Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, November 5h, 8:25 PM ET
Location: Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Betting Odds: CIN -2, 43 total via ODDSSHARK
Network: NBC
Buffalo Bills
Quarterback
Josh Allen (Start, QB1)
Josh Allen is QB1 as of today and is currently on pace to tie his career high (37 passing TDs) and set a new career high with 10 rushing TDs. Now there are always drawbacks to this amount of success, with Allen his main drawback is the interceptions. Allen has thrown an interception in four straight games and I don’t think it’ll stop against an opportunistic Bengals defense. This Cincinnati defense is no joke as they’ve collected 10 interceptions this season, taking two from Brock Purdy last week. One matchup that is interesting this week is Allen versus the Bengals front seven as Cincy has allowed the fifth most rushing yards to QBs with 195. Overall Allen has been a top-10 QB in all but two games this year and will undoubtedly be a start for you this week.
Running Backs
James Cook (Start, Low-End Flex), Leonard Fournette (Sit)
James Cook has had plenty of opportunities this season to put his stamp on the workhorse back role in Buffalo. He’s had 6 red zone touches in the past week, which has led to only one touchdown during that span. Cook has been good in between the 20s but has fallen apart in the red zone. Cook only has two goalline carries this year and its been reflected in his fantasy stats. So if you are considering starting Cook, do so as a flex. Leonard Fournette was brought in to change it up on the goal line, you can’t convince me otherwise. It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out longterm but I’m not playing him in Week 9.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Stefon Diggs (Start, WR1), Gabe Davis (Start, Low-End Flex), Khalil Shakir (Sit), Dalton Kincaid (Start)
Stefon Digg leads the league in target (90) through seven weeks and honestly, there’s not a world where I’m not starting him as a WR1. His 33% target share alone makes him a WR1 option sometimes regardless of him scoring a TD. Gabe Davis on the other hand has had his best weeks exclusively when he gets into the endzone. He may find that to be a difficult task this week against the Bengals who have given up the third-fewest TDs (4) to receivers. Make him a low-end flex this week against Cincy. Khalil Shakir had a career day last week catching all six targets for 92 yards. It’s shaky to start Shakir this week based on one performance, I’d sit him and see if he can duplicate it. Dalton Kincaid on the other hand has duplicated his success in this offense and without Dawson Knox taking away targets he’s looked really good. Back-to-back top-10 performances have propelled him to the top of the list at the tight-end position. Go ahead and start him this week.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow (Start, QB1)
Joe Burrow turned on his Joe “Cool” last week against the 49ers dicing up the team while completing 87.5% of his passes. Burrow seems like he’s recovered from a calf injury that he sustained during training camp. Last week Burrow looked great running the football to the tune of 43 yards and he was elusive and evaded sacks on multiple occasions. Buffalo has been extremely good against the fantasy QB, allowing 12.2 ppg (second fewest). A confident Joe Burrow is a dangerous Joe Burrow. So while the matchup on paper doesn’t favor him, I wouldn’t want to be the guy that has to sit him.
Running Backs
Joe Mixon (Start, RB2)
Joe Mixon came back to relevance last week in a big way. Mixon had his first top-10 performance last week against a once-feared 49ers defense. Going off for 110 yards and a TD, Mixon looked fresh and rejuvenated. This week we could see a lot of dump-off passes to Mixon against the Bills who have allowed the fourth most receiving yards to RBs (389). This could be due to the injuries that have ravaged the Bills’ defense, either way, it’s a matchup to look out for in this game. There is not an RB who gets more opportunities than Mixon himself, who currently takes up 86.6% of the team’s RB work. Look to start Mixon this week and let’s hope he brings that Week 8 energy to this game against the Bengals.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
Ja’Marr (Start, WR1), Tee Higgins (Sit), Tyler Boyd (Start, Low-End Flex)
Ja’Marr Chase had himself a game last week against the 49ers, catching 10 of 12 targets for 100 yards and a TD. This led to 25.2 points and a WR4 finish on the week. Chase has alternated WR1 weeks with not-so-WR1 weeks. The Bills have been middle of the pack allowing 20.2 fantasy ppg to receivers, and while this team has held some pretty good receivers in check this year. How can you not start Chase as a WR1? This might be a hot take but Tee Higgins isn’t worth a start until he proves he can finish in the top-24. Do you know he’s only done that once this season (Week 2: WR4). Higgins has 14 targets in the past three weeks and has just done nothing with them. All I can say is let him sit on the bench this week and perform rather than starting him and regretting it. Tyler Boyd on the other hand has finished in the top-36 three times this year. He’s got back-to-back double-digit weeks. I know what you thinking, why are we ecstatic about top-36 weeks? Well, it’s because that’s what you drafted Boyd to be, unlike Higgins, he’s fulfilling his role. Hence he’s a start as a low-end flex in Week 9.
-Justin Herrera (@semtexmex93 on Twitter)