NFL Fantasy Football Week 9 Lineup Decisions: Starts, Sits ...

He averaged a throw 15-plus Air Yards once every 3.6 pass attempts, he completed 3 of 8 of them (that's not bad), and on the day he threw off-target on just 6.9% of his throws while getting pressured on 40.6% of his dropbacks. DEEP BALL: The Steelers have struggled with deep throws, seeing on average 8.1 pass attempts per game of 15-plus Air Yards and 4.3 attempts per game of 20-plus Air Yards. LAST WEEK: Decimated a tough pair of Falcons outside cornerbacks with excellent route-running, good speed, terrific ball tracking and even some nuanced hand placement and jostling for position to help reel in 4 of 6 targets for 128 yards and three touchdowns. It's worth pointing out that one of the catches was a red-zone crossing route that Hopkins nabbed in traffic and sped 10 yards to the end zone with.TARGETS: Hopkins saw 22.2% of Levis' targets last week and has been above 20% of the Titans target share every single game this season. I mention this because the Steelers have played the third-most man coverage in the league over their past three games against the Ravens, Rams and Jaguars and might opt for more of it against the Titans to help pressure Levis as well as help deal with Henry in the run game. But he had just five targets and a target share 15% or lower for the fourth straight game, and he was saved by a 39-yard catch-and-run before halftime. They've played a bunch of zone coverage for most of this year and have excelled at pressuring the quarterback without blitzing (38% of the time, fifth-best in pass rush pressure rate with only four rushers). MATTISON: Has posted under 50 total yards in three of his past four games and has yet to score a rushing touchdown in 2023. RAVENS: Rank about league average in pass rush pressure rate over the past three weeks (36.4%), getting the job done without blitzing much. They've also settled into playing more zone than man coverage over their past three games (77.7%, better than league average). PAST TWO WEEKS: Has averaged 16.5 carries per game and 1.5 receptions per game, dominating touches over the Ravens other RBs. He's averaged 4.4 yards per carry and landed a perfect 100% success rate on his carries inside the 5. SEAHAWKS: Have a 3.1-yard rushing average against RBs this season but over their past three games that number has looked like 3.9. FILM: Njoku made money as a catch-and-run target last week, left wide open in the red zone before bruising in for a touchdown, then taking a check-down pass 41 yards through the middle of the Seattle defense. Also, last week was the first time in five games the Rams didn't pressure a quarterback on at least 36% of their plays, and they blitzed plenty. RAMS: Have allowed three big Fantasy games to quarterbacks this season -- Anthony Richardson (three total touchdowns), Jalen Hurts (303 yards, two total touchdowns) and Prescott last week (304 yards, four touchdowns). PASSING GAME: On the season, Houston has allowed an 83.3% catch rate and 8.5 yards per catch to running backs, both bottom-10. The 5.82 yards per attempt were his lowest since his first game.FILM: Carolina played zone coverage exclusively so as to not get beat deep, and it basically stunted Stroud's options. LAST WEEK: Howell put up his best game of the season, rocking the vaunted Eagles pass defense for 397 yards and four touchdowns. PATRIOTS: Are one of the league's blitz-heaviest teams (fifth-highest rate in their past five games), but can't pressure the quarterback (second-lowest pass rush pressure rate in their past five games). SAINTS: Play the fourth-most man-to-man coverage in the league and have allowed the second-lowest catch rate to tight ends this season (60%) despite seeing the deepest ADOT (8.67 yards). GIANTS: Expect pressure -- the Giants are second in the league in blitz rate and ninth in pass rush pressure rate, factors that helped them keep the game close against the Jets last week despite not having a functional quarterback. THE CATCH IS: Cooks doesn't have more than four targets in any of the Cowboys' past four games, and he doesn't have 50 receiving yards in any game this season, and he has just three deep catches of 15-plus yards. Aside from allowing seven touchdowns on those plays, they're really good at containing targets (2.5 YAC/reception on deep balls) and allowing a catch rate below league average (42.7%). On a season-low ADOT of 6.67 yards, Davis flourished with a 75% catch rate over a season-high 12 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. DAVIS: Obviously thrived against zone coverage last week and has been doing the same against it all season long, averaging a 73.3% catch rate and 14.0 yards per grab. JETS: In most of their games this year outside receivers have caught the majority of their targets (over 70% in the first five weeks) but for low yardage (under 11.5 yards per catch in four of the five games).