After a quick break in the NFL action overseas, we were back in Week 9 with an early game taking place in Madrid between the Bengals and Falcons. The Euro games have been surprisingly solid for for fantasy football in 2026, and Cincy against Atlanta was no different. Let's get into a quick recap of the action and some fantasy football takeaways.

Joe went burr and the Bengals' pass attack dominated

No QB in the NFL is hotter than Joe Burrow right now. The MVP contender put on a laser show all game, finishing with 271 yards and three TDs, adding a QB sneak for a score to post 29.54 fantasy points in a 34-17 victory.

Burrow now has at least three passing TDs in five of his past six games, and should comfortably finish as a QB1 again. From Weeks 4 through 9, Burrow is the QB2 overall in fantasy scoring. It helps when you have arguably the best WR duo in the NFL — Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Chase was dominant in the first half, putting up most of his 26.5 fantasy points in that frame. The Bengals WR had a 47-yard TD on Cincy's first drive to set the tone, and did his usual thing with a few circus catches. With Burrow playing this well, Chase is making a case to reclaim his overall WR1 status from the likes of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua.

Higgins didn't see a ton of volume but Burrow looked his way twice in the red zone with two TD catches. That helped him get to 17.7 fantasy points on a 5-32-2 line, pacing toward another WR1 finish.

There isn't much to go over for fantasy managers. These three are going to be league-winners and likely on a lot of championship rosters when the dust settles after Week 17. What's even better is the schedule, which is lining up pretty nicely for this trio to perform at a high level the rest of the way.

Brown busts again on the ground

While RB Chase Brown didn't get it done again on the ground, there are reasons for optimism. He was efficient with nine carries for 57 yards (6.3 yard per carry). He also caught all three of his targets for 18 yards. Burrow was so efficient passing that the Bengals didn't really have many goal-line chances to spare. Brown did have a touch at the 1-yard line, which he didn't convert. Burrow then snuck it in for the TD. Had things went another way, Brown finds the end zone there. It feels like some positive regression should come given how in sync this offense is right now.

We've talked about Brown not hitting big plays, but the explosiveness still seems to be there. We saw it on the Bengals' second drive, when Brown had an 11-yard catch followed by a 16-yard run. While Brown continues to be frustrating for fantasy managers, he's still getting solid volume and is the clear RB1 in one of the best offenses in the NFL. He feels like a good buy-low candidate still with fantasy trade deadlines approaching. The floor is there and I think (hope) we'll start to see some ceiling games.

Penix, Falcons' pass-catchers becoming harder to trust

It was a quick start for Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons in Madrid, but things soon fell flat. Penix led an 80-yard TD drive to start the game, though RB Bijan Robinson did most of the heavy lifting. Penix was able to find Charlie Woerner for a goal-line TD, but did little else the rest of the game.

Penix finished with 162 yards, one TD and one pick for 14.48 fantasy points. Three rushes for 50 yards helped his day quite a bit, but he wasn't able to get Drake London or Kyle Pitts Sr. going despite a positive passing script with the Falcons trailing most of the game.

London was limited to just five catches on five targets for 68 yards. Pitts got three of five balls for 23 yards. We don't even need to go over the depth receivers at this point. Of course, Bijan got plenty, racking up 147 total yards, one TD and six catches for 23.7 fantasy points.

It looked like we might get a shootout after the first two possessions, so it was disappointing to see ATL not keep up its end of the deal. Robinson is Robinson; he's in your lineup every week and producing. London is trending in the wrong direction, plus the next three weeks aren't ideal: versus Chiefs; bye; at Vikings. London has reached a ceiling only once this season, back in Week 3 against Green Bay. He has a decent floor but isn't the surefire WR1 you drafted him to be.