Knowing when to react and when not to is crucial in fantasy football. It’s important to distinguish what is truly significant and what is not. This article aims to clarify what requires our full attention and what can be disregarded.
FIVE THINGS THAT MATTER FROM WEEK 4
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT CINCINNATI (AND MAINLY BURROW)
Okay, friends. We’ve been in denial for too long. We’re at the quarter turn of the season, and it is time to admit that rumors of the Bengals’ demise may have been greatly insufficient. We might be tempted to lay it all at the feet of Joe Burrow, even if we stop short of calling out his performance independent of injury. But there is more to it than that. The line did not hold up, as Burrow was hit nine times and sacked three times this week. The Bengals now rank tied for 28th in offensive quarterback hits and are tied for 26th in time to throw from a clean pocket. Burrow’s time to throw does not seem to corroborate this, but that is because he is releasing the ball at the first sign of trouble (might it be out of fear of imminent pain?).
Additionally, Tee Higgins, who suffered a broken rib in Week 4, may be out for a while, although there was some talk to the contrary late Monday. This has consequently highlighted the lack of the Bengals’ pass-catching options beyond Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins. Limping toward a bye in two weeks, the Bengals take on Arizona and Seattle next. Arizona has been like a ’70s DIY punk zine, unwilling to assimilate to the establishment’s plan for it to be an auto-win and subject to 2024 relegation. Meanwhile, Seattle is simply a better team than the Bengals right now. It is highly conceivable Cincinnati is 1-5 when they finally get back to square one at the bye. And on the other side of that intermission, they get San Francisco, Buffalo, Houston, and Baltimore, who have all been better teams thus far.
The Bengals need to right the ship ASAP, but they’ve got a broken rudder and dropped their compass in the sea. If you have invested highly in him, waiving Burrow as a fantasy manager isn’t easy, but it might be right. He is noticeably affected by pressure, and his aDOT has suffered. He isn’t running — not only on scrambles but also to extend plays — and now he’s down two of his more notable weapons in Higgins and Irv Smith. It’s frustrating to imagine that, by year’s end, Burrow could be performing as the top-end QB1 we expected while on someone else’s roster. Still, we must weigh the cost of trying to fight through this thick bramble laid before us and trying to survive to see the other side in any context that matters, or if we would do better to toss out the extra weight and try to pick and choose from a seemingly revived and finally attractive QB streaming pool.
