Week 8 Booms and Busts: Jets-Bengals provide surprise fireworks, combining for 77 points

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/week-8-booms-and-busts-jets-bengals-provide-surprise-fireworks-combining-for-77-points-225025358.html

Success in fantasy football takes more than instincts — it takes insight. Just like SurveyMonkey AI helps you transform insights into action, these Booms & Busts give you fantasy intel and help you adjust your lineup and strategy to take control of your season.

Week 8 was billed as National Tight End Day, but to me, it felt like National Backup Quarterback Day. Lamar Jackson couldn’t go. Michael Penix Jr. was scratched. Bryce Young, out of action. Another rest week for Brock Purdy. All sorts of backups were pressed into starting roles.

So maybe it makes sense that the craziest and most unlikely pinball game from the 1 p.m. window was brought to us by Joe Flacco and Justin Fields.

Flacco, of course, is Plan C in Cincinnati this year, acquired in a desperation trade after Joe Burrow got hurt and Jake Browning flamed out. And although Fields is the nominal starter for the Jets, he likely would have been benched this week if Tyrod Taylor (knee) were healthy.

The Jets ultimately scored the comeback win on Sunday, 39-38. Fields was magic in the fourth period, putting up 23 points and stealing the victory. It seems to follow his career path — so often he looks lost for an hour or two, then rallies in the final quarter, like a college student whipping together a term paper the morning it’s due. Hey, we just want the fantasy points, and he delivered 20.86.

I doubt many fantasy managers had the nerve (or desperation) to dial up Fields in this spot. He was terrible against Denver and Carolina the past two weeks. But if Fields is playing well, it keeps the rest of the New York offense afloat. Breece Hall was terrific all afternoon (133 rushing yards, two rushing scores, one touchdown pass for 31.86 fantasy points) and Mason Taylor came through with a 5-34-1 line at tight end (Hall, mind you, threw the TD pass to Taylor).

Maybe there’s hope for the New York offense yet. The Jets take a Week 9 bye, then hopefully get Garrett Wilson back. And although Cleveland is a horrible Week 10 matchup, the second half of the schedule has plenty of green-light defenses to attack.

Maybe we can’t get you to trust Fields again, not yet. But Flacco is squarely in our Circle of Trust. Flacco bailed out the Browns at the end of the 2023 season — leading Cleveland to a shocking playoff spot — and he was at least better than Anthony Richardson Sr. in Indianapolis last year (no great lift). And through three starts in Cincinnati, Flacco is pumping life into an offense we all wanted to love before the season.

Flacco has become the Winston Wolf of AFC quarterbacks. Call him when you’re in a jam, he’ll be there in under 10 minutes.

Ja’Marr Chase managers are smiling again. One week after his ballistic performance against Pittsburgh, he rang up another 12-91-0 day on a silly 19 targets. Flacco knows where his bread is buttered. Even when Chase might not look open, throw it to him anyway.

Tee Higgins managers couldn’t be thrilled about a two-target afternoon, but at least one of those looks went for a 44-yard touchdown. He’s now scored in back-to-back weeks and is probably in the WR2 bucket moving forward. We can work with this.

Chase Brown’s fantasy value has revived the most. He looked like one of the bust picks of the year a few weeks back, but he ran for 108 yards on Pittsburgh and totaled 105 total yards and two touchdowns (one by air, one by land) against the Jets. Maybe it’s taken the offensive line some time to jell in Cincinnati, but it also helps that Flacco can matriculate the ball down the field — something Browning wasn’t able to do.

And heck, Noah Fant isn’t exactly smashing, but he’s on the tight end streaming radar. He’s managed 11-112-1 over the past three weeks, and Mike Gesicki is currently on IR. Feel free to consider all of your Cincinnati options as fun picks against Chicago in Week 9.

Other booms

Hall and Brown weren’t the only running backs making comeback statements in Week 8. Saquon Barkley finally put his stamp on the 2025 season. Barkley ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage against the Giants, and added a 9-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Barkley was headed for a monster afternoon until a second-half groin injury took him out of play (he’s hopeful he’ll be fine after the Week 9 bye). The game against New York wasn’t in danger, so it made sense to rest Philly’s feature back. Tank Bigsby was surprisingly effective as the closer, getting 104 yards on his nine attempts. Barkley’s 18 touches racked up 174 total yards.

While Barkley managers could breathe a sigh of relief, it was an awful day on the other sideline. Intriguing power back Cam Skattebo suffered an ugly ankle injury in the second quarter and was carted off the field. Further evaluation will come, but it seems likely that his season is over. Skattebo looked like one of the right answers of the fantasy season, and scored his seventh touchdown of the year before getting hurt.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. is the next back up for the Giants, and he was solid if unspectacular (10-39 rushing, 2-14 receiving). It wasn’t the best Jaxson Dart day (five sacks were soul-crushing), but he still accounted for 210 total yards, two touchdowns and 19.42 fantasy points. The Giants will always be fun with Dart. But things are less exciting with the high-motor Skattebo unavailable.

Maybe the most unexpected fantasy comeback came in Atlanta, where Miami’s much-criticized offense finally came together. Tua Tagovailoa threw for four touchdowns and the Dolphins rolled to a 34-10 laugher. Two of Tagovailoa’s strikes came to fantasy-relevant players (Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane), while two of them landed in the ether (Malik Washington, Ollie Gordon II). But it would be nice to see Miami move off the restricted list. Baltimore’s defense is gettable in Week 9.

Drake Maye feels unstoppable right now. Cleveland was a difficult matchup in Week 8 but Maye had no trouble slicing the defense, throwing for 282 yards and three touchdowns, and tacking on another 50 yards on the ground. And although New England has a respectable receiver room, it’s far from the best in the league — Maye is the star here. At least Stefon Diggs finally broke his touchdown drought in Week 8. The surging Pats should move the ball against Atlanta next week.

Is James Cook the most underrated runner in the NFL? He was a one-man wrecking crew at Carolina, racking up 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns as Buffalo blew out the Panthers. Cook didn’t draw any attention in the passing game, but when you’re this unstoppable between the tackles, what’s the worry? Cook draws a better challenge against Kansas City next week, but I expect him to produce against everybody.

Week 8 busts

Atlanta’s offensive faceplant was perhaps the biggest bust of the early window. The Falcons managed just 11 first downs and 213 yards of offense with Kirk Cousins back in the saddle, and superstar RB Bijan Robinson collected just 25 rushing yards against Miami’s leaky rushing defense. Tyler Allgeier (14 total yards) was not effective either, though he did vulture a late rushing touchdown to partially save his day. At least Kyle Pitts Sr. managed to catch all nine of his mostly-short targets (9-59-0), but an Atlanta offense without Michael Penix Jr. and Drake London was shipwrecked for three hours.

The Falcons will be challenged on the road the next two weeks, visiting New England and Indianapolis.

All of your San Francisco angles fell flat at Houston, although Georgia Kittle did sneak in a touchdown on the tight end holiday. I’m mostly going to give credit to the Texans, running the best defense in the league. These guys can make anybody look bad; Kyle Shanahan’s offense was held to 12 first downs and a piddly 223 yards. Jacksonville and Tennessee are next up on the Houston hit list.

Caleb Williams had a glorious four-touchdown game against Dallas a month ago, which has become standard when anybody plays the Cowboys. Unfortunately, Williams has two touchdowns in his four games since, and he couldn’t throw a scoring pass against a struggling Baltimore defense on Sunday. Because Chicago is obviously thinking about the long game, you wonder if DJ Moore will be dangled in trade talks the next couple of weeks. He’s no longer Chicago’s preferred target (Rome Odunze waves hello), although he had a credible 4-73-0 log against the Ravens.

https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/week-8-booms-and-busts-jets-bengals-provide-surprise-fireworks-combining-for-77-points-225025358.html