After last week’s list disappointed to a degree (kudos to anyone who did pass on starting Steve Slaton), Can’t-Pass-Up Matchups is back for Week 9 and ready to send your team to victory (or, if you’re in a rotisserie league, ready to send your team to… more points…). This week’s list features an obvious one (new rule: No more asking in the Sunday chats whether you should start Tom Brady), as well as a guy that I have discouraged people from starting each week. That’s right, I have finally come around on the two-catch, 50 yard touchdown potential of DeSean Jackson.  Away we go.

Aaron Rodgers vs. Buccaneers

Though their defense was able to pick off Tom Brady twice in Week 7, the Buccaneers still allowed 308 yards and three touchdowns to the New England quarterback. Tampa Bay hasn’t faced many great quarterbacks this year, but when they have, they’ve been terrible. Like Brady, Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb each torched the Bucs for three touchdowns while Eli Manning lit them up for two. Rodgers has been absolutely fantastic this season and has tossed three touchdowns in each of his last two games. There shouldn’t be any reason to believe that trend won’t continue this week, especially considering that Rodgers has been stellar in three road games this season (seven touchdowns, one pick).

Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Chiefs

With petitions to Scott Pioli apparently all the rage in Kansas City, perhaps a Chiefs fan should circulate one regarding that run defense. People saw what Jones-Drew was able to do against the Titans in Week 8, and the Chiefs actually give up 18.6 more rushing yards per game. Jones-Drew had a bit of a lull in production in Weeks 4 and 5 (14 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee, 34 yards and no touchdowns against Seattle), but the small back is more than back on track. The UCLA product has compiled a whopping 310 yards and five touchdowns combined over his last two games. Odds are that he will feast on this Chiefs defense, and if you can’t wait for his next big game, he has the Bills in Week 11. This is going to be a tremendous stretch for Jones-Drew owners.

Ryan Grant vs. Buccaneers

Picking on the Buccaneers again, am I? You bet I am. With the Tampa Bay offense as bad as it is, the Packers should dominate time of possession on Sunday. If all goes according to plan, Rodgers will have lit up the defense early on, allowing the Packers to just feed the ball to Grant. If that’s the case, a 100-yard rushing day for Grant is a real possibility. The Bucaneers have also allowed a rushing touchdown per game.

DeSean Jackson vs. Cowboys

You can’t call me a hypocrite on this one. I know that I have worked tirelessly to prove to everyone that McNabb really prefers Jeremy Maclin, but the Cowboys defense has been susceptible to big plays and Maclin has become a big-play-a-week guy. It really is a shame though. If the guy can do as much damage as he does with just two or three catches, imagine what he could do on an eight-catch day. Jackson’s season-high for catches in a game is six, which he accomplished in both Week 3 and Week 6, but he has recorded three catches or less in four of his seven games. I have warned against him based on this in the past, but his explosiveness makes up for any consistency concerns.

Donovan McNabb vs. Cowboys

See above, but in case you need further reason to start McNabb, here goes. Last week’s matchup with the Giants was viewed as a test for both the Eagles’ offense without Brian Westbrook and a struggling Giants defense. With his three touchdowns, McNabb passed with flying colors and now faces a Cowboys defense that has given up 12 passing touchdowns on the season. This could be the second big week in a row for this Philadelphia offense.

Tom Brady vs. Dolphins

This one is here just to clarify that Brady is back to being a set-it-and-forget-it fantasy player.  We’ve still gotten a couple of questions the last couple weeks asking whether he is a safe start. To quote the great Bernie Mac, “Come on America.”

Matt Hasselbeck vs. Lions

Hasselbeck has made this list before and has both made good on my promises and made me look like an utter jackass. As I wrote in this week’s edition of Living With the Bye, owners should start Hasselbeck under the assumption that he will have the big game that Marc Bulger failed to have, even when it was right in his lap. The logic behind last week’s selection of Bulger was that even a bad quarterback could do some damage against the Lions. Lucky for owners, Hasselbeck isn’t bad, but that Detroit defense sure is. The 27th-ranked defense, in addition to allowing 251.9 passing yards per game, has surrendered 18 passing touchdowns on the season.

CLOSE CALLS

Packers defense vs. Buccaneers

I’ve been mean enough to those poor Buccaneers, haven’t I? Well to top it all off, their offense will be hopeless with Josh Freeman at the helm. The only thing preventing me from the Packers being on the above list is the fact that they were torched for 38 points last week.

Alex Smith vs. Titans

Smith should be owned in every two-quarterback league, but in the event that he isn’t, pick him up. The all-but-forgotten Smith could very well dominate in an outrageously easy matchup with the Titans, but it is too soon to bank on a big performance from Smith regardless of the opponent.

Frank Gore vs. Titans

Gore has progressed nicely since his return, but I’m still not ready to consider him a top fantasy back again. That being said, we all saw what Jones-Drew did last week against this defense, but that was Jones-Drew, and Gore is far less dependable.

Can’t decide between a couple of potential starters? Email all of your fantasy questions to djbean@weei.com and I will be sure to drop some knowledge that you can then use to ruin lives in your league.

One Comments for “Can’t-Pass-Up Matchups — Week 9”

1. rick Says:
   November 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am

   do i play mat ryan or eli maning witch will give me the most points.

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