Atlanta Falcons - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Cam Newton or Matt Ryan?

by Mike Rose

12/29/17

NFL

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan

A huge Week 17 NFC South clash is set to occur inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday afternoon when the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons welcome in the Carolina Panthers for the final game of the regular season.

At stake is a playoff berth for the Falcons and quite possibly a first-round bye for the Panthers.

The last time these two teams hooked up, Matt Ryan outplayed Cam Newton despite his team losing 20-17. With so much on the line this time around, expect both guys to play their hearts out. For the Falcons, they hope it’s a different result.

Fantasy Matchup: Cam Newton (19.5 PFP) vs. Matt Ryan (15.5 PFP)

Through the first 16 weeks, Newton has averaged 20.32 Dober Fantasy Points per contest. He is enjoying a more productive campaign than the reigning MVP and enters this matchup as a four-point favorite. His strong play has helped Carolina bounce back and have a prolific 2017 campaign that will extend into the postseason.

Newton has completed 60.5 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,122 yards and a great 27-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The No. 3 fantasy quarterback has averaged 30.5 attempts and 208.1 yards per game to go along with a passer rating of 84.3. He managed to throw to a QB passer rating of 100-plus five times and will now face an Atlanta defense ranked No. 23 against quarterbacks.

How did he fare the last time he faced the Falcons you ask? He completed only 54 percent of his passes for 137 yards with a quarterback rating of 71 and failed to record a touchdown. He did, however, manage to record 86 rushing yards and one touchdown. Those 86 yards were his second-highest rushing total of the season.

Newton’s four best games of the year came against Detroit, New England, Miami and Green Bay. Those defenses, respectively, rank 28th, 29th, 17th and 22nd in passing yards allowed. Because Newton barely did anything against Atlanta’s No. 23 ranked defense the first time around, I wouldn’t trust him this time either as he leads a Carolina passing attack ranked No. 27 in passing yards (194.4 yards per game).

Meanwhile, in a down season after winning the MVP in 2016, Ryan has a shot at throwing for 4,000 yards. He’s only 222 yards short of that mark as he sits at 3,778 through Week 16. The No. 15 quarterback in fantasy has completed 64.9 percent of his passes and has a poor 19-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio to go with a 91.4 passer rating.

The Falcons star quarterback enters the final game after a nice showing in Week 16, in which he threw for 288 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In Week 9 against Carolina, he went for 313 yards and two touchdowns and an interception. He’s going to need a repeat performance and then some to beat the Panthers this time around. Carolina’s cornerback play hasn’t been good of late and Ryan will look to take advantage of that along with the No. 12 fantasy ranked Carolina defense. Atlanta has the offense to do it as it ranks No. 9 in passing yards averaging 245.3 per game.

The Falcons need to win this game to make the playoffs and they don’t want to have to back in. So, go with Matty Ice for your Dober Play Cards this week and in this matchup.

Week 17 Fantasy Projection: Matt Ryan (+4) vs. Cam Newton