It’s starting to become money time in fantasy land – the time for mistakes has passed. If you’re locked in a race for the playoffs right now, the last thing you need is to leave points on the bench or place faith in a guy who is destined to put up a dud. While it’s nearly impossible to know exactly what will happen or who will produce (that’s why they play the games), we can look at trends and other numbers to figure out what will most likely happen.

This weekly list of potential booms and busts for the early Sunday games is just one of many RotoBaller tools to help you make the right lineup decisions and get crucial wins down the stretch.

Potential Booms for Week 8

Quarterbacks:

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) rankings
• Quarterback (QB) rankings
• Tight end (TE) rankings
• Defense (D/ST) rankings
• Kicker (K) rankings
• FLEX rankings
• Dynasty rankings

Matt Ryan, QB, Falcons: The often underrated fantasy quarterback has had a bit of a perplexing season so far. In standard scoring he has had three contests where he topped 18 fantasy points, two that were below 10 and a few middling performances. He hasn’t quite had that explosive game owners have been waiting for, and this could be the week for it to happen. Over the last two weeks the Buccaneers have allowed 58.2 fantasy points to Blake Bortles and Kirk Cousins. You have to love Ryan in this one.

Philip Rivers, QB, Chargers: Philip Rivers is on pace to have the most prolific passing season in history, averaging 350 passing yards per game so far. He’s facing a Ravens defense that surrenders an average of 21.5 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, last in the NFL. This is a layup for Rivers, who is likely to throw 40 plus passes easily.

Eli Manning, QB, Giants: Coming off of a pair of sub-standard starts the last two weeks, combining for just 15 fantasy points, Eli Manning is poised for a big game in New Orleans. The Saints have given up seven passing TDs and 320 passing yards to quarterbacks over the last three weeks. There’s no reason to think the Saints defense will play any better on Sunday.

Running Backs:

Todd Gurley, RB, Rams: If you have him on your team, you’re likely patting yourself on the back for taking the chance on Todd Gurley in the draft this season. Over the last three games, he’s amassed 433 rushing YDs and a pair of touchdowns. He’s clearly emerged as a top 5 fantasy back and future star. Oh yeah, he’s facing a Niners team that has been obliterated by running backs this season, so Gurley should be off to the races once again.

Chris Johnson, RB, Cardinals: The running back formerly known as CJ2K, Chris Johnson, has had a couple of turn the clock back performances this fall. In last week’s 122 YD, one TD effort, Johnson looked quick, explosive, powerful and decisive. This week he gets a cupcake matchup against a Cleveland Browns team that has surrendered 470 rushing yards to RBs in the last three weeks. Johnson should continue his impressive comeback season.

Justin Forsett, RB, Ravens: After a slow start to the fantasy season, Justin Forsett has picked things up of late. He has scored two TDs and averaged 92.3 rushing yards per game over the last four weeks. Those aren’t exactly dominant numbers, but they are very respectable. Facing a below average Chargers run defense should lead to a big game for Forsett this week.

Wide Receivers:

Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers: If there’s one thing we’ve learned this season, it’s that the Chargers are obsessed with throwing the ball and Keenan Allen is the number one target. With the ridiculous amount of targets he’s drawing, Allen has become one of the most productive wideouts in the game today. It certainly helps that the Ravens have allowed four TDs, 21 receptions and 402 receiving yards to wide receivers in the last two games. This is a gift matchup for Allen.

Calvin Johnson, WR, Lions: There’s a reason why I always say never to trade early in the season. Eventually, most players perform the way the back of their football card would indicate. Through the first five weeks of the season, Calvin Johnson had put up highly mediocre numbers: 32 receptions, 64.4 yards per game and one TD – hardly Megatron type numbers. In his last two weeks, he’s gone off for two TDs and 252 yards. This week, he will look to keep things going, facing a Chiefs team that has allowed at least one wide receiver TD in six of seven games and 14.34 yards per catch to the position.

A.J. Green, WR, Bengals: A.J. Green hasn’t exactly posted the type of numbers people expected when they drafted him the second round of fantasy drafts. Three total TDs and just two games with more than 80 receiving yards is not exactly Green-esque. The Bengals have looked great this season and a divisional road game against Pittsburgh is the perfect place to show the rest of the league that they are serious contenders. Coming off of a bye week, I’m expecting a big game against a mediocre Pittsburgh passing defense for Green and the rest of the Bengals.

Tight Ends:

Martellus Bennett, TE, Bears: The Black Unicorn has been somewhat quiet this fall, but a home game against Minnesota looks like a great match up. The Vikings have given up over 100 receiving yards to TEs in each of the last two weeks and have also allowed three TDs to the position in 2015. After two poor outings, I think Bennett is due for a nice performance.

Defenses:

St. Louis Rams: This is a simple equation of a very good defense meeting a very questionable and mistake prone offense. The Rams have been a top 5 fantasy defense for most of the season, while the 49ers have been prone to giving up turnovers and sacks. This is about as favorable a matchup as a defense can get.

Potential Busts for Week 8

Quarterbacks:

Colin Kaepernick, QB, 49ers: If you’re in the unfortunate position of having to start Colin Kaepernick this Sunday, I feel for you. St. Louis has allowed just 12.6 fantasy points per game to the position and Kaepernick has been highly inconsistent. It’s very difficult to trust that he will have a good game this week.

Running Backs:

Carlos Hyde, RB, 49ers: He will be a gametime decision anyway, but Carlos Hyde has been highly disappointing since his Monday Night Football performance during opening week. He has just one TD since then and just one game with over 55 yards rushing. Meanwhile, the Rams defense hasn’t given up a rushing TD in three weeks. The Rams haven’t exactly been a stone wall against the run, but it’s too difficult to have faith in Hyde at this point. ***UPDATE: Hyde has been ruled out for Sunday***

Jeremy Hill, RB, Bengals: Jeremy Hill was one of the biggest talks of the offseason after he closed out the 2014 season like a beast, winning a lot of fantasy championships for owners in the process. The late first round/early second round pick has fallen well short of expectations. He has not reached 100 rushing yards once this season and has only topped 60 yards one time. He’ll also be facing a Pittsburgh defense that has allowed just one rushing TD this season.

Melvin Gordon, RB, Chargers: Melvin Gordon was drafted this season to be a No. 2 or No. 3 running back for fantasy owners. He’s barely a fifth running back at this point, losing touches to Danny Woodhead and Brandon Oliver. Even if he were going to get enough touches to warrant a start, the Ravens have been pretty good against the run, allowing just three rushing TDs to backs all season. Look elsewhere.

Wide Receivers:

Brandin Cooks, WR, Saints: There were big expectations for Brandin Cooks this season following the departure of Jimmy Graham and Kenny Stills. It just hasn’t happened for Cooks, who has just one TD so far this season. The Giants have been fairly good at defending wide outs in 2015, allowing four TDs to the position this season and zero multi-TD games. Go in a different direction if possible.

Tight Ends:

Eric Ebron, TE, Lions: Coming off of his best game of the season, it may be tempting to just plug in Ebron again – don’t do it. The Lions offense and Eric Ebron have been very inconsistent this fall and Chiefs have surrendered just two TDs to TEs and an average of three receptions per game to the position. Don’t chase the numbers. Leave Ebron on the bench.

Defenses:

Cincinnati Bengals: There aren’t a lot of elite options on defense, so many of you have been relying on streaming defenses this season. Avoid the Bengals this week. Not only does their defense not score fantasy points (11 scored in the last four games), the Steelers only allow 3.9 fantasy points per game to opposing defenses. The Bengals may have started the season as must own fantasy defensive options, but they have clearly fallen off since.

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