Week 5 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Highlighting Matchups to Exploit and Avoid

Some things go great together, like peanut butter and jelly. Other things aren't such a great match, like peanut butter and sardines.

Ew.

Fantasy football is no different. Some matchups are bound to increase the fantasy stock of entire teams. Other matchups make it wise to ignore every player from that team on our fantasy roster. Let's take a look at a few examples of each this week.

Start 'Em: Pittsburgh Steelers

Obviously, you're starting Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell. That's a given. But against the horrid Jacksonville Jaguars, Ben Roethlisberger is a QB1, Markus Wheaton is a flex consideration, the Steelers defense is a top-10 unit and even Shaun Suisham, the kicker, has huge upside.

The Jaguars give away more points than Chris Hardwick. If fantasy points were loaves of bread and fish, the Jaguars would be Jesus Christ. Look under your seats, NFL teams, the Jaguars are giving away fantasy points like they're Oprah.

You think I'm exaggerating, but the Jaguars are 30th in the NFL or worse in fantasy points allowed to every single position in fantasy football. Start your Steelers. Enjoy the show.

Start 'Em: Philadelphia Eagles

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The Philadelphia Eagles failed to score a touchdown on offense last week. Even against a talented San Francisco 49ers team, that was shocking for one of the league's most explosive offenses.

Don't expect a repeat performance in Week 5.

Sure, the St. Louis Rams are no pushovers. But they are giving up 155 rushing yards per game, 30th in the NFL, meaning that LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles could be in line for a big week. And if the Eagles start gashing the Rams in the running game it could open up one-on-one matchups on the outside for players like Jeremy Maclin and Zach Ertz to exploit.

Week 4 feels like an aberration. Nick Foles left a ton of plays down the field due to a surprising lack of downfield accuracy. McCoy just didn't look like himself. Sproles seemed to disappear from the game plan. A depleted offensive line couldn't block anyone (getting Lane Jonson back this week will help).

More weeks than not, you can trust your fantasy options from the Eagles. The Rams aren't good enough to force a repeat performance from last week.

Sit 'Em: Washington's Passing Game

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After watching Kirk Cousins melt down against the New York Giants, are you going to trust him—or his receivers, DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon—against the league's best secondary and a front seven that loves to get after the quarterback?

Especially after Pete Carroll and company have had a week off to prepare for this game?

No, of course not. 

Heck, I don't even love Alfred Morris this week against a defense giving up just 9.3 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, third in the NFL, but he's so steady that you have to start him at an unpredictable position. But generally speaking, I'd steer clear of Washington's fantasy options this week.

Sit 'Em: New England Patriots Not Named Rob Gronkowski

If you have Gronk you have to start him. He's generally matchup-proof, at least until a defense designs a scheme to shut down athletic giants in the red zone. Good luck with that. 

But Tom Brady? Call me when he has more than 13 fantasy points in a game this season. Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen? Call me when one of them outshines the other. Julian Edelman? He's actually been decent for fantasy owners this year, but call me when the Patriots establish a downfield threat, thereby opening up the underneath routes for Edelman. 

And let's not forget how well the Cincinnati defense they are facing has played this year. The Bengals are giving up just 11 points per game, tops in the NFL, and they won't make anything easy for this struggling New England offense. Outside of Gronk, I'm not rolling with any Patriots in fantasy this week.

All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard scoring leagues. Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than a Jay Cutler Fumblerooski.