Baltimore Ravens - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Joe Flacco or Andy Dalton?

by Mike Rose

9/7/17

NFL

Baltimore Ravens

Joe Flacco

The AFC North has long been known for tough battles over the years, especially when the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals lock horns on the gridiron. They have a very storied history, as their all-time series is tied 21-21 heading into their Week 1 confrontation.

Much of that evenness in the series has to do with the starting quarterbacks: Joe Flacco for the Ravens and Andy Dalton for the Bengals. As far as fantasy numbers are concerned, Dalton ranked No. 12 in 2016, while Flacco finished No. 20.

Fantasy Matchup: Joe Flacco (16.0 PFP) vs. Andy Dalton (17.5 PFP)

Dalton has the slight edge over Flacco by 1.5 points in this opening division battle, and a point and a half is sometimes huge in fantasy matchups.

According to the weather forecast in Cincinnati for Sunday, it’s supposed to be clear and sunny, so the fantasy production for both quarterbacks shouldn’t be affected in any way, shape or form due to wind or precipitation.

Flacco is going to be starting his first game since the end of 2016 because he did not play at all in the preseason due to injury. He’s had limited reps in practice, and just being thrown into the fire isn’t necessarily a good thing. It could take time for him to get into a steady rhythm with his offense, and by the time that happens, the Bengals could be out in front by two or three touchdowns.

The Ravens signal-caller will be facing a Bengals unit that ranked No. 14 defending quarterbacks last season, which is essentially the middle of the pack. Flacco threw for 4,317 yards with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 20-to-15, while the Baltimore passing offense ranked No. 12 in the league. The Ravens will likely need to rely on their pass-heavy offense once again if the run game doesn’t improve from the No. 28 ranking it had a year ago. Flacco will also be looking to build rapport with newcomer Jeremy Maclin for the very first time.

Dalton’s matchup is a little more intriguing than that of his counterpart. Of course any time you have A.J. Green as your go-to receiver, you have little to worry about. The Bengals had a pretty balanced offense in 2016. They ranked No. 15 in total pass offense and No. 13 in total rush offense, so look for Dalton to continue to pass at his regular rate again this year. However, the Ravens defense ranked No. 9 in fantasy football against quarterbacks a year ago. Dalton finished last year with 4,206 yards and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18-to-8.

When drafting your Dober fantasy football lineups for Week 1 and deciding between Dalton and Flacco, it’s really up in the air on who to choose. The teams split in two matchups last season, with the home squad winning each respective game. If I were to choose one, I’d give the slight edge to Dalton and the Bengals because he’s at home and Cincinnati has defeated Baltimore five straight times as hosts.

Week 1 Fantasy Projection: Andy Dalton (-1.5) vs. Joe Flacco