Week 8 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Highlighting Matchups to Exploit and Avoid

The race toward the fantasy football postseason is heating up, and it's becoming easier to tell which NFL stars are able to be counted on for big numbers on a weekly basis.

Week 8 serves up some juicy matchups for several of the league's biggest stars, while others will likely disappoint fantasy owners due to their opponents. This phenomenon creates so many fantasy dilemmas as it is, but certain players stand out on the upcoming schedule and are worth highlighting.

Here is a look at the top fantasy studs with the most favorable circumstances to succeed, along with a breakdown of those who aren't in position to put a lot of points on the board.

Note: Fantasy scoring information courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues.

Start 'Em

Position	Player	Opponent
QB	Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers	at New Orleans Saints
RB	Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs	vs. St. Louis Rams
WR	Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys	vs. Washington
TE	Dwayne Allen, Indianapolis Colts	at Pittsburgh Steelers
D/ST	Dallas Cowboys	vs. Washington
K	Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots	vs. Chicago Bears

Other than perhaps Denver Broncos legend Peyton Manning, no quarterback in the NFL can claim to be playing quite as well as Aaron Rodgers.

The Green Bay Packers star has thrown 18 touchdowns to one interception this year. Although he enters a hostile Superdome environment this Sunday, Rodgers faces the New Orleans Saints' 28th-ranked pass defense.

Scott Hanson of the NFL Network outlines the history Rodgers has the chance to make in New Orleans:

With explosive targets to throw to like Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, it stands to reason Rodgers' ridiculous run can continue even on the road. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy recently weighed in on his premier signal-caller, per Paul Imig of Fox Sports Wisconsin:

"

Aaron is a much better player today than he was in 2011. His responsibility level has increased a lot since then. So, what he does during the course of the week, during the course of the game, at the line of scrimmage, the communication between (quarterbacks coach) Alex Van Pelt and myself, he is, in my opinion, watching him grow throughout his career, he's clearly a better player.

"

Jamaal Charles is in a bit of a timeshare situation with Knile Davis in the Kansas City Chiefs' backfield, but he is still the home-run hitting feature back and a surefire RB1.

The Chiefs play host to the St. Louis Rams, whose front four has struggled this season without Chris Long at defensive end. St. Louis is last in the league in sacks with just four and is 28th versus the run.

Kansas City's game plan should revolve around the rushing attack. Despite coach Andy Reid's penchant for passing, it would be wise to exploit the Rams' defensive front and force young Rams quarterback Austin Davis to try to mount a comeback against the Chiefs' second-ranked pass defense.

It seems everything has clicked into place for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant. ESPN Stats & Info noted how he and quarterback Tony Romo were on the same page in Week 7:

Fantasy owners should be bullish on Bryant since he faces a Washington secondary at home on Monday Night Football and won't have to match up with the injured DeAngelo Hall.

At the tight end position, it is worth counting on the steady production put forth by Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen.

The third-year riser's draft classmate, Andrew Luck, directs the Colts' No. 1 passing attack, which encounters the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Week 8. Per ESPN.com, Pittsburgh yields the ninth-most points to tight ends.

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Another of Allen's fellow 2012 draftees, Coby Fleener, attended Stanford with Luck and competes with Allen for targets. However, it can't be ignored that Allen has scored a touchdown in four of his last five games. That should continue this week.

Cutting back to the Cowboys, they have an extremely favorable opposing passer in Washington's Colt McCoy. That should lend to big points for their defense, as McCoy has never been NFL starter material.

If fantasy owners deploy Dallas' defense in their lineups, they ought to get a nice points boost on Monday that may be the difference between winning and losing this week.

With the way the New England Patriots' Tom Brady-led offense has been rolling, kicker Stephen Gostkowski figures to be a fantasy stud once again. He leads all kickers with a whopping 86 points and shouldn't slow down against a struggling Chicago Bears team at Gillette Stadium.

Sit 'Em

Position	Player	Opponent
QB	Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons	vs. Detroit Lions
RB	Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins	at Jacksonville Jaguars
WR	Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears	at New England Patriots
TE	Jordan Cameron, Cleveland Browns	vs. Oakland Raiders
D/ST	New Orleans Saints	vs. Green Bay Packers
K	Kai Forbath, Washington	at Dallas Cowboys

The Atlanta Falcons are having a bit of a nightmarish season. Their Week 1 win over the Saints in an overtime thriller suddenly looks insignificant.

A porous defense and lackluster play from the offensive line have put all the pressure on Matt Ryan to carry the team. Now he has to travel to London with the Falcons and face a terrifying Detroit Lions front seven.

NFL.com's Chris Wesseling weighed in, further cementing Ryan as a Week 8 fantasy sit:

Lamar Miller is among the quietest fantasy stars of the 2014 season thus far, posting double-digit point totals in all but one of his six games. Going against the 1-6 Jacksonville Jaguars would appear to be an indication that trend of at least 10 would continue.

But the underrated Miami Dolphins ball-carrier is facing an opposing front four that is no joke. It held Cleveland's top-flight rushing attack to 69 yards on 30 carries in Week 7, and the young Jags have to be brimming with confidence after their first win over the Browns.

David Banks/Getty Images

Former Seahawks Red Bryant and Chris Clemons deserve credit, but so does Jacksonville defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller and NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah spotlighted him:

Pro Football Focus alluded to how Marks can impact both dimensions of the opposing offense:

"

Ndamukong Suh leads all defensive tackles with 23 combined sacks, hits & hurries. 2nd are Nick Fairley & Sen'Derrick Marks w/ 21

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) October 20, 2014"

Other than how turnover-prone Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler tends to be, there is one main reason to avoid his favorite target in Brandon Marshall for now.

Darrelle Revis. The New England Patriots superstar will likely draw Marshall the majority of the time in Foxborough due to the unique chemistry Cutler and Marshall have enjoyed.

Browns tight end Jordan Cameron has had an underwhelming 2014 campaign to say the least, with just 10 receptions. His 210 yards show how explosive he can be, yet it's alarming he doesn't get the ball more.

It has NFL Network fantasy guru Michael Fabiano in a bit of a repetitious frenzy:

Cameron's quarterback, Brian Hoyer, is coming off his worst game of the year against Jacksonville and hasn't gotten his big target too involved as it is.

The pair of Hoyer and Cameron connected on just one out of six targets in Week 7. Thus, don't expect anything transcendent when Cleveland hosts the winless Oakland Raiders, who have the 11th-ranked pass defense.

For reasons mentioned before about Rodgers, New Orleans' defense isn't in the best position to succeed. Sunday's prime-time affair should be a shootout, as Saints star Drew Brees tries to salvage the season in a thrilling duel with Rodgers.

And in a similar manner, Washington kicker Kai Forbath won't build on Week 7's stellar performance in which he booted through all four of his field-goal attempts. Washington will be hard-pressed to get on the scoreboard in Dallas, so avoid Forbath despite his strong outing against Tennessee.