Baltimore Ravens - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Jacoby Brissett or Joe Flacco?

by Mike Rose

12/20/17

NFL

Baltimore Ravens

Joe Flacco

The Baltimore Ravens will look to continue their playoff push inside of M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon when they welcome the Indianapolis Colts into town for the first matchup between these two AFC squads since 2014.

Last week, Jacoby Brissett and the Colts suffered yet another loss during their abysmal season, while Joe Flacco and the Ravens logged a victory to remain in contention to extend their season. Brissett struggled against the Broncos, while Flacco played well against the Browns.

Both quarterbacks could experience similar fortunes in Week 16, but that’s why they play the game, of course.

Fantasy Matchup: Jacoby Brissett (13.5 PFP) vs. Joe Flacco (12.0 PFP)

Brissett is averaging 13.15 Dober Fantasy Points per game, which is actually a better weekly mark than Flacco, and he enters this matchup as a 1.5-point favorite on the road. With a team record of 3-11, this comes as a huge surprise and makes absolutely no sense considering the Colts are out of playoff contention and have nothing to play for except pride.

For the season, Brissett has thrown for 2,765 yards with 11 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He’s played to a quarterback rating of 100-plus three times through the first 15 weeks. Now he’ll have the difficult task of facing Baltimore’s salty defense, which is No. 2 against opposing quarterbacks.

This same Ravens unit leads the league in interceptions (22), so Brissett will have an extremely tall task with Baltimore defenders flying around the field trying to increase that total. The ‘D’ ranks No. 9 in passing yards allowed at 214.6 per game and is No. 2 in points allowed per drive. As a whole, this matchup isn’t good for Brissett.

Four of the former Florida and North Carolina State quarterback’s seven interceptions have come on the road, so he’s been fairly consistent in that regard. He’s failed to reach the 200-yard mark in his last four games, and against the Broncos in Week 15 the Indy offense only managed 228 yards of total offense. In that loss, Brissett completed only one pass of 10-plus yards. That statistic in and of itself should make you stay away from penciling in Brissett on your Dober Play Cards in Week 16.

Meanwhile, after a poor start to the 2017 season, Flacco has begun to hit a bit of a hot streak at just the right time. The Ravens are in position to possibly make the playoffs, which seems to typically be the time he begins to show up. On the year he’s averaged a poor 10.97 Dober Fantasy Points per game to go with a horrendous 14-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio while passing for 2,701 yards.

The No. 25 fantasy quarterback has a chance, however, to show what he’s made of and get his team into the second season. He’s logged a quarterback rating of 100-plus twice and will get to face a Colts defense that ranks No. 25 against opposing passing games. Indianapolis ranks No. 30 in passing yards allowed per game (257.1) and No. 30 in total yards per contest (381.5), so look for Flacco to take advantage.

Over his last three games, Flacco has averaged 275 passing yards with five touchdowns and just one interception. Look for this strong play to continue on Saturday as you book him on your Dober Play Card with no fear of the matchup. Being a 1.5-point dog is absurd, and Flacco will show you why!

Week 16 Fantasy Projection: Joe Flacco (+1.5) vs. Jacoby Brissett