Fantasy Football Week 9 Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em

Fantasy Football Week 9 is here and Buffalo, Cleveland, Oakland, St. Louis, Minnesota, and the NY Jets all have bye weeks.  This week will hurt a lot of team owners as 6 teams are on a bye week.

Owners of Steven Jackson, Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre, Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice will especially feel the pinch.

Fantasy Football Week 9 Start ‘Em/Sit ‘Em:

Start 'Em

Quarterbacks

Phillips Rivers vs. New York Giants: consider him a big option for this week as he will face Giants that have allowed an average of 25.6 fantasy points to QBs in their last three games.

Carson Palmer vs. BaltimoreRavens: The last time Palmer faced the Ravens in Week 5 he was 18 of 31 passing for 271 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but now he is coming off a bye week and will face a Ravens team that allows 28.7 PPG and 304.7 passing YPG on the road in 2009.

Aaron Rodgers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Buccaneers have allowed 16 TD passes; that's the third-most allowed in the NFL.  Rodgers is coming off a 34 fantasy points against a good Minnesota defense.

Running Backs

Cedric Benson vs. Baltimore Ravens : Benson will be nicely rested after his bye week and now he is against a heavy Ravens run defense but Benson rushed for 120 yards (4.4 YPC) and one TD vs. the Ravens back in Week 5.

Julius Jones vs. Detroit Lions: Lions have allowed an average of 39.7 PPG and 138.3 rushing YPG on the road in 2009. 

Other good matchups are Ryan Grant (vs. Tampa Bay) and Pierre Thomas (vs. Carolina).

Wide Receivers

Dwayne Bowe vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: another superstar that should be fresh after a bye week.  The Jaguars rank 26th against the pass and are allowing close to 27 fantasy points per game to the WR this season.

Greg Jennings vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Buccaneers are allows 25.6 fantasy PPG to WRs this season.  He is coming off 14 fantasy points against a good Vikings D.

Also look for T.J. Houshmandzadeh (vs. Detroit), Welker (vs. Miami) and Mike Sims-Walker (vs. Kansas City).

Sit 'Em

QB

Eli Manning vs. San Diego Chargers: Manning averaged 10.3 points in his last three. In those games, he's recorded three touchdowns and seven turnovers. He'll face a Chargers defense that ranks 6th against the pass.

Ben Roethlisberger vs. Denver Broncos: Pittsburgh will not have an easy game against Denver; the Broncos rank eighth in pass defense while allowing just four TD passes in 2009.

RB

Marion Barber vs. Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles have allowed an average of 88 rushing YPG at home and four rushing TDs all season.  Barber is splitting carries with Felix Jones and Tashard Choice.

Ryan Moats vs. Indianapolis Colts : I know everybody fell in love with Moats' game last week but keep in mind the Colts allows just 92 rushing YPG at home.

WR

Anquan Boldin vs. Chicago Bears: After eight weeks, he's scored just 41 fantasy points and he still isn’t practicing.

Roy Williams vs. Philadelphia Eagles :  Williams is complaining about not getting the ball enough.   Sound familiar.