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If the Thursday Night Football game acting as the Week 8 opener is any sign, fantasy football owners might have a tough time with the slate.
Long story short, it's almost impressive the 40-0 blowout by the Baltimore Ravens against the Miami Dolphins didn't feature any major fantasy outbursts. Granted, the game featured a pair of backup quarterbacks once Joe Flacco went down, but a 40-burger still went up without much in the way of fake-football production.
Now all eyes turn toward the rest of the slate, where some tricky matchups rest scattered across the remaining days. Let's put up some last-second research by comparing the best matchups of the week before a breakdown of start-sit decisions.
QB
Matchup to Exploit: Kirk Cousins (vs. DAL)
Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins isn't necessarily the first name who comes to mind when owners think of high-scoring quarterbacks lately, especially when he's having weapons like Terrelle Pryor fade out of the offense.
Yet here is Cousins sitting on four performances north of the 20-point mark in a row, throwing 10 touchdowns in the process.
Cousins has been on fire even in losses, and the trend should only continue against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8. They cough up the 12th-most points to opposing quarterbacks on average, and if Cousins is throwing for multiple scores on defenses like the ones trotted out by Kansas City and Philadelphia, he shouldn't have any problems against Dallas.
Matchup to Avoid: Matthew Stafford (vs. PIT)
It looked like all systems go for Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to start the season.
In Week 1, Stafford looked like his usual self, dropping 28.08 points and four touchdowns on fewer than 30 attempts.
He hasn't reached the 20-point mark since.
Reasons abound, though we won't spend much time wondering—he has to be a sit candidate against the Pittsburgh Steelers, owners of a defense permitting the second-fewest points to quarterbacks.
It's a compounding issue, as Stafford's last performance saw him attempt 52 passes and only reach 17.88 points thanks to three touchdowns and interceptions.
RB
Matchup to Exploit: LeSean McCoy (vs. OAK)
It doesn't get much more favorable than LeSean McCoy's schedule against run defenses the rest of the season.
The Buffalo Bills lead back started what looks like an obvious stretch of strong performances with 22.2 points in Week 7 while rushing for two touchdowns on 23 attempts and almost tallying a score through the air to top it off.
Now McCoy gets to turn around and bruise his way through an Oakland Raiders defense surrendering the 12th-most points to backs.
This doesn't sound like the best matchup of the week, but it's a bad slate for the position and these Raiders have allowed more than 20 points to guys like Chris Thompson and Melvin Gordon, meaning Shady should feast.
Matchup to Avoid: Latavius Murray (at CLE)
Minnesota Vikings running back Latavius Murray made for one of the week's best adds on the waiver wire, but it doesn't mean he's a viable start right out of the gates.
The problem in Minnesota is the committee approach the Vikings will trot out with both Murray and Jerick McKinnon. And no, a matchup against the Cleveland Browns doesn't make the outlook any better.
Funnily enough, those Browns only permit the sixth-fewest points to backs this year, having even held guys like Le'Veon Bell in check. It doesn't matter if Cleveland's strong numbers against the rush are a result of the secondary getting the tar beat out of it each week—it's a fantasy quagmire for running backs regardless.
WR
Matchup to Exploit: Brandin Cooks (LAC)
Owners are right to be a little shy when it comes to New England Patriots wideout Brandin Cooks.
Cooks has two double-digit outings to his name this season coming in the form of 27.1 and 12.5 points. It's hard to know if Cooks will produce worthwhile numbers despite receiving six or more looks in five of his appearances so far.
The matchup certainly sheds some light on the situation. We knew he'd have a strong game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 7, hence five targets getting him to the 12.5 mark.
This week? Cooks gets a hapless Los Angeles Chargers defense allowing the 10th-most points to wideouts, including double-digit performances to guys like Bennie Fowler. Look for Cooks to have one of his best days of the year.
Matchup to Avoid: Dez Bryant (at WAS)
Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant simply isn't what he once was from a fantasy perspective.
Bryant has three double-digit outings to his name this year over six games. That's not great—no matter the usage—given what owners have come to expect, so it doesn't brighten the outlook when we point out he's had 10 or more targets three times and eight or more five times.
So while the usage might remain steady against Washington in Week 8, the idea Bryant will turn it into a big day against a defense allowing the sixth-fewest points to wideouts doesn't seem strong.
In what might be a low-scoring affair, Bryant doesn't figure to post gaudy numbers given his inability to do so for most of the season.
TE
Matchup to Exploit: Tyler Kroft (vs. IND)
The up-and-down nature of the Cincinnati Bengals offense means picking and choosing spots with weapons not named A.J. Green.
With tight end Tyler Kroft, the upside is the best weekly performer at the position if the spot is right. It was against a terrible Browns team in Week 4 when he tallied 18.8 points.
The Bengals get a miserable Indianapolis Colts team in Week 8, meaning another big day for Kroft after a few quiet weeks. Those Colts allow the ninth-most points to the position, and the Bengals will have John Ross back on the field, meaning more space for Kroft to go to work.
Kroft isn't Tyler Eifert, but he is playing with a quarterback who needs to lean on his position to thrive.
Matchup to Avoid: Austin Seferian-Jenkins (vs. ATL)
As few would've dared predict, New York Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has been the model of consistency at a bad position over the past three weeks.
ASJ now has eight or more points in three consecutive outings and has done so while his target counts have been all over the place.
But a regression to his 3.1-point ways of Week 3 seems on deck.
The Falcons simply don't give up a ton of points to the position, hence sitting with the fifth-fewest permitted so far. This is with games against guys like Rob Gronkowski on the schedule already, so ASJ needs to ride the pine in the majority of leagues for at least one week.
All scoring info, points-against info and ownership stats courtesy of Yahoo standard leagues.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
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