Jordan Love hopes to keep the good times rolling in Boston, Jared Goff ventures to South Beach for a plus matchup, and Malik Willis eyes up his best streamer spot of the season in the Lions.

Other positions: Running Back | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense

Week 9 Quarterbacks

QB Notes: There have been only four 400-yard passing performances all season. Joe Burrow has two of them in the past month. Burrow has a staggering 13 touchdowns over his past three starts. He will get slowed at some point, but our Iberian Falcons don’t profile as a particularly likely stopper. … You will almost never see Josh Allen out of the No. 1 spot. The Vikings are just that good on defense. They are the only team permitting fewer than 10.0 QB fantasy points per game. They are also largely containing enemy QB rushing. You never, ever bench Allen, but there is no shame in admitting he’s not the week’s top play for once. … Caleb Williams faced one of the two stingiest pass defenses in the league on the road and came away with a QB17 finish. He was the first quarterback all season to cross the 200-yard mark against the Seahawks, and he could have had a bigger night had it not become a two-score game midway through the fourth quarter. Although Week 9 opponent Tampa is suddenly playing shutdown pass defense, as well, Williams has made it pretty clear he deserves weekly QB1 treatment.

Only Joe Burrow and C.J. Stroud of all people are averaging more weekly completed air yards than Jordan Love’s 160. He is living up to his reputation as a QB who just lets it rip. The Patriots do their best to limit “explosives,” but this is not a matchup where you consider dropping Love outside the top 12. … Dak Prescott has failed to provide multiple touchdowns through the air in five of his past six starts. This Cowboys offense just isn’t hitting the way we have become accustomed to. We nevertheless like its odds for any given week, very much including Week 9 against the packed-in Colts. Expect some positive regression for this vexing attack sooner rather than later. … Things could scarcely be more frustrating for Patrick Mahomes at the moment. The Chiefs’ skill corps just doesn’t have the horses. And yet, the second Rashee Rice returned to the lineup, Mahomes cleared 300 yards and three scores vs. the supposedly imposing Broncos. Now he has a far easier home matchup in the Jets. We are still waiting in vain for the “Mahomes of yore” to return, but he’s a clear QB1 for Week 9.

Brock Purdy comes off bye to a still-undermanned skill corps, albeit one propped up by Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling and a collapsing Raiders defense. This is a wheels-up spot for the QB4 by average fantasy points. … I’m going to go ahead and galaxy brain Trevor Lawrence’s Week 9 ranking despite the Jaguars’ projected team total. It’s a short week on the road, and the Jags should be able to run the ball at will vs. the shell-shocked Ravens. Lawrence is a safe start. It just does not strike me as a particularly likely ceiling spot. … Malik Willis has finished in the top 12 only one time all season. That’s somewhat difficult to do for a genuine dual-threat. Willis is playing better football of late, I just don’t feel the need to go nuts on the rank for a player who has not yet sufficiently demonstrated his upside. Now, if you are dying to get Willis into your lineup vs. a Lions defense surrendering the most QB fantasy points, let’s just say I have heard worse ideas. … Kirk Cousins has been surprisingly successful at staving off the benching reaper. Perhaps that starts to change vs. a rested-and-ready 49ers defense coming off bye at home.

C.J. Stroud is having a good season. The Texans’ offense is another matter. This is a poorly designed and sequenced attack. OC Nick Caley seemed to have genuinely zero idea how to rotate his sprawling receiver corps in Week 7. The downtrodden Chargers are holding up well against the pass. Although it’s possible the Texans figured some stuff out during their bye week, there’s not much of a case for jamming Stroud into Week 9 lineups. … I’m a prisoner of the moment with J.J. McCarthy. I just feel like I am watching a completely different player. Having seemingly cleaned up his footwork overnight, McCarthy keeps giving playmakers Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely the opportunities to create chunk gains. With the Eagles not so quietly quitting on the season, @PHI is not a stay-away matchup for a Giants team coming off bye. … The Falcons always do their best to limit Michael Penix Jr.’s volume. We are sure they would like to continue doing so after that Week 8 fiasco, but it’s not going to be an option with the Falcons acting as underdogs for the highest-totaled game of the week vs. a Bengals defense permitting the seventh most weekly passing yards.

Bo Nix has nine passing scores in eight starts. He has thrown for more than 222 yards once. He has only 32 total rushing attempts. If you can spot either the floor or ceiling there, you have better eyesight than me. … Amongst the worst quarterbacks in football over the past two weeks, Bryce Young has the opposite of a get-right spot in the Broncos. He’s also apparently being slowed by an ankle injury. Young has proven to have an “any given Sunday” element to his game, so if you have to start him, it’s not the worst feeling in the world. He’s also not someone you are working to get into lineups this week. … Baker Mayfield has to throw this week against the Bears, right? Right?.... The Bucs are nearly touchdown road ‘dogs. Here’s guessing the establishment stops now. … It’s not insane to say Carson Wentz would be an upgrade for Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison at this point. As we have learned many, many times in the past, however, that does not mean he will produce his own streamer value. … Gardner Minshew was a Week 8 hero. He seems far more likely to be a Week 9 GOAT vs. an angry Seahawks defense smarting from its Monday night no-show. … Spare a thought for Joe Fagnano this Thursday evening if you have the time.