Who Should I Start? Joe Flacco or Kirk Cousins

Sunday, November 23, 9:38 AM

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco will get one more opportunity to start after Joe Burrow (toe) was ruled out for Sunday's Week 12 contest against the New England Patriots. While Burrow was trending in the right direction for this week, the Bengals have ultimately decided to keep him on injured reserve for at least a few more days. As a result, Flacco will remain installed as Cincinnati's starting quarterback for Week 12. He's coming off an uninspiring 199-yard clunker against the Steelers, and although he has five touchdowns over his last two games, he also has four turnovers during that span. To make matters worse, he'll be without Ja'Marr Chase (suspension), shifting Tee Higgins to the top receiver role. New England's defense has been strong this season, but it's best at stopping the run. The Patriots have allowed the ninth-most passing yards, seventh-most passing touchdowns, and 12th-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in 2025. This matchup and situation are best defined as "good, not great." That sentiment is reflected in RotoBaller's ranking of Burrow as the overall QB17 this week.

Saturday, November 29, 2:31 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns (one interception, too) last week in his second start of the season and first since Week 8. The veteran was able to put that solid fantasy performance together despite completing just 16 passes (23 attempts). It could be tough sledding in Week 13 in a road matchup against the Jets, a defense that has yielded the tenth-fewest pass yards per game (194.6) on the season and eighth-fewest over the past three weeks (181.3). Not only that, the 37-year-old will be without the team's top receiving option, Drake London (knee), for the second straight week. Fold in a low implied total of 39.5 for this game (21 for Atlanta) and the fact that the Falcons may lean more heavily on Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, it leaves Cousins as a low-end QB2 in Week 13.