RADIO
Week 9 of the fantasy season kicks off this Thursday when the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns. The 7-0 Bengals appear likely to continue their undefeated season against the lowly 2-6 Browns. This should mean big numbers for fantasy owners lucky enough to have a player or two from the Bengals.
The player most likely to succeed against the Browns and their 17th ranked defense against the pass is A.J. Green. The Bengals offense as a whole may have struggled in their 16-10 victory against Pittsburgh last week, but that didn’t deter Green from having another monster game, including 11 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted a whopping 17 times. It’s hard to predict that he’ll have the ball passed that way to him that many times on Thursday, but it should be double-digit targets nevertheless.
Andy Dalton has had the unfair stigma of being called a safety first quarterback since he entered the league, but his numbers will show that is no longer the case. He had a bit of a stinker on Sunday, but his numbers this season show that is more than likely a one off thing. Even while throwing two interceptions on Sunday vs. Pittsburgh, he had thrown only four all year, against 15 touchdown passes. Additionally, Dalton leads the league in passing yards per attempt at 9.12. His QB rating of 116.1 is also tops in the league. Surprisingly he is still available in 10 percent of leagues. Cleveland is giving up 26 points per game. A number that is likely to be higher after their visit to Cincinnati.
Cleveland isn’t without its own weapons. Most noticeably is tight end Gary Barnidge who was arguably the best player at his position in the month of October. He didn’t show any signs of slowing down on the first day of November, catching seven passes for 53 yards and a touchdown in a 34-20 lost to Arizona. Cincinnati had given up the 14th most fantasy points to tight ends going into Week 8, but that number will be going up after giving up 20.50 Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller on Sunday in PPR leagues. Barnidge owners have reason to expect him to continue to put up big numbers come Thursday.
