This Sunday Night Football matchup, one of the hottest games this week, pits two quarterback and fantasy legends — Tom Brady and Drew Brees — together as both teams fight for first place in the NFC South.
Simultaneously, all eyes will be watching a game that should be quite the barn burner. Here is a fantasy start-and-sit guide for the Saints’ and Tampa Bay’s key fantasy playmakers.
NFL Week 9: Schedule and game predictions
Start: Running Back, Alvin Kamara
Running backs facing the Buccaneers sometimes run into walls. However, Kamara is a all-purpose threat and anything but your everyday back. Confidently start him against a Tampa Bay defense that surprisingly just let a combination of New York Giants third-and-fourth-string running backs tally 109 yards and score two touchdowns.
Sit: Running Back, Leonard Fournette
With Fournette sharing the backfield with Ronald Jones, it is hard to assess which back will prevail in fantasy. In this game, Fournette leans towards a sit. The Saints are giving up the fewest running back fantasy points in the league and have allowed just three rushing touchdowns. Fournette last struggled to run the ball at a pedestrian 3.47 yards per carry.
NFL injury report: Latest updates on top fantasy stars for Week 9
Start: Quarterback, Drew Brees
Even against a passing defense yielding only 229 yards per game, Brees is a must-start. He should have to throw more than normal to keep up with or ahead of Tampa Bay. The fantasy points should pour in while Brees attempts to go three games without an interception.
Sit: The Buccaneers Defense
Speaking of Brees moving the sticks, those who own the Buccaneers’ defense in fantasy should be sitting it for this matchup. It’s a poor start with New Orleans averaging a hefty 29.4 points on offense each week.
Start: Quarterback Tom Brady
Without a doubt, Brady should be started in all fantasy formats during this divisional barn burner. New Orleans defense is very fantasy-friendly to quarterbacks and opposing signal-callers have scored 20 total touchdowns over seven games.
Update November 9, 2020: Apologies issued nationwide. Brady stunk up the joint at home and got destroyed by the Saints. At the end of a terrible fantasy performance, Brady delivered 209 passing yards accompanied with three awful interceptions. Yuck.
Sit: Any Saints Receivers Not Named Michael Thomas
Thomas has resumed practicing and the hope is that he is back out on the field to reward his owners some long-awaited fantasy points. If so, Brees should revert back to Thomas as his No. 1 option, making all other Saints wideouts risky starts in fantasy lineups.
Related: Need a fantasy football fix? The Fantasy Football Chick has all the answers. Click here.
Start: Tight End, Rob Gronkowski
New Orleans is yielding the fourth-most tight end fantasy points on the season. This comes with giving up six touchdowns in seven contests. Gronk and Brady are back to meshing like peanut butter and jelly while the veteran tight end has scored in each of his last three games.
Sit: Tight End, Jared Cook
With Thomas in the lineup and Tampa Bay allowing just three tight end touchdowns in eight games, Cook should be sitting this one out Sunday night.
Start: Wide Receiver, Antonio Brown
Fantasy owners who picked up Brown may want to roll with him right out of the gate. While Mike Evans is a no-brainer start for Tampa Bay, Brown should see his fair share of targets as well. He and Brady are currently living under the same roof, when we can expect a lot of game strategizing has been going on.
Keep in mind, New Orleans is allowing opposing wide receivers to combine for a total of 189 yards per game.
Game kickoff
This Sunday Night Football game between the Saints and Tampa Bay takes place on November 8, 2020 at 8:20 PM (ET) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Fans can watch their fantasy players while this game looks to drum up plenty of NFL TV ratings as it airs NBC.
Cheers!