Who Should I Start? Joe Flacco or Sam Darnold

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.

Tuesday, December 9, 7:01 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has had his share of ups and downs in his first year in Seattle, but overall, it's been another strong season while leading the Seahawks to a 10-3 record going into Week 15 action. Darnold had a disastrous four-interception game in the loss to the Rams on Nov. 16 and also failed to throw a touchdown in last week's shutout win over the Vikings. The 28-year-old bounced back in Sunday's 37-9 rout of the Falcons, though, going 20-for-30 for 249 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while adding 23 rushing yards on three carries. Darnold has a 22:11 TD:INT ratio in 13 games in 2025 and ranks as the QB19 in fantasy points per game. Overall, he's the QB14, and he'll be a high-end QB2 for fantasy managers in the first week of the playoffs in most leagues. Darnold will be facing a fading Colts team that has allowed the fourth-most passing yards per game (246.3). He's rostered in only 54% of Yahoo leagues.