams are playing at high levels.
Indianapolis over Detroit
I see their defense keeping Detroit in check and Jonathan Taylor running well enough to help Indy control the clock.
Las Vegas over Cleveland
I like Ruggs, Agholor and Waller to carry the Raiders past the Browns in a game that could have major playoff implications later.
Tennessee over Cincinnati
The Titans are just too good for Cincy and the kid to be able to hang with them.
Buffalo over New England
Buffalo has looked bad over the last three weeks, but the Patriots have looked worse in their last two games. Could end up being an ugly game.
LA Chargers over Denver
Herbert is on a roll and Denver’s team is slowly falling more and more apart.
Seattle over San Francisco
San Fran isn’t built for keeping up in a shootout with a team like Seattle. If they can control the clock by running the ball well they might stand a chance, but it will only take one pass for the Seahawks to take back over.
New Orleans over Chicago
Chicago is a sheep trying to hide amongst the wolves. Their defense has some bite, but they were soundly picked apart by Goff, and their offense only knows how to roll over. The Saints, led by OPOY candidate Alvin Kamara, steamroll the Bears in this one.
Philadelphia over Dallas
As if things couldn’t get worse for the Cowboys, Dalton got knocked out and is currently sitting in concussion protocol. Philly looked bad in their win over the pitiful Giants, but the Cowboys are hurting in almost all areas and that should allow the Eagles to handle their business this week.
Tampa Bay over NY Giants
I just mentioned how the Giants are pitiful. Tampa is surging, their offense is clicking and their defense ranks top ten in PPG and yards allowed.
Fantasy Starts and Sits
Record for QBs, TEs, Ks, and Ds is based off if they finished top 12 or not
Record for RBs and WRs is based off if they finished top 24 or not.
QB Record: 5-9
QB Start: Carson Wentz vs Dallas
Wentz has picked up steam with back to back 28+ point weeks. His 10 interceptions are certainly a concern, but not against the Cowboys who have 1 pick in 7 games. This should be a good morale boosting game for Wentz and the Eagles.
QB Sit: Matthew Stafford vs Indianapolis
He’s been a steady producer for the most part this season averaging around 18 fantasy points a week. Indy’s defense is tough though, so I’d expect this to be closer to his worst week of the season which was a 13-point disappointment against the Jags.
RB Record: 5-9
RB Start: Jerrick McKinnon at Seattle
Jeff Wilson just joined Mostert on IR. Coleman may come back this week, but even if he does I would be surprised to see him thrust back into the lineup (barring another injury to a starter). If San Fran wants to win this game they’re going to have to play their own game. That means running the ball. If you have McKinnon he should be starting. If JaMycal Hasty is on your waiver wire, go grab him and get him in your flex.
RB Sit: David Montgomery vs New Orleans
The Saints do about as well against the run as the Rams do and Montgomery just put up a dud against LA. I also believe the Saints will force the Bears into having to throw the ball, which will limit Montgomery’s usage. He’s been a disappointment almost all season long, with two touchdowns to his name.
WR Record: 9-5
WR Start: Henry Ruggs at Cleveland
He’s hard to trust since he’s only seen 14 targets in the 4 games he’s played, but this is a great matchup. He’s going to be able to dominate Cleveland’s secondary with his speed. You can argue that his breakout week came against the Chiefs, but I’d argue that it wasn’t since he only saw 2 receptions on 3 targets. This will be his breakout game.
WR Sit: JuJu Smith-Schuster at Baltimore
Don’t chase the points folks. He’s had an up and down season. Last week was an up, this week should bring him back down. He’s going to draw the attention of Marcus Peters or Marlon Humphrey, which will certainly make things more difficult, but the bigger concern is that Big Ben seems to pick a different Receiver as his primary target each week. (Week 1 Diontae, 2- Diontae, 3-Washington, Bye Week 4, 5-Claypool, 6-Washington, 7-JuJu).
TE Record: 9-5
TE Start: Rob Gronkowski at NY Giants
Gronk is starting to find his football self again, but that’s not entirely why I’m listing him as a start. The Giants had been one of the stingiest defenses against Tight Ends this season. That’s changed over the last two weeks. In week 6 they gave up their first (and only) touchdown to a Tight End (Logan Thomas). Last week they allowed Richard Rodgers to post 85 yards on them. Gronk should be able to string together his third straight double-digit fantasy performance.
TE Sit: Dalton Schultz at Philadelphia
On paper the Eagles look like they’re terrible against Tight Ends. But that look is due to two huge performances (Higbee in week 2 and Kittle in week 4). Schultz has been down since Prescott broke his ankle, and a decent looking matchup isn’t in his favor this week.
K Record: 7-7
K Start: Mason Crosby vs Minnesota
He had a 12-point performance against the Vikings in week 1, and things have only gotten worse for Minnesota.
K Sit: Ryan Succop at NY Giants
The Giants defense is terrible, and they’re not really keeping teams out of the endzone. They should struggle to do so even more against Tampa’s high-powered offense, which means Succop may be settling for mostly Extra Point attempts.
Defense Record: 10-4
Defense Start: Buffalo Bills vs New England
The Bills defense has been far from great this season, but they’ve got a plus matchup this week against a struggling New England offense. Cam Newton has just 2 passing touchdowns to his 7 interceptions on the year. Bonus, if Newton gets benched again they’ll get to go up against Jarrett Stidham who has already shown a propensity for turnovers in the small sample size of his young career (4 interceptions on 27 pass attempts).
Defense Sit: New England at Buffalo
Sit the unit on the other side of the field in this battle. Josh Allen has struggled with turning the ball over lately (3 picks and a lost fumble in the last three games), but even with that the Pats defense is going to have a hard time if their own QBs keep giving the ball right back.
