6) Drake Maye vs. Falcons
Maye has been a revelation this season, developing as a passer and using his legs to score fantasy points week in and week out. He has given his owners over 20 points in six of his eight games this season and has been over 23 in three straight games. He has also proven to be matchup-proof by putting up elite numbers against a tough defense like Cleveland despite being sacked by Myles Garrett five times. Atlanta ranks as the top pass defense in the league right now, but they were just exposed a bit by Tua and the Dolphins this past weekend. This game should be a tight one, and Maye will need to put up a solid day for the Patriots to win. I expect Michael Penix and Drake London to return and for the Falcons to be very competitive this weekend. Maye will need to use his legs as well as all of his receivers to keep the ball moving this weekend and should be close to a top 5 option for fantasy.
7) Caleb Williams vs. Bengals
I thought Williams was going to have a great day last week in Baltimore in what many expected to be a shootout with Lamar Jackson. Well, Lamar didn’t play, and the Bears didn’t seem to either. Williams did have a solid yardage total through the air with 285 yards, but failed to find the end zone and didn’t contribute much with his legs in what ended up being a rather pedestrian 12.8 fantasy points. I’m going back to the well this week with the Bears offense, who will face a Bengals team that stinks against both the run and the pass. Justin Feilds just picked them apart through the air last week, while Breece Hall ran and threw the ball all over the field against them. We do have to worry slightly that Joe Flacco may not play, but the Bears should come out firing this week either way to get back into the win column. I expect the Bears to score 30+ points, and Williams will have a hand in most of it.
8) Jordan Love vs. Panthers
Love and the Packers lit up the Steelers’ secondary in week 8 with 360 yards and 3 scores through the air. He welcomed back Christian Watson last week and may be getting Jayden Reed to join an already crowded receiver room this coming Sunday for their game against the Panthers. Love has a ton of weapons, and it looks like Josh Jacobs may be slowing down a bit with Emanuel Wilson taking a healthy portion of the rushing attempts last week, so the Packers may soon become a fantasy wasteland aside from their QB. Love may end up being a poor man’s Patrick Mahomes from here on out if coach LaFleur realizes that they can just crush teams every week by lighting up the scoreboard with their passing game. There is a bit of a chance that they crush Carolina, and it becomes a run-heavy attack in the second half, but play Love this week for his first-half potential alone. If Reed plays, they will look to get him involved early, much the same way they did with Watson last week.
