Week 9 Fantasy Football Start Em Sit Em: Joe Flacco and Fading QBs to Avoid

The ebb and flow of the 2011 NFL season hasn't been kind to a number of once-prominent fantasy football quarterbacks. Some, like these three, took it on the chin in October and figure to do so again in Week 9.

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Remember the good ol' days, when Joe Flacco looked like he was ready to be a star and the Ravens' offense was finally coming out of its shell?

What a difference a month makes, eh? Flacco threw but one touchdown pass the entire month of October while getting picked off four times and twice failing to crack 200 yards in a game over that same span.

He must be pretty happy it's November, then...except for the fact that he'll have to deal with the Steelers defense this weekend. I know what you're thinking—But didn't Flacco have a great game against Pittsburgh in the opener?—to which I would respond that he had the benefit of playing on a short field, thanks to seven Steelers turnovers on the day.

Don't expect Ben Roethlisberger to get rocked like that again, or for Flacco to find his way to the end zone so many times at Heinz Field.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buffalo Bills

The old days were good days for Ryan Fitzpatrick, too, back when he was the toast of the NFL, a guy with Ivy League brains and football brawn.

He hasn't been as bad as Flacco over the last month, though he hasn't been particularly good, either, with just five touchdown passes against four picks in October, with nary a game over 300 yards passing.

And while the Jets' pass rush isn't all that hot, their defensive backfield, with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, is still dynamite in coverage.

Something that Bills head coach Chan Gailey is probably well aware of, right along with Fred Jackson's ability to break a big game against the league's 25th-ranked run defense.

Matt Hasselbeck, Tennessee Titans

It was all too perfect—the Titans were winning games despite poor play by Chris Johnson and thanks in large part to Matt Hasselbeck. He was all set to wrap up the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award after four games in Tennessee.

Then October happened, the last few weeks, anyway. Hasselbeck has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns (three) in the Titans' previous three games and hasn't surpassed 300 yards through the air since September.

Last I checked, Kenny Britt isn't coming back this season and the Bengals' defense—the stingiest in the league—probably doesn't care.

Not about Britt, not about Hasselbeck's comeback bid and certainly not about his fantasy football point-earning potential.