Fantasy Football 2017: Slim pickings in Week 8 matchups
By Dan Salem
With six teams on a bye in NFL Week 8, the pickings are slim. Fortunately, several upstart teams are well worth our time. Your Fantasy Football 2017 Game of the Week.
Each week during the NFL season, certain games stand out. These are not necessarily the games with the most on the line or with the most impact on the standings. Instead, they hold the most star power and fantasy football implications.
These are the games every fan needs to watch, from the die hard to the guy pressured into joining a fantasy league with work associates. This is the fantasy football game of the week for NFL Week 8.
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate Fantasy Football 2017 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Fantasy Football 2017 Week 8
The Sunday afternoon slate for Week 8 is as bare as it gets. This week, there are six teams on bye, a Thursday game, a Sunday morning London game, plus the Sunday night and Monday night games. That leaves us just nine day games. Nevertheless, we have some intriguing matchups!
Game of the Week
Todd Salem: Shout out to Raiders-Bills and Bears-Saints. These are each surprisingly quality matchups that fall just short of my fantasy game of the week.
Oakland and Buffalo are two potential playoff teams on the rise. The Raiders offense may finally be taking shape after Amari Cooper‘s breakout Week 7. On the other side, Buffalo is undefeated at home and has a defense that we all thought would materialize under Rex Ryan instead of his replacement. This game lacks play-makers but is interesting.
When Chicago faces New Orleans, we have one of the most surprising matchups of the year. These are two of the highest scoring fantasy defenses in the NFL, especially the last month. The Bears defense has three double-digit scoring weeks in its past five games, including its 29-point outburst against Carolina. As for the Saints, their defense is averaging 16.75 fantasy points per game over its past four. Just remarkable.
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My game of the week, though, is Texans at Seahawks. It is hard for me to discount the emerging star power of Deshaun Watson, as well as Russell Wilson on the other side. I always like Lamar Miller, and the Texans are developing a big three with him, Watson, and DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins must be pinching himself everyday he wakes up and Watson is atop the team’s depth chart at quarterback. Wilson doesn’t have that same level of weapons around him, but Doug Baldwin is a legitimate number one receiver. He is tied for seventh in the league in receptions despite already having a bye. It is hard for a game between exciting fantasy defenses to overtake this matchup.
Dan Salem: It’s like the NFL doesn’t want us to know which games to watch! Several weeks ago it would have been easy to tab Kansas City versus Denver as the Fantasy Football 2017 game of the week. Both teams were showing offensive force and the Denver defense was dominating. No longer so. Toss that matchup away. I would have felt great about Pittsburgh versus Detroit as well, but that matchup must also be tossed on the scrap heap. The Lions can not be trusted right now, no matter how many power players are suiting up for the Steelers.
I’ll second your shout outs and toss one more at Los Angeles Chargers versus New England Patriots. The way both of these offenses are playing, the matchup is going to produce a ton of fantasy points. Unfortunately for every fan, we have no idea which players on each team will be receiving the love. The only sure things are Tom Brady and Philip Rivers. Maybe Rob Gronkowski. That’s not enough for our game of the week.
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Your game of the week is a solid selection, but I’m turning towards two division foes with stellar quarterbacks. The Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins is my game of the week. Dak Prescott and the Cowboys rolled over San Francisco last week. That momentum will carry forward, especially if its the final Sunday that Ezekiel Elliott suits up for Dallas. Washington couldn’t stop the Eagles and won’t stop the Cowboys. Luckily, Dallas isn’t stopping anyone either, which is great news for Kirk Cousins and the Redskins. Plus these teams are battling for second place in the NFC East. Woo!