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.

Friday, December 12, 5:02 PM

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is a potential streaming option in Week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have been middle-of-the-road against opposing quarterbacks in fantasy this season. Additionally, when Darnold is firing on all cylinders, he is virtually matchup-proof. Darnold should have no issues finding his top wide receivers in this game. If he keeps the turnovers down, Darnold has a great chance to hover around 250 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Darnold had faltered over the last handful of weeks before getting back on track in the second half of Week 14 against the Falcons. Perhaps he can carry that momentum into this week. Darnold is not a must-start by any means, but if you have a tough quarterback situation, you could do a lot worse than Darnold in Week 1 of the fantasy playoffs.