Game Info
Kickoff: Sunday, November 3rd, 8:20 ET
Location: US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis MN
Network: NBC
Writer: Michael James
Hey gang, Michael James here filling in for Marco this week. Today we’re looking at the Indianapolis Colts traveling to the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are -230 favorites and this game has an over/under of 46.5.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
Joe Flacco: Start, QB2
So what do you do when your fourth overall draft pick starting quarterback goes 20 completions for 56 attempts over his last two games? You sound the call for The Flacco, of course. Interestingly enough, this isn’t even the first quarterback of the 2023 draft to get benched. Now we will see how far the Colts can go with Joe Flacco at quarterback for the indeterminate future this season. He’s played in three games so far this season, with two being starts. He has 7 touchdowns and 1 interception over that three-game span including a 350-yard passing effort. However, starting on the road in Minneapolis is not the ideal option. The Vikings lead the league in QB pressure rating and boast the highest blitz rate with the most QB knockdowns when they do get the ball off. Not encouraging for a 39-year-old pocket passer.
Running Back
Jonathan Taylor: Start, RB1/2 Borderline
Last week made it three 100+ yard rushing performances out of his five starts this season. So, you are starting Jonathan Taylor, who is the fifth-highest running back on fantasy points per start in 2024. Just be aware that the Vikings are a top-five rushing defense with the third-fewest rushing yards and yards per carry allowed this season.
Wide Receiver
Michael Pittman: Start, WR2
Josh Downs: Start, WR2
Michael Pittman managers already dancing in the streets with the change at quarterback. His three best games this season came with Flacco under center. It averages out to 1.5 more receptions per game on average than when Richardson is under center. This Vikings defense is far more porous in the secondary than it is on the front seven as they also have the second-highest air yards per completion allowed. This is great news if you are Josh Downs and your quarterback has averaged 40 passing attempts in each of his two starts already this season. Downs averaged 10 targets per game in Flacco’s three games played for the Colts this year. Alec Pierce boomed in one of Flacco’s three games but busted with less than two fantasy points in the other two games. He has failed to get more than four fantasy points since then as well.
Tight End
Mo Alie-Cox: Sit
Pro: His best two games came with Flacco starting with 4 targets in both of those games. Con: He already has five games of zero fantasy points this season. The Colts have four different tight ends that register targets in each game. None of the other three move the needle at all. I’m willing to bet anyone starting a Colts TE is beyond the scope of this weekly feature, but in case you’re one of them: Stop it. Get some help.
D/ST
Colts: Sit
I suppose any defense is a streaming candidate if you’re brave enough. While Indianapolis has been not good but also not bad as a defense in fantasy this season, last week was the first time the Viking offense fell short of their 29 average points scored per game. And that was with a shortened week. This one is a long week.
Minnesota Vikings
Quarterback
Sam Darnold: Start, QB1
Look out, Samuel Richard Darnold has now had two fumble-free games in a row! The quarterback of Minnesota boasts a high floor in fantasy with an average of 20 points per game if you remove his five-point stinker against the Jets in week five. Maybe that is doing a little too much heavy lifting for your tastes, but Indianapolis has a middle-of-the-road defense in overall QB pressure rating and in the bottom ten of blitzing defenses this year. Combine that with the fact the Colts have allowed the fifth most total yards of offense and I like the floor that Darnold presents here for fantasy.
Running Back
Aaron Jones: Start, RB2
The Colts have surrendered the second-highest amount of rushing yards this season and Aaron Jones is averaging 4.6 yards per carry over his last five games. He has a reception in every game so far and only one game this year that he has not had multiple receptions. While Jones had the lowest rushing performance in terms of yards per carry last week, I like him to bounce back with a solid game against Indianapolis.
Wide Receiver
Justin Jefferson: Start, WR1
Jordan Addison: FLEX Option, WR4
Indianapolis is in the bottom 10 of passing yards allowed per game. Justin Jefferson should probably be started if you have him. Just going out on a limb there. Jordan Addison is trending up in snap counts and has been back to a full-time role in this offense since week five, but has yet to bring in more than three receptions. He has failed to go for more than 50 receiving yards in two of his last three starts and has only found the end zone once. With only one game booming for more than 20 fantasy points and the other four falling short in the single digits, I am not confident starting him outside of very deep leagues. With the 2024 debut of the starting tight end, I am not even starting Jalen Nailor in the deepest of leagues.
Tight End
TJ Hockenson: Start, TE1
Week 9 will see the first game back for TJ Hockenson since wrecking his ACL and MCL last year. He has already been a full participant in practice for a bit now and will debut for this season. He was a monster in TE terms in PPR last season and now faces the Colts who give up the fourth most points to the position in fantasy.
D/ST
Vikings: Start
Minnesota now has two games that have bottomed out this season after last week’s donut on the road against the Rams in a short week. Now they have had an additional couple of days of rest for this week. The other five games have gone for double-digit fantasy points which puts the Vikings as a top-five D/ST this season. The Colts allowed five sacks last week to their mobile quarterback and now travel with their immobile QB to face a Vikings defense that has three players inside the top 15 sack leaderboard for the season. While I do fear Indianapolis could put up a lot of yards on offense, I also think there will be multiple sacks with a high probability of a turnover or three. However, Minnesota has a high percentage of already being rostered in leagues. You can check out my list of some potential candidates to stream this week if you are not so lucky in your D/ST slot.
Happy Halloween!!